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“Brynn, they would be implicated and spend time in prison if anything happened. You’re not thinking this through.” Chance rubbed the back of his neck, and I nearly snickered. Brynn was definitely being a pain in the ass right now. I wasn’t sure those edibles were worth it.
Then Chance’s words hit me like a freight train. “Wait. What?”
“We’re all in it together, so if one of us goes down, we all do,” Jace said, crossing his arms over his muscular chest.
I sat up straight, my attention sweeping over Brynn, Jace, and Chance. “Reid, I want to know what the hell happened, but you don’t have to be involved. Maybe hang out in the bedroom for a while so you can’t overhear the conversation. Or stay but understand the consequences.” I didn’t think that Reid would take me up on the suggestion, but he needed to know he had a choice.
Reid shifted in his seat and stretched his arm along the back of the couch. “I’m in. You have my word that I won’t repeat anything to anyone. It’s not like I know anyone outside of the room other than Mom.”
My chest warmed with his use of the word Mom, and I smiled at him.
“What about everyone else?” Holden asked.
Jace tossed his hands up in the air. “I trust everyone here except Reid, and that’s only because I don’t know him yet. Sorry, man. I call it like it is.”
“No offense taken,” Reid replied.
“Chance?” I asked.
“I’m with Jace, but I have a feeling Brynn is going to talk regardless of what our opinion is,” Chance said, clenching his jaw.
“Well, shit.” I rubbed my forehead. “I don’t have an opinion because I have no idea how it all started, so I’m just here to listen.”
“Well, since we’re split, I’ll make the decision. It all started with Emerson,” Brynn began.
I jumped off Holden’s lap. “Brynn, you can’t do this. You guys, Brynn ate an edible and it’s making her horribly obnoxious.”
“That’s what’s going on?” Chance asked, shaking his head. “Thanks for letting me know. She normally doesn’t react like this, but the edibles aren’t regulated very well and different types can encourage different behavior.”
“At least we know. I was going to haul her to the bedroom and spank her.” Jace shoved his fingers through his hair, frustrated as hell. “And I don’t mean that in a fun way, Brynn.”
“I’ll step out of the room and let you all figure this out.” Reid stood, a dark curl flopping over his forehead. “Maybe it’s best that I don’t know. Down the road, you can decide if you want to include me. For now, it’s all good.”
I stared at Reid as he strode out of the room, then I nearly gave myself whiplash as my attention landed on Brynn again.
“I love you, but you’re acting like a brat right now.” I returned to Holden’s lap, and he slipped an arm around my waist.
Brynn smirked, then apparently realized that I wasn’t kidding. “You’re taking things too seriously, babe.”
“And you’re not taking things seriously enough!” Exasperated, I leaned back against Holden.
“Fine. I’ll be serious. Real serious, actually.” Brynn straightened up and tucked a leg beneath her. “As I said, it all started with a girl named Emerson.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Who is Emerson?” I asked.
“She was a girl we went to high school with, Brynn’s best friend at the time,” Holden explained.
I glanced at Jace and Chance, who remained quiet now that Reid was out of the room. Jace stood and excused himself to use the bathroom, but I suspected he was making sure that Reid wasn’t eavesdropping. He returned a minute later and sat down next to Brynn.
Brynn twirled a strand of red hair around her finger, then began. “It was a Friday night, and Emerson was on a date with a college guy named Steven. I’d warned her not to go, but she ignored me like always. He took her to the lookout on the mountain, and he got touchy real fast. Emerson sent me a text that she needed a ride home. I was only ten minutes away, but when I arrived, things had escalated. He was in the process of trying to rape her on the hood of his Mustang.” Brynn paused and looked at Holden. “When I hopped out of my car, Emerson was fighting him off. Her shirt was torn open, and her skirt was shoved up. She managed to kick him in the thigh and stand. She must have been disoriented because she ran to the side of a cliff.
“I tried to reach her fast enough, but Steven punched her in the face … Emerson lost her footing, and she went flying backward over the edge.”
“Holy shit,” I muttered.
“I’ve never raged like that before, but I did that night. I jerked Steven around, then slammed into him. I guess what they say is true because when my adrenaline kicked in, I was a lot stronger. I shoved him a few times, then he lost his footing on the loose gravel, and seconds later he disappeared over the cliff, too. I peered over the side, but I didn’t see him. Honestly, I didn’t care about him anyway, I had to find Emerson. I called Holden to bring the guys to help, and he reported the incident to 911.”
