All The Wild Ones | Wildfire Series

First Down

GRAYSON

As I watched Bren square up to my roommate, everything Nessa had told me about this guy replayed in my head, over and over.

Bren looked about ready to burn this entire place down. He looked about ready for anything, really, as long as it meant making a statement about not fucking with his girlfriend.

Maybe it was the insider information I knew about him that had me more on my toes than Brodie was, but I was inclined to believe my roommate was just a fucking idiot.

After Bren came at him for harassing Madie, Brodie actually tried to punch him.

The guy with a gun. Brodie tried to punch the guy with a Glock tucked in his waistband.

And when I tried to hold him back, Brodie jerked me off, leaving me to decide he was on his goddamn own. Because fuck that. I had a good weekend before this, and I didn't really want to ruin it by getting shot by Nessa's friend. That would definitely complicate our relationship.

Shaking my head, I retreated to stand next to Julian.

"What the fucking hell is going on here?" he hissed as we watched Brodie and Bren exchange heated words.

"You know Quinton's ex, Madie?"

Julian nodded.

"That's her new boyfriend."

"Fuck," Jules breathed, drawing the word out beneath his breath.

And then we heard Brodie mutter the words because your bitch of a girlfriend, and we both stiffened.

"He's going to get himself killed."

Dread swirled in my stomach. As much as I hated how Brodie was acting lately, he'd been my friend since elementary school. And I was a little bit worried that Jules was right.

"I don't know much about this guy," I said after swallowing hard and nodding at Bren. "But I know he has some shit going on. And Brodie is hitting all of his triggers right now."

Julian swore again, taking a step forward. And then he hesitated.

He didn't get a chance to do anything more, though. Breathing down Brodie's neck, Bren took that moment to give one final warning and whirled around. Brodie stumbled back as if Bren had hit him. But he didn't. Unless I somehow missed it.

"Hey, Hadaway?" he called, and his voice was threadbare now. Completely different than before.

Bren turned back, fury misting his eyes still. "Yeah?"

Brodie paused. Shifted on his feet. Shook his head. "Never mind."

Confusion flickered on Bren's face, but he pushed it away. He left with a dramatic exit, knocking both lobby doors open and striding through them.

It was deadly silent for a punishing moment before Julian clapped his hands together.

"Show's over," he called. "Let's get to work."

But while the rest of my teammates huddled around Julian, my feet pushed me toward the front doors. To follow the guy with a gun. Because, you know, apparently I was crazy.

The cool morning air smacked me in the face before I nearly smacked right into Bren's backside. He faced away from me, one hand on the building wall and another resting on his hip. He seemed to be catching a breath or taking a moment. Gathering his fucking wits, probably.

"Hey, man," I called, a little uneasy about startling him.

Which, of course, I did. He spun around. Cutting, brown eyes pinned me with a glare, and I tossed my hands up, palms forward.