One in a Billion Bear ~ Beck: Book 2 by Caelia Portier Page B

night.”
    “Speaking of you being an absentee friend, how are things going with Brady? You haven’t said much at all about him.”
    There was a stiff silence. Why was she being weird about this?
    “Uh, I don’t know. What’s there to tell? You know him.”
    “Barely.” I exhaled heavily, feeling annoyed and weary that my friend was not talking about her boyfriend. Could Brady have some awful secret? Was he cooking meth or something?
    Hesitantly, Penelope added, “I didn’t actually see him last night. There was some kind of drama going on in town. He was really angry and didn’t want to talk about it.”
    My mind went back to drugs. “Brady didn’t say anything about it?”
    She faltered a bit. “I don’t know. He can just be so territorial sometimes.”
    Oh crap. Definitely drugs.
    I sighed. “I hope he doesn’t drag you into any of that drama.”
    “He would never do anything to hurt me.”

Saturday night was slammed. I kept hoping to turn around and see Beck standing along the length of the bar. Not that I really had time to talk. There was a large bachelorette party going on in which every single participant worked hard at getting wasted on fruity cocktails. Then of course three of the girls vomited in and near the women’s restroom. Then, of course, I felt morally obligated to make sure none of the sleazy guys circling managed to guide them into their cars. It was just one thing after another.
    Finally, around 1 a.m., I had an excuse to go outside and get some fresh air. Cupcakes with penis-shaped candies decorating pink icing were leftover and then subsequently used in a food fight by drunk twenty-one year olds who couldn’t hold their liquor, so I jumped at the chance to clean it up and take the trash out. As soon as I stepped through the back door I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the slightly chilly night air, and released it slowly, my body relaxing almost immediately.
    Then I heard arguing. It was coming from the side of the bar, near the trash bins. I couldn’t discern what they were saying, but it sounded like two men. It was heated. I leaned by ear towards the sound. Might break out into a fistfight?
    I sighed and put the trash bag down before walking over cautiously to hear what was going on. Years ago there had been a shooting in the parking lot of the bar. Couldn’t be too careful.
    “Let me make myself clear. You’re not wanted here.”
    “I know I should have warned you—”
    “Warned me about what? That you’d show up thinking you’d just run things?”
    “I’m not trying to take over , Brady! You’re so paranoid!”
    I was momentarily so caught up hearing Brady’s name that I was truly startled when I heard a growl. Frantically I looked for an animal in the darkness. Without thinking, I rushed around the corner of the building and smacked right into Brady’s wall of a body. While I was mildly dazed on the asphalt, both men leaned over to see who interrupted their argument.
    “Crista?” They said almost in unison. Beck quickly reached out to help me up and he looked at me with concern. “What’s wrong?”
    I looked back toward the woods behind the bar. “I heard a growl. There’s an animal. We should go inside.”
    Beck glared in accusation at Brady, who stood his ground firmly with his fists clenched. It was then I noticed the two men were roughly the same height and they towered over my petite frame. Beck still had an arm around me and, not wanting to appear like some silly damsel in distress, I stepped away toward the front door.
    “You two can keep fighting out here if you want, but I’m going inside.”
    Brady looked at me and said, a bit coldly, “You should go inside. This is none of your business.”
    That really made me angry. So angry I forgot about the growling and the darkness. “Now you listen to me, Brady. You’re dating my friend and if you don’t watch yourself, Beck’s gonna have to get in line behind me to kick your ass.”
    They