Rebel Soul: (Rebel Series Book 1) ((Rebel Series)) by J.C. Hannigan Page B

Grady, Braden and two of his friends; Peter, who still looked absolutely terrified to be in my presence, and Ezra, his cousin luckily not in attendance.
    Grady lifted his beer and nodded in greeting. “It’s good to see you out tonight, man!”
    “Yeah,” I said, tugging my hand free of Melanie’s relentless grip. She pouted like I’d personally offended her, but I ignored her. “Is Gordon not here?” I added, glancing around.
    “No, he might show up later tonight,” Grady answered. “He had a situation to deal with.”
    “Oh.” I nodded once, my eyes restlessly roaming.
    “Tessa will be here soon.” Braden smirked. I glared at him and Melanie shot a look at me, her eyebrows furrowed.
    “Why the fuck would you care if Tessa is coming?” she demanded, as if she had any right to the answer. This pissed me off and made me want to tell her that I fucking cared because Tessa was gorgeous and classy and everything she wasn’t. But I bit my tongue, knowing it would cause unnecessary drama and knowing I couldn’t act on my feelings anyway.
    “Ease up, Melanie.” Braden cackled. “No need to flash your crazy bitch card so soon. Brock doesn’t like crazy bitches.”
    “Whatever.” Melanie tossed her hair over her shoulder, her expression as sour as her mood. I moved away, my irritation growing tenfold.
    “I need a beer,” I grumbled. I motioned with my head for Braden to follow me. Luckily, he picked up on the hint. We headed towards the beer tent, my silence stony.
    “What crawled up your ass?” Braden scowled, sensing my aggravation.
    “You need to fucking quit it with this Tessa shit, Braden. It isn’t going to happen.”
    “Why the hell not?” he demanded. “I saw how you two looked at each other. I know I’m not university material, but I can tell when two people want each other; so what’s the problem?”
    I stopped walking. It was out of character for Braden to question me on my motives, or lack thereof. “Because,” I responded slowly, “I don’t have time to get involved, and I can’t anyway. Besides, do you really think the Armstrong brothers will let me get anywhere near her? I’m an ex-convict, Braden.”
    “You can’t be afraid of them.” He shook his head, a wry grin on his face. “You could take all three of them at once; fucking look at you.”
    “That’s not the point.” I sighed, massaging the stubble on my jaw with my hand. “I have enough shit to deal with right now; I don’t need to add to it.”
    The expression on Braden’s face was akin to the one he used to wear when we were younger and I told him he couldn’t tag along with me and my friends: it was an expression of crushing disappointment.
    “Why is it so important to you anyway?” I asked, my voice gentle.
    “Forget about it.” Braden waved away my question. “Let’s just get the fucking beer.”
    Braden’s attitude perplexed me. I couldn’t figure out why he was so invested in the whole Tessa thing, but I knew he wouldn’t talk to me about it. Braden didn’t talk to anybody about the thoughts in his head. He was so stubborn; so much like me, so much like our old man.

 
    Tessa
     
    True to Elle’s word, I won the first place ribbon. A scowling Melanie came in second place, and a girl from Carling won third.
    My dad and I loaded up Spirit and I returned to my farm with Elle. She helped me with my evening chores, just like she promised. I think she helped more or less so I wouldn’t bail on her.
    By seven o’clock, we were pulling out of my driveway, heading back to the fairgrounds for the Travis Channing concert. I was dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans, a cream tank top and an off the shoulder light brown knitted sweater.
    Elle was dressed in painted on floral tights, high heeled boots and a tight white tank top with a pale blue jean jacket. She wore her hair down under her black cowgirl hat. I had a matching one in brown that Elle had bought me a couple summers before. It sat on the seat