Page 51 of My Brother's Bad Best Friend

I’ve been in fights. I know what it feels like to get punched in the jaw by a stronger man. I can take a beating and keep going, because I know how it feels and I know I can keep pushing, keep swinging. I can scrap, but Ezra’s never had to. I’ve always fought his battles.

Now he’s pissed off the one person in the world he knows he never should.

“I know about the weed,” I say, snarling in his face. “I know you gave it to those fucking assholes.”

“I had to, okay?” He puts his heads up, eyes still wide. “Look at me, okay, look. I’m sober, I’m dead sober. I’m not using the stuff, okay? I fucked up bad, Jonas, but I’m not using anymore.”

I push him harder against the fence. “Jonas,” Lizzie says, but I just ignore her. I can feel the crowd growing behind me.

“How much?” I ask him softly.

“Too much.” He shakes his head. “I wasn’t moving it fast enough, they got impatient, so I cut them a deal. Weed to wipe out my debt. They were going to kill me, Jonas.”

“They should’ve killed you.” I push harder and he grunts. “Did you sell at Half Pipe?”

He hesitates, looking away. He hesitates way too fucking long. “Look, man—”

I step back, letting him off the fence. He groans and rubs his chest, looking up at me.

I punch him as hard as I can in the jaw. His face cracks back and he stumbles into the fence. I hear Lizzie scream as I punch Ezra again in the gut, doubling him over. I shove him to the ground and as he’s gasping for air, I lean over him. “Never sell at Half Pipe again. You hear me? Unload what you have and be done.”

“Yeah,” he gasps.

I straighten up and face the gathering crowd. “What the fuck do you people want?” I bark at them. “Get the fuck out of here.”

They slowly disperse. I notice Don, Vinny, and Shrink watching off to the side, looking concerned, almost afraid. Lizzie’s eyes are wide and she’s backing away from me.

“Come on,” I snap at her.

She shakes her head. “You went too far, Jonas.”

I growl and get right in her face. “I told you I was a fucking bad man, little rose. Now you’re all afraid?”

She does look afraid, I realize, afraid of me. That deflates my anger and I realize what I’m doing. I step away from her, rolling my neck.

“You heard him,” I say more softly. “He was dealing from the store. He put us all at risk.”

“I know,” she says softly. “It’s just… you scared me.”

“I know I did.” I reach out and grab her wrist. “Come on. Let’s go.”

I head back out through the party towing Lizzie behind me. People stare as we pass but let them. This is just another fucking bad example of the kind of horrible person I am, just another bullshit incident for people to gossip about.

I don’t care. They don’t fucking know me. They don’t know why I just did that, why I hurt my own best friend. They have no clue the kind of risk Ezra forced on everyone at the shop, everyone I care about. He’s reckless and dangerous, way more out of control than I am, and he deserves everything he gets. But they don’t know that.

I can hear the gossip now. Jonas the bastard, beating up his best friend and stealing his drug money. Classic Jonas, the criminal, the thief, the asshole. I’m a bad man, a very bad man, and I always will be.

We get outside and into the Jeep. I speed off, driving back to the apartment, totally unaware of the look Lizzie’s giving me until I stop at a red light.

“What?” I ask her.

She shakes her head. “I never believed it until now.”

“Believed what?”

“That you’re a bad man.”

I grunt and look away. Maybe she’s right. Maybe I went too fucking far, but I don’t think so. Ezra deserves worse, way fucking worse. I should force him out of Half Pipe, get rid of him entirely, but I won’t. Come the morning, I’ll help him.

But Lizzie’s right. I am a bad man, just not for the reason she thinks.

I’m a bad man because I’m taking her back to my apartment and giving her exactly what she’s been begging me for ever since that night in the café.

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