Page 28 of The Breaking Point

“This is where I’m glad my parents don’t give a shit about me,” I said, clapping Mac on the shoulder. “Unless they can get money. That’s all they care about.”

I said the words jokingly, but it still hurt, knowing that my family was fucking useless. Mac had always complained about his parents not understanding him. But at least he had parents.

God, I’m turning into such a sap,I thought. It must be the alcohol.

Right then I saw Riley say something to Grace. She shook her head, that annoyed expression of hers on her face.

“Excuse me,” I said, handing Mac my glass.

I heard Mac mutter something under his breath. But I cared only about Grace because I could tell she wanted to get away from Riley.

Riley had his hand on her arm. She was laughing, but I could tell it was strained. Not because I could hear her: no, I could tell just by her face.

“Come on, baby,” Riley said, “don’t be a tease.”

“I’m going to the bathroom,” said Grace, her tone firm. She glanced at me, her jaw tight, and then she headed toward the back of the club.

“Bitch. She’s not even that hot. No tits and no ass, either.”

Riley didn’t even have time to laugh at what he’d said before I punched him in the mouth. He went down hard, roaring and swearing.

I saw only red. I punched Riley again, but this time, Riley punched back. Then we were fighting, throwing punches and grabbing at each other until I felt hands yanking me away.

“Brady!” someone was shouting in my ear. “Brady! Let him go!”

I wanted to kill him. I could just imagine choking him until his face turned blue—

But then Riley was being dragged away, and my gaze landed on Grace. She was staring at the entire scene, her face pale.

“You’re fucking drunk,” Coach Dallas yelled at me. “Get him out of here,” he said to Mac, who was the one who’d pulled me away.

“Jesus, Brady,” Mac kept saying as he escorted me out. “What the fuck is going on?”

I wiped the blood from my lip. I winced as I felt my right eye. I was going to have a nice shiner in the morning.

“He insulted Grace,” I said.

Mac let out a breath. “Be careful, dude. Go home. Sleep it off. And apologize to Coach in the morning because he looked like he was going to have a stroke.”

I was inside a cab and on my way home before I realized what was happening. I got upstairs to my apartment without falling on my face, although I wasn’t sure how I managed it.

I hadn’t realized how drunk I was. I laughed under my breath as I struggled to get my key in my lock. What would Grace think of me, seeing me like this?

I finally got inside and saw that my phone was blowing up. Multiple texts included links to the fight that had already been posted on social media.

I don’t have time for this,I thought. I was about to turn my phone off when Grace texted me.

Are you okay? Mac told me he called a cab for you before I could find you.

Yeah I’m home. Don’t worry about me.

It took a second for her to respond.Okay. Just be careful. There’s been a lot of chatter online about what you’ve been up to lately. I know you don’t care, but everything reflects on the team.

Since when had Grace turned into PR? Then again, interns tended to be whatever the boss told them to be. Maybe she was shifting gears more from marketing to PR. But I knew she was right, even in my drunken haze. I also hated the thought that I was letting her down.

Noted,I replied. I knew she’d probably be hurt at my shortness, but I didn’t have the energy to care.

But I also knew that Mac had been right. I needed to be careful. This Grace obsession was going to end badly.

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