Page 27 of Resurrection
"Somebody, get the sheriff!" one of the moms shouts, covering her daughter’s eyes with her palm.
"Was that necessary?" another person pipes up from the back.
"There are children here!"
"Is that Tyler Brady?"
Lachlan groans as he gets up from the floor, clutching his jaw. I’m toostunned to even move, my wrist finally free but still numb from his grip. I stare at Tyler, and he's staring right back at me.
It’s chaos then, people accusing Lachlan or Tyler. Sonia’s already found Lachlan’s boy, and they’re standing off to the side. There’s another boy crying, and it’s hard to say if it’s because he can’t find his parent or because he saw a grown man being hit.
I have no words.
"Are you okay?" Tyler inquires, as if he isn't the one who caused this mess in the community center.
And then, to make matters worse, I hear my brother's voice. "What is going on?"
Perfect.
Overcome with embarrassment, I quickly turn and make my way to the exit.
9TYLER
I leanagainst the wall of the community center hallway, pretending it’s an act of rebellion and not just my desperate attempt to stay standing.
Adri's intense glare drills into me, his eyes dark and furious, as if he's personally offended by my existence. He looks about two seconds away from ripping the hair out of that neat little bun of his.
"Really, Brady?" he grits out, shaking his head. "In front of the children?"
"I’m sorry, man," I reply with a shrug.
"Let’s go over the incident again," he says, jotting something down in his tiny notebook.
There's a hum of agitated conversation bleeding through the walls. I thought the noise would give me a chance to slip away unnoticed. But now here I am, under Adri’s magnifying glass, feeling like the world’s oldest juvenile delinquent.
"What happened?" he repeats, firmer this time, like he's trying to wrestle a confession out of me. I see the concern under his thick eyebrows, but it’s the kind of concern that could put me in jail if I breathe wrong.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "Lachlan happened," I say. "He was grabbing Naomi. I might’ve…reacted."
"You might've reacted," Adri says, cutting me off before I can explain anything else. He's all brisk and official, nothing like the incoherent jerk I saw at the casino last night.
"He had his hands on her." I try to sound calm but fail. "I just stepped in. He had it coming."
Adri crosses his arms, and I can almost hear the muscles flex under hisshirt. "Don't you know any better, Ty?" There’s a warning in his voice. "Not here. Not at a children’s event."
"It’s your own sister we’re talking about. Maybe you should care a little more?"
He doesn't even blink. "I do care," he says. "But Naomi can handle herself. She’s not fifteen. She’s a grown woman. Besides, what gives you the right to butt in after all this time?"
His words hit harder than a punch, and I have to bite down on the frustration bubbling up. Of course Naomi can handle herself. She's been doing it ever since I met her. "Oh yeah? Look whose fucking fault this is."
"What’s that supposed to mean, Brady?"
I want to unleash my wrath on him, but if I want to get Naomi’s trust back, I better play nice with her older brother.
"Nothing," I blurt out. "Forget it."
With a grunt, Adri pulls out his citation book and scribbles something in it. "You’ve been in town, what? Two weeks? And you’re already creating drama."
