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Braden waggled his eyebrows and continued to smirk. The more I thought about it, it was probably best I didn’t know. “Never mind,” I said, waving him off. “I’m good.”
Braden shrugged. “Okay. Although you might want to know who I talked to last night; it’s someone you know quite well.”
For a split second, my heart stuttered and threw me off balance. Braden used it to his advantage and landed a hit to my left cheek. My head snapped with the impact, and pain exploded in my jaw, but I shook it off quickly.
“Who?” I demanded. The only person he’d goad me about was Emma. He was the only one in our inner circle who had suspected something was going on between us. I’d never confirmed or denied it, but Braden was very perceptive.
He gave me a shit-eating grin, the same he’d always give when he thought he had the upper hand. “You know who. She’s looking hot as hell too. And get this, she’s staying with me.”
Muscles tensed, I reared back and let my arm fly, hitting him as hard as possible. Braden fell to the mat, guffawing the entire way down. He rolled over onto his back, clutching his stomach from laughing so hard.
Heart thrumming wildly, I stood over him. “Is she in California?”
All humor gone, Braden glanced up at me. “Yep.”
“What’s going on?”
I helped him up, and he peered around the gym before focusing on me. “None of us know exactly. Emma had a letter sent to her; it was kind of cryptic. We think she might need protection. That’s why she’s staying with Ethan and me.”
An overwhelming sense of the need to protect her ignited through my entire body. “Tell me everything.”