Free Friends & Lovers Trilogy by Bethany Lopez Page B

backyard was full of
people and she went in search of Kara. She walked up to where Pete
stood alone and asked him if he’d seen Kara. He nodded his head
towards the tree line of the backyard, where Kara was making out
with some tall, lanky guy that Briana didn’t recognize.
    “ She’s drunk,” Pete
stated.
    “ What?” Briana asked
incredulously. “We have to be to work in an hour.”
    “ I don’t think she’s gonna
make it.”
    Briana walked over to Kara and tugged on her
arm. “Kara. Kara. Stop. We have to go.”
    The stranger pulled away long enough to say,
“Fuck off,” then went back to slobbering all over Kara.
    “ Kara.” Briana tried
getting closer and tapped her on the back. “We have to get to
work.”
    Kara looked back at her and said, “Hey,
Bree,” then she giggled and turned back to resume her make-out
session.
    Pete approached from behind Briana and
yanked Kara off the guy. He pushed her behind him and stood to face
The Asshole.
    The Asshole towered over him by a few feet
and looked menacing, his jaw clenched and neck bulging.
    “ What’s your problem,
Ginger?” Asshole yelled.
    “ You are,” Pete retorted.
“You shouldn’t be taking advantage of Kara when she’s had too much
to drink.”
    “ Shut up, Pete,” Kara
shouted clawing at Pete’s back. “This is none of your
business.”
    “ Why don’t you listen to
her, Ginger?” Asshole said.
    “ Kara, just let me handle
this. You deserve better,” Pete said to her over his
shoulder.
    Kara’s face turned red. She started to beat
on Pete’s back. “Don’t tell me what I deserve.”
    “ How ‘bout you kick rocks
and leave us be?” Asshole stated, trying to reach around Pete to
grab Kara.
    Then everything seemed to happen at once.
Colin, Kent and Rich finally noticed what was going on and ran over
to assist Pete. Pete knocked Asshole’s hand away from Kara, causing
Asshole’s face to turn a bright shade of red. Kara continued to
pound on Pete’s back.
    Briana watched in horror as Asshole reared
back, then punched Pete square on his jaw. The impact caused Pete
to fall back, toppling Kara over. Pete turned to the side in order
to avoid falling on top of her.
    The other guys grabbed Asshole and held him
back as Kara and Briana rushed over to Pete. He sat up and looked
dazed, but other than a red mark on his jaw, he was fine.
    Kara stroked his jaw. She looked into his
eyes and started to cry.
    “ I’m so sorry, Pete. I
should have listened to you.”
    Pete pulled her to him and held her as she
cried. Briana got up and walked away to let them have some privacy
as the guys hustled Asshole out of the backyard through the
gate.
    “ What the hell was that?”
Roni asked. “What happened?”
    “ That guy got too rough and
hit Pete, so they escorted him out,” Briana said, trying to play
off the situation.
    Nicole came running over. “Is Pete okay?”
she asked.
    “ Yeah, but I don’t think
Kara’s going to be able to work tonight. Pam lets you serve
sometimes, right? Do you think you’d be able to cover for her
tonight?”
    “ Sure,” Nicole said with a
shrug. “I don’t have any plans after this.” She glanced up as the
guys walked back through the gate.
    Briana recognized the look of longing on her
face, but didn’t have time to wonder what had caused it. She was
just grateful that Nicole agreed to cover for Kara so Kara didn’t
get in trouble. She thanked Nicole, then walked over to meet Colin,
Rich, and Kent.
    “ Hey, guys, Nicole is going
to cover for Kara at work tonight, so we need to get going. Can you
keep an eye on Kara and Pete and make sure they get home
okay?”
    They all nodded. Briana gathered her things
and told Nicole she’d see her in a few minutes at the restaurant.
Before she made it to the car she heard Colin calling after her and
paused.
    “ I really have to get to
work, Colin. I’m going to be late as it is.”
    “ I’ll just take a second,
Bree,” he said quickly.
    “ Okay.”
    “