Braydon (11 page)

“What?”

“He’s back. He’s at home now.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Jessie waited patiently for her sister to say something.

“Did you talk to him?” Kylie finally asked, her voice much softer than before.

“No.” And she didn’t want to, either. The only thing she cared about was that he was home where he belonged.

“Jess,” Kylie admonished.

“What?”

“Don’t you dare disappear on me. Do you understand?”

Jessie wasn’t sure she could make that promise, so she kept her mouth shut.

“Jess, I mean it. We’ve got a business to run. I can’t do this without you.” Kylie paused briefly. “I don’t
want
to do this without you. We’ll work through this, I promise.”

Work through what? Jessie didn’t know what Kylie was talking about. There was no way her sister could realize what was going on in Jessie’s mind. Or her heart.

“Jessie, promise me. Please.” The fraught tone of her sister’s request nearly broke her.

“I won’t,” she answered. “At least not right now.”

Kylie sighed, but she didn’t argue, although Jessie knew she wanted to. She was grateful for her sister’s ability to stay calm. At the moment, Jessie was pretty sure she was going to hyperventilate.

“Come to dinner tonight.”

“I can’t.” And that was the honest truth. Braydon would be at dinner, and it would be too awkward. Their family deserved to be able to spend time with him without having to worry about her feelings.

“Then I’ll stop by after,” Kylie suggested. “We’ll go to Moonshiners for a little while.”

Knowing she’d probably need the company, Jessie didn’t argue. “Okay.”

“All right. Well, I’ve got to go tell Travis that he nearly gave you a heart attack this morning for no reason.”

“I’ll see you later,” Jessie said and ended the call.

Making her way to the refrigerator, she retrieved a bottle of water and unscrewed the cap. Bottle in one hand, lid in the other, Jessie stared out into space, but she didn’t take a drink. She couldn’t. Her throat had tightened up to the point she couldn’t swallow.

She was going to cry, she knew it. Hoping that standing still would keep the dam from breaking, Jessie took huge gulps of air as she blinked her eyes repeatedly.

No matter how hard she tried not to, the tears started to fall and she couldn’t seem to stop them. From that point on, the sobs wracked her body and made breathing difficult. She was a mess. A complete and total mess, and the worst part about it was that it was all her fault.

How had she gotten into this position? How could she still be so affected after all the lonesome, tear-filled nights that had gotten her to this point? She wasn’t supposed to be sad. She wasn’t supposed to be upset. And she shouldn’t fucking care that Braydon didn’t want to have anything to do with her anymore.

The last thought had more tears dripping down her cheeks.

Furiously brushing the tears away with the backs of her hands didn’t do any good, so she just gave up, letting them stream down her face. The fact that her emotions had gotten the best of her only pissed her off, but even that didn’t deter the damn tears.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Heading to her bedroom, Jessie flopped on her bed and clutched one of her pillows, the tears continuing to trickle onto the soft cotton. As she lay there blubbering, the devastation taking hold, she thought back to the day she’d met Braydon and Brendon. Back to the chance encounter that started it all, the night Jessie convinced Kylie to stop at Moonshiners for the very first time.

“Hey.”

Jessie was staring at the selection of music on the jukebox when a deep, sexy voice sounded from her right. She looked up into an incredibly attractive face sporting a brilliant white grin. She noticed he had long, dark lashes surrounding inquisitive eyes, but she couldn’t make out the color because his hat was casting his face in shadow. She didn’t need a spotlight to tell he was handsome.

“Hey back,” she retorted with a grin.

“Brendon Walker,” he introduced himself, his hand held out to her.

“Nice to meet you, Brendon Walker.”

His eyes squinted and his lips tipped into a half smirk, and she was pretty sure he was responsible for making her girl parts ignite immediately. There was no doubt in her mind that the guy was on the prowl and he’d set his sights on her. Then again, there weren’t many women in the place, so his options were fairly limited at the moment.

Not that it mattered. Jessie didn’t need a commitment from the man just to talk to him.

“Can I get you another drink?” he asked, his eyes darting down to the empty glass she held in her hand.

“Grey Goose and 7.
Thank you,” she replied, her eyes fixed on his. He really was absurdly attractive.

“Be right back. Don’t go far.”

Jessie glanced over her shoulder as he walked away, admiring his extremely fine ass encased in dark blue Wranglers. Yep, stopping in this bar was probably the best idea she’d had in months.

Hoping she didn’t get caught ogling, she turned back to the jukebox and glanced halfheartedly through the selection.

“Hey.”

The deep voice was back and Jessie turned, about to tell him that the bartender must like him, but she found herself face-to-face with . . . The same guy? Wearing a backward ball cap.

“Umm . . .” Jessie was at a loss for words.

“Quit messin’ with her.”

Jessie turned in time to see Brendon—yes, that was his name—walking back toward her, a glass of clear liquid in his hand.

Holy crap. These two were the spitting image of one another. Well, except for the hats and their clothes. But their faces, their builds, even their voices . . . Yeah, Jessie was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to tell them apart if it weren’t for the hats.

“Braydon Walker,” the second guy said, his hand sliding down to meet hers.

“Jessie Prescott,” she answered, still stunned.

“I’m the better-looking one,” Braydon offered, and Jessie laughed. And then all her tension dissipated.

That was when she realized she was in so much trouble.

chapter
SIX

“I
didn’t mean to run her off,” Braydon stated halfheartedly when Brendon returned through the front door. The moment Jessie’s car started up, his twin had set a world speed record to get back outside.

“Fucking shit,” Brendon groaned. “I should’ve known.”

“Should’ve known what?” That Jessie would feel awkward being around the two of them again? Uh,
hello
! Braydon could’ve told him that.

Hell, Braydon didn’t necessarily blame her. The last time he’d seen her, he had been standing behind her, buried deep inside her warm body . . . Fuck.

And then he’d disappeared without a good-bye, all because of his own desperate need to make sense of everything that was going on. And to top it all off, he had ignored her calls and texts because he was too scared to talk to her. Too scared he was going to tell her just what she meant to him.

“I told her we needed to talk,” Brendon said, unusually calm.

“You mentioned that,” Braydon stated, standing stone still in the entryway. Although technically this was his house, he felt like a guest. And since he wasn’t even sure he was staying, he didn’t want to lead Brendon to believe otherwise. “I’m here. Let’s talk.”

“No, I meant the three of us.
We
needed to talk.”

Braydon stared at Brendon, waiting for him to continue.

Brendon glanced around, appearing confused as to why they were still standing just inside the door. He finally met Braydon’s eyes again and said, “You want somethin’ to drink?”

“Sure.” Braydon didn’t move, waiting for Brendon to lead the way.

When his brother finally did, heading toward the kitchen but not before glaring back at Braydon, he fell into step behind him. Once in the kitchen, Braydon caught sight of the clock on the microwave. Yeah, so it was only ten in the morning. The type of drink he needed would be frowned upon this early in the day. When Brendon asked what he wanted, Braydon opted for a Dr Pepper instead.

“Do you need to go check on her?” Braydon asked, resting against the granite countertop after he popped the top on the can, one hand clutching the edge while he held his drink in the other and stared back at Brendon.

“Shit. She doesn’t want to see me,” Brendon huffed.

Braydon’s heart came to a sudden, jarring halt as he watched his brother, confused. “What are you talking about?”

Brendon cocked an eyebrow, then followed it up with one of his infamous scowls. “Are you serious right now?”

Braydon stood there, unable to speak. Clearly he’d been out of the loop for far too long. No one had mentioned that there was any sort of rift between Brendon and Jessie. Not his mother. Not his father. Not even Travis during their brief yet volatile conversation.

“Man, I haven’t talked to Jessie in nearly three months. At least not enough for it to matter.”

Braydon nearly dropped his can. Placing it on the counter before he had a mess to clean up, he twisted back to face his brother. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Goddamn, man. You think you just disappeared and life moved on without you? What? Did you think that all of a sudden she wanted me just because you weren’t here?” Brendon laughed incredulously. “Fuck, man. You’re the one in love with her. Not me.”

Suddenly, all the frustration and resentment that had been bottled up since he walked out of this house the last time came rushing back. This time it was targeted at Brendon. How the hell could he treat Jessie like that? How could he possibly just . . . “You haven’t talked to her in three
months
?” Braydon yelled, unable to maintain even a fraction of his control. “What the fuck?”

Brendon stood up straight, and that was when Braydon realized he was nearly face-to-face with his brother.

“You’re the one who left,” Brendon ground out through clenched teeth. “Turn this on me if you want, but you weren’t here. You have no fucking right to be pissed at me.”

“You’re the reason I fucking left,” Braydon growled, his hands balling into fists at his sides. “You fucking knew. God damn it. You knew and you tried to keep her for yourself anyway.”

Brendon’s eyebrows rose and then his face fell. “That was stupid, I know.”

“
What?
” Braydon didn’t know if his brother even knew what he was talking about.

“What happened at Christmas . . . I shouldn’t have done it. I was fucking jealous.”

“Of
what
?” Braydon yelled again. “What the fuck do I have that you could possibly be jealous of?”

“Goddamn, Braydon! Are you that fucking obtuse?” Brendon yelled back. “You fucked her in a storage room, for chrissakes. I saw the way you looked at her. I’ve seen the way you’ve looked at her for months.”

Braydon stared blankly at his twin.

“Get it now?”

No. No, he didn’t.

“You’ve got feelings for this one,” Brendon said seriously, albeit heatedly. “You care about her. I know you do. But . . .” He clamped his mouth shut, and Braydon waited for him to continue even though he knew he wouldn’t.

And true to form, Brendon turned and stalked off.

Braydon took a deep breath. This was not how he had envisioned their first conversation after three painfully long months going. He didn’t want to fight with Brendon. Shit, at the moment he wanted to go to Jessie.

How the fuck could Brendon have left her alone all this time?

Braydon was just about to follow Brendon when a knock on the door pulled him up short.

He glanced at the door. Then back toward Brendon’s room, where his twin had disappeared.

With a resigned sigh, he headed for the door. He figured the lesser of two evils was the person standing on the other side of that damn door.

Big mistake. Huge.

“’Bout damn time.”

Good Lord. Could they come up with some other way to greet him?

“You knocked one time,” Braydon argued, staring back at Zane, who was leaning casually against the doorjamb.

“I’m not talking about how long it took you to answer the door, dumbass.”

Braydon couldn’t help himself, he grinned. That was Zane. His brother was actually smiling.

“You here to see Bren?” Braydon asked as he took a step back.

“Nope,” Zane said with a smirk.

“Want to come in?” Braydon asked.

Zane leaned his head forward and made a big to-do about looking around the interior of the house before standing up straight and glancing at Braydon. “Fuck no. I heard the two of you when I pulled down the driveway. I happen to like my head on my shoulders, thank you very much. Y’all can duke it out when I’m gone.”

“Then what the hell’d you come over here for?” Braydon asked, joining his brother outside and shutting the door behind him.

“Figured I’d warn you.”

“About what?”

“Your secret’s out. They all know you’re back.”

“I’m not back,” Braydon grunted. Not that he was surprised. It could’ve been anyone who triggered the news flash. They lived in a small town, which meant word spread fast.

“No? Then why the hell are you standin’ here?” Zane countered.

“At this point, I don’t even know,” Braydon answered heatedly.

“Well, at least you’re here right now.”

There was that.

“And Travis ain’t too happy with you.”

Of course not. Braydon remembered Travis’s interference back when they’d first met Jessie. The man had been surprisingly protective of her. It wasn’t until Braydon learned that Travis was married to Jessie’s sister that he understood why. Thankfully, Travis hadn’t threatened bodily harm. At least not to him. Brendon, on the other hand, was the one who’d been keeping one eye open at all times.

“How’s V?” Braydon asked, choosing to steer the conversation to something less frustrating. Thinking about the ass-chewing he was going to get from Travis wasn’t helping his souring mood.