Braydon

by Nicole Edwards

  “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.

  “Good,” Zane said with a shit-eating grin.

  “What’s the smile for?” Braydon asked.

  “Dude, she married me.”

  Braydon laughed. “I know that. I was there, remember?”

  “Yep, you were. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m still stunned she married me.”

  Braydon laughed again. Yeah, Zane was wholeheartedly in love with Vanessa Carmichael—now Walker—and had been for quite some time. Braydon remembered all the hell they’d gone through back when Zane first started dating V. The assault that had nearly taken Zane from them wasn’t something Braydon wanted to think about.

  “You havin’ babies yet?” Braydon asked, figuring the question was suitable for the moment.

  “We’re tryin’.”

  “Of course you are.”

  “How’s Jess?” Zane questioned, smoothly changing the subject.

  “Don’t know,” Braydon uttered as he gazed out at the land rolling for miles in front of them. “I was gonna ask you the same thing.”

  “I haven’t seen her in a few days,” Zane told him. “She hasn’t been to Moonshiners much lately. The only time I do see her is on Sundays.”

  Sunday dinner with his folks. Braydon was glad to hear Jessie had been going. His parents loved her. At least they hadn’t shut her out while he was gone.

  “My two cents . . .” Zane said, and then paused, clearly waiting for Braydon to look at him. When he did, Zane continued, “Don’t let her go. If you know what’s best for you, you won’t let her go.”

  “Is that how you felt about V?”

  “Damn straight. When you know she’s the one, you just know.”

  “How do you know?” Braydon asked, not intending for the words to come out.

  Zane lowered his voice, his gaze colliding with Braydon’s. “When you have to ask that question, then you already know.”

  “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” Braydon finally said, pulling his gaze from Zane’s.

  “It never is.” Zane chuckled. “But we don’t get much of a say in the matter.”

  Braydon glanced back at the house, figuring he’d find Brendon standing in the doorway. Much to his relief, he wasn’t there.

  “I’ve fucked everything up,” Braydon said, hating that he was spilling his guts, but he welcomed the opportunity to talk to someone about it. Someone who wouldn’t judge him.

  “Did you really think you’d find a woman who wanted to spend the rest of her life with both of you?” Zane asked, his voice still low.

  “I never thought about it.”

  “Man, you can’t question this shit. Just go with it. It’ll work out, bro,” Zane offered, his gaze darting at the house as well. “We’re brothers. We stick together. It might be weird at first, but it’ll work itself out.”

  Braydon wasn’t sure about all that. In all his life, he and Brendon had never been at odds like they were now. The confusion and guilt that settled in his gut were reminders that things weren’t working themselves out yet.

  Braydon didn’t ask Zane to elaborate. They were all well aware of Brendon and Braydon’s unconventional behavior, especially Zane. Considering the man used to engage in the same sort of activities with his best friend, Beau. Those days were behind Zane now that he was married to V and Beau was married to Ethan. But for reasons they couldn’t explain, Braydon and Brendon had always shared women, and up until now, their intentions hadn’t appeared to be changing. Sharing women was natural for them.

  Or it had been anyway.

  “So, does that mean you’ll stay?” Zane asked when the silence wore on.

  Braydon glanced back at Zane. Never in his life had he thought he’d be taking relationship advice from his youngest brother
. But for whatever reason, he felt better after talking to Zane.

  “Yeah, I’m gonna stay,” he told him. He wasn’t sure how things were going to work out in the end, but for now, he needed to come home and figure it out.

  “Aww, hell,” Zane groaned as his eyes darted toward the road. “I gotta run.”

  Braydon glanced down the driveway to see Travis’s truck kicking up dust as it came toward them.

  “Chickenshit,” Braydon offered when Zane made his way down the steps toward his own truck.

  “Damn right. I get enough of his shit, remember? I work for him.”

  Zane stood outside of his truck—a new truck, Braydon realized—as Travis’s came to a stop just a few feet away. Once their oldest brother climbed out, Zane gave him a quick salute and a holler and then jumped in the cab, grinning back at Braydon.

  Great.

  Just what he wanted.

  A fucking welcoming committee.

  BRENDON STOOD INSIDE, staring out the big picture window in the living room that overlooked the front yard. He watched as Zane sidestepped an altercation with Travis by taking his leave. He damn sure didn’t blame the guy.

  Shit, Brendon had been doing his best to avoid Travis for the last few months. With Braydon gone and their relationship with Jessie stalled out completely, he hadn’t wanted to endure Travis’s wrath. Surprisingly, it wasn’t because Travis was grumpy the way he used to be. Luckily, Kylie and Gage had managed to come along and fix whatever was broken in his oldest brother’s heart. So as far as that went, Travis was just fine.

  No, it seemed Travis had a real beef with Brendon. Back when Brendon first set his sights on Jessie, Travis had threatened him within an inch of his life if he hurt Jessie and . . . Well, they all knew how that had worked out.

  He hadn’t meant to hurt her. It still made his stomach ache when he thought about how he’d reacted when he came home to find Braydon gone. Even though he had expected their relationship was going to come to an end, Brendon had prayed that the three of them hadn’t gotten in over their heads. But the last damn thing he’d expected was for his twin to disappear without saying a word. An altercation, maybe. A heated throwdown to blow off steam, sure. But Braydon had knocked him for a loop by running.

  Granted, Brendon knew that it shouldn’t have been so damn hard. But his selfish streak had come out in its full glory, and Brendon had attempted to change their relationship by trying to take Jessie for himself—although it wasn’t even what he had wanted at the time.

  He was the one to blame; there was no doubt about it. And now there were three people who’d paid the price, himself included.

  So how was he supposed to fix this?

  As he stared out the window at his brothers, the only thing he knew for sure was that he was going to have to fix it. Somehow. Some way.

  “WHAT ARE YOU doing here?” Jessie asked Kylie when she managed to force herself to the front door.

  She had been dozing on her bed, her puffy eyes too heavy to keep open after a prolonged crying jag that left her weak and disoriented, when the sudden banging on her front door yanked her right out of a much-needed nap. And now here she was, standing in the entryway, staring back at her sister.

  “Why’d you lock your door?” Kylie countered.

  “No idea,” Jessie stammered, and then moved to the kitchen. Was it too early for a drink?

  “Yes, it is,” Kylie said, causing Jessie to spin around and look at her.

  “What?”

  “It’s too early for a drink.”

  “I didn’t say that out loud.”

  “You didn’t have to. I knew what you were thinking.”

  That pulled a smile from Jessie. Kylie always knew how to make her feel better. Even at a time when she thought nothing would help.

  “Why have you been crying?”

  Kylie didn’t ask her if she’d been crying, which meant Jessie wasn’t the only one who’d noticed how bad she looked. Even though she hadn’t looked at herself, she could feel it. Rather than answer, she moved to the small mirror hanging on the wall in the living room. So much for waterproof mascara.

  “Jess, what’s going on? Did something happen?”

  Jessie disregarded her appearance, dropping her head slightly. It didn’t matter what she looked like anyway.

  A gentle hand rested on her arm and Jessie turned to face her sister.

  “Braydon’s back.”

  “Yeah, you told me that already.”

  “I don’t know what that means for me.”

  Kylie nudged her toward the couch and Jessie conceded. She did need to sit down. That or risk falling over. Crying had drained every ounce of her energy.

  When Jessie flopped onto the cushion, Kylie eased down beside her, one leg tucked up underneath her. She moved close enough that their knees touched slightly.

  “Talk to me. Let’s hash this out.”

  Jessie grunted, half laughed, half grumbled. “There isn’t anything to hash out.”

  “Then let’s talk.”

  “Nothing to talk about, either.”

  “Sure there is. If there weren’t, you wouldn’t have made a mess of your makeup.”

  Feeling self-conscious, Jessie swiped beneath her eyes.

  Kylie reached up and pulled her hand down. “Okay, so the big news of the day is that Braydon’s home. That’s what you wanted, right?”

  “Of course. He shouldn’t have left in the first place.”

  “No, he shouldn’t have,” Kylie agreed sadly. “At least not like that.”

  But he had his reasons, Jessie knew. Just like Brendon had his reasons for pushing her away and she had hers for letting him.

  “I thought you were going to keep this casual?” Kylie asked, although she didn’t at all sound as though she believed that for a moment.

  “I was supposed to,” Jessie retorted. “I . . . It just . . . Oh, God, Kylie. What have I done?” Jessie wiped the fresh batch of tears that formed in her eyes. She did not want to cry over Braydon.

  “You’re human.” Kylie smirked. “It happens to the best of us.”

  “I didn’t want it to go this far.”

  “How far is that?”

  Jessie stared back at her sister, willing her to remember all the horror stories she’d told about the men in her past. When Kylie merely encouraged her to continue with that unrelenting look she had perfected, Jessie said, “Ever since Mike, I haven’t wanted to be in a relationship.”

  “I can sort of understand that,” Kylie replied. “But you have to remember, Mike was an asshole.”

  He was. She wouldn’t argue that point.

  “I’m just not sure I understand why you think you can map this out.”

  “I fall in love too much,” Jessie said shrilly. “God, Ky. Starting back with the first guy I kissed in high school, every man who’s paid me any attention, I’ve fallen in love with.”

  “Love? Are you sure it was love?”

  “What else could it be?” Jessie argued. “And ever since him, I’ve fallen into one long-term relationship after another. I’m not looking for long-term now.”

  “So you’re telling me that because you haven’t been promiscuous, you think you shouldn’t be in a relationship?”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying.” Jessie tossed her hands up in defeat.

  “Then what are you saying?”

  “First there was Gary,” Jessie explained. “I fell for him and he ran off with that blond chick who he said gave good head.”

  Kylie snorted. “Yes, I can certainly see why you’d want to use that one as the basis for all of your future endeavors. Come on, Jess, that guy was a prick.”

  “Not the point. Then there was Erik. He was a loser. He wanted me to move in with him so he could quit his job.”

  “Yep, I remem
ber him all too well.” Kylie sighed.

  “And then Mike. I have a horrible track record with men. After what I let Mike do—”

  “Hold on a minute,” Kylie interrupted, her face stricken with anger. “You didn’t let Mike do anything. No woman lets a man hit her. Regardless, Jess,” Kylie said, placing her hand on Jessie’s arm. “What he did was wrong and he should’ve been punished for it.”

  “I know.” Jessie hung her head in shame. “I still let it happen. Because I loved him.”

  “Bullshit,” Kylie countered heatedly. “I’m not buying that shit for a minute, Jess. We all make mistakes. We’re human. But for you to punish yourself because you’ve had some crappy boyfriends in the past doesn’t make any sense. You can’t pretend that you don’t have feelings for someone just because you want it to be true.”

  “But I do want it to be true. I went into this with Brendon and Braydon without expectations. I didn’t want any promises from them, and I wasn’t giving any in return. And look what happened.”

  “What did happen? You never explained what went down between you and Braydon,” Kylie stated, her tone gentle once again.

  Jessie wasn’t letting go of her anger quite so quickly. Her retort contained a little more bite. “Nothing happened. Braydon left; Brendon told me to get lost. I did. The rest is history.”

  “Again, I call bullshit,” Kylie said, the heat lacking in her tone.

  Jessie stared at her sister, needing to tell someone her secret. Then maybe they would understand how she’d managed to screw it all up.

  “I had sex with them,” Jessie whispered.

  Kylie tilted her head, studying Jessie.

  “With Braydon and Brendon.”

  “I figured that. The three of you—”

  Jessie cut her sister off. “No, not the three of us. Don’t you get it? I screwed up. I had sex with them again even after Braydon said he was done. He didn’t want it anymore.”

  “Oh,” Kylie offered, obviously understanding.

  “Braydon left. Now they both hate me.”

  “They don’t hate you,” Kylie informed her.