“You’re as normal as the rest of us, Jess.”
“I’m the girl who’s been sleeping with two guys. Well, not recently, but you know what I mean. I’m the girl who decided that because I fall in love too much I’m not gonna fall in love again, period. I mean, that even sounds crazy to me, and I’m the one who came up with it.”
Braydon raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.
“And look where that got me.”
“Where’s that?” he asked.
“It got me in the same place, Braydon,” she said, her tone firm, the sadness all but gone from her eyes as she stared back at him.
He knew she had more to say, so he held his tongue.
“I love you. Don’t you get that? I fell in love with you a long time ago. Even after I promised myself that I wouldn’t. I wanted to be friends. I really did.” Jessie took a deep breath, continued, “After I found myself immersed in an untraditional relationship that was supposed to be a friendship with a few added benefits, I knew I’d probably gone a little too far. And look what I did with that. I lost both you and Brendon. I shattered a friendship that had come to mean so much to me.”
“You didn’t shatter anything,” he said.
“That wasn’t quite the part I was hoping you would pay attention to,” Jessie countered hotly.
“Oh, was there something else?” he asked, grinning, pretending to think about what she’d said. He didn’t last long, because he was pressing his lips to hers again, this time cradling her head and moving in closer to her. “I love you too, Jessie. I’ve loved you from the moment I met you.”
“Really?” she questioned when she pulled back. “Why the hell didn’t you just say so?”
Braydon laughed at that. “In case you don’t remember, I did tell you. You opted not to listen.”
“Oh, I heard you,” she rattled off. “I just wanted to hear you say it again.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked curiously.
“Because I wasn’t supposed to love you. I think I’m broken. I realized that what I feel for you is so much more than any of that fantasy crap I’ve felt in the past, so maybe I don’t really habitually fall in love. I don’t know, maybe I do . . .”
Braydon covered her mouth with his own to get her to be quiet. He loved that she was opening up, but she was going so fast, he was having a hard time keeping up. The truth of it was, ever since she told him that she loved him, he hadn’t paid much attention to the rest. The rest wasn’t all that important. What was important was figuring out where they went from there.
Jessie was the one to pull back, and Braydon let her. He didn’t let her go, but he pulled back far enough to look down into her face.
“What do we do about this?” she asked. “I don’t know where to go from here. If you want to know the truth, every time I’ve gotten to this point, I’ve ended up with a broken heart, and Braydon,” Jessie whispered, her voice hoarse from what he assumed was emotion, “I don’t want you to break my heart.”
“I love you, Jess. I don’t know exactly how we proceed from here, but I know that what we’ve been doing isn’t working. You don’t seem to trust me, and until that happens, I don’t know how to make things right between us.”
Jessie pulled away completely and she paced the floor in the opposite direction. He kept his eyes on her until she looked up at him.
“See, the thing is, I do trust you. I’m just prone to worst-case scenarios. I knew, after I’d stopped and actually thought about it,” she said in a rush, “that you weren’t with Cheyenne. I’ve never believed that you wanted to be, either. I think it was just easier to hang on to that. It wasn’t fair to you, but it fed my insecurities, something I’m constantly doing.”
“Jess, I really don’t understand where you’re going with this,” he told her honestly.
“Yeah, well, I don’t, either,” Jessie stopped directly in front of him again. “I want to be with you, Braydon. I want to be with you today, tomorrow, the day after that, the year after that, and so on and so forth. I don’t want to be broken.
“I’ve had shitty luck with men and I take complete responsibility. I ended up in abusive relationships and I made plenty of excuses both during and after them. Which was why I actually came here, to Coyote Ridge. I was trying to change myself, to figure out why I am the way that I am and then to fix what was damaged. And then I met you and Brendon and y’all provided me with a distraction.”
Braydon thought she was going to stop, give him a chance to speak. Before he could get a word in edgewise, she kept going.
“I still don’t know if I’m ready for something permanent. No, I take that back. I am ready for something permanent. I’m ready for something permanent with you.”
Braydon wasn’t sure what to say. She was all over the map and it made him want to laugh. Not at her, but at her obvious confusion. He knew how she felt. He’d never been in a single relationship where he had to worry about things moving to the next level, unless of course the next level was a different sexual position. But with Jessie, this wasn’t about sex.
This was about love.
She loved him.
“I love you, Jess,” he told her again.
“Even after all that?” she asked, exasperated.
Braydon chuckled. “Because of all that.”
Finally, Jessie didn’t have anything to say, and Braydon took the opportunity to tell her how he felt.
“I’m not perfect, Jess. I don’t pretend to be. Hell, I don’t want to be. As far as relationships go, the most I’ve ever done is friends with benefits. I’ve stayed in Brendon’s shadow all of my life because it was just easier to be there. And then when I wanted to break loose after I met you, I realized it was too late. It was you . . .” Braydon forced his eyes to remain on hers. “I fell in love with you. When the three of us were together, I pretended it was just you and me. It was a fantasy I couldn’t let go of. When I was gone for those three months, I thought about you all the time. I thought about you and Brendon off making a life together without me and it damn near killed me, Jess.”
“I would’ve told you that we weren’t together if you would’ve answered my calls,” she snarked with a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.
“I know. We don’t seem to do well with communication. Not the verbal kind anyway.”
“So maybe we start there,” she suggested.
“It’s not a bad idea,” he told her, closing the gap between them. “But I’m also hoping we can do a little nonverbal communication.”
“You’re bad, Braydon Walker.”
Yes, he was. And he’d be the first to admit it.
But he’d do that later. Because right now, he didn’t want to talk anymore.
WHEN BRAYDON’S LIPS came down on hers, Jessie didn’t let him get away with a mere peck that time. She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him down toward her, their tongues meeting, dueling. There was so much promise in his kiss, and Jessie latched onto it.
She’d opened up to him, and honestly, telling him how she felt actually made her feel lighter.
So, yes, it was safe to assume that she was shitty with communicating. Her sister had informed her of that a time or two. In the past week actually. But Braydon was giving her a second chance, and she knew there was no way she could ruin it for them this time.
“I love you,” she whispered against his mouth when he pressed her into the wall.
They were crushed together from chest to knee, and Jessie desperately wanted to get closer.
“I wish you were wearing a skirt,” he informed her, his lips never breaking away from hers.
“Me too,” she agreed. “But I’m not, and we can’t do this in your brother’s guest room.”
As though someone on the outside knew exactly what they were getting ready to do, a firm hand began banging on the
door.
Jessie jumped, pulling her mouth from Braydon’s and burying her face against his chest as she giggled.
“Get your asses out of that room,” Travis scolded from the other side. “Everyone’s waiting outside for you two.”
“For us?” Jessie asked Braydon, peeking up at him. “Why us?”
“No idea,” Braydon answered. “We’ll be right out,” he told Travis.
When Braydon stepped back, Jessie smoothed her hands over her clothes, hoping she didn’t look like she’d just had a heated make-out session in Ethan’s guest bedroom. Considering Braydon’s face was flushed and his hat was crooked, she figured it didn’t really matter what she looked like. Everyone was going to know.
“Oh, who cares,” she mumbled beneath her breath.
“Huh?” Braydon asked as he looked over at the door.
“Nothing. Let’s get out there, see what they’re waiting on, and then we’ll sneak off when no one’s looking.”
“Good idea.” Braydon took her hand and moved toward the door. Before he opened it, he looked back down at her and smiled. “I love you, Jess. And I hope you know that I’m going to make sure I tell you that every day for the rest of your life.”
An overwhelming burst of hope stirred her insides. For the rest of her life? God, could this really be happening? There were a dozen questions she wanted to ask him, but before she could get even a single word out, he grabbed her hand and tugged.
“Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
Jessie followed Braydon out of the bedroom. Luckily no one was standing on the other side of the door, including Travis. She took a little detour to the small bathroom downstairs and peeked into the mirror. She didn’t look all that bad, but she took a moment to fix her hair and wipe the mascara from beneath her eyes. She really was going to have to find a different waterproof mascara. The one she was using didn’t work for shit.
THEY HAD JUST stepped outside when Jessie heard the sound of metal on glass. That was followed by a dog’s bark.
“You’ve got a guard dog on your hands there,” someone told Sawyer.
Several people laughed, but Jessie just tried to make her way through the group to where Kylie was standing. She had managed to get within a few feet of her when Beau and Ethan headed in their direction. Travis and Gage were standing beside Kylie and the three of them were talking quietly.
“Do you know what’s going on?”
Jessie turned to see Kaleb and Zoey standing beside her, Mason giggling and cooing in Kaleb’s arms. Kaleb had actually directed his question at her. She just shook her head no and opted to stand beside the two of them.
“Y’all, I know you’re probably wondering why we invited everyone over here. I’d like to say it’s because Ethan’s decided he wants to be part of the social scene,” Beau teased, glancing over at Ethan, who was glaring at him. “But sadly, that’s not the case. Although I’m pretty impressed. He hasn’t tried to hide in a closet or anything.”
A round of laughter, followed by “Is that a reference to something, Beau?”
“Oh, shut up,” Ethan barked, the hint of a smile on his boyishly handsome face.
Another chorus of laughter before a deep, grumbling voice sounded.
“Cool it. Let’s hear what they have to say.”
It was Curtis’s booming voice that had quieted the ruckus, and Jessie noticed that Lorrie was standing right behind her husband. Beside them were Brendon, Jared, Zane, V, Sawyer, and Sawyer’s friend Greyson. Jessie recognized Braydon’s cousins CJ and Jaxson hanging out in the back, drinking beer and watching what was going on.
It wasn’t until she was turning back to look at Beau that she realized . . . Holy crap. “My dad’s here.”
“Where?” Braydon asked.
She didn’t have to tell him because he was looking in the same direction she was. He must’ve seen them too because he took a step closer to her, and the fact that he was close was oddly comforting. Jessie gave a brief smile and waved her father and Melissa over.
As soon as they were within arm’s reach, Jessie threw her arms around her father. God, she was glad to see him. More so than she would admit. Before she had a chance to talk to them, someone cleared their throat and Jessie turned to face Beau and Ethan.
“We weren’t the ones who put this in motion, to be honest,” Ethan stated. “My brother is the one with the announcement, actually. Beau was the one who offered to host this little shindig, otherwise we’d all be elsewhere.”
Travis glared at Ethan, but he smiled while he did.
“Thanks,” Travis groaned.
“So what is it?” someone hollered from the back.
Jessie’s attention was drawn to her sister, who was suddenly turning a bright shade of red.
“Oh my God,” Jessie whispered, unable to hold back her excitement, her hands beginning to tremble uncontrollably. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” she screamed and took off toward Kylie.
Kylie just laughed, her own grin splitting her entire face.
“I knew it! I knew there was something going on with you!” Jessie exclaimed.
“What the hell is going on?” Zane questioned, his voice echoing through the large backyard.
“Boy, watch your mouth,” Curtis called.
“We’re pregnant,” Kylie said.
Everyone began to speak at once, a million questions coming forth, most of them asking if they had heard correctly.
“Yes, you heard correctly,” Gage confirmed. “We’re pregnant.”
Jessie wrapped her arms around her sister as the tears began to fall again. “Oh my God, sis! I’m so freaking happy for you.”
“Thank you,” Kylie said, her voice rough with her own tears.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jessie asked, gripping Kylie’s shoulders and pushing away from her slightly. She hardly noticed when her father came to stand beside them.
“We wanted to make sure everything was going to be okay,” Kylie informed her.
“How far along are you?” Jessie asked, looking up at Travis and Gage, who were standing beside their wife, matching proud grins on their faces.
“Thirteen weeks. The baby’s due in December.”
Holy crap. She was going to be an aunt. Kylie was pregnant. This was the perfect ending to what was turning out to be a fantastic day. Finally.
Everyone around them descended and Jessie was caught up in the chaos. She didn’t let herself get pushed out this time. Or maybe Braydon made sure she didn’t. Whatever the reason, for the first time in a really long time, Jessie felt as though things were finally looking up.
Braydon loved her. He told her so.
Kylie and her husbands were starting a family.
And her dad was moving to Coyote Ridge.
She wasn’t sure she could ask for much more than that.
Braydon had wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her gently from behind, and Jessie was so caught up with emotion, she didn’t even realize she had started crying.
But thankfully, these were happy tears.
chapter TWENTY-EIGHT
“Jessie,” Braydon warned as he pulled the truck into her driveway several hours later.
“Hmm?”
“Honey, you’re gonna make me wreck my truck.” Not really, but shit, if she kept nibbling on his ear like that, he might just throw the damn thing in Park and take her right there in front of her house.
While she continued to tease him relentlessly, Braydon managed to park his truck successfully and shut off the engine. But before he could get out of the truck, Jessie was straddling his lap, crushed between him and the steering wheel. He helped her out by hitting the knob that forced the wheel up higher, giving her a little more room.
“What’re you doin’?” he asked curiously, wrapping his arms around her.
“I
wanted to see how far I could push you before you broke.”
“Oh, darlin’, I’m damn close. Are you sure you want to test me?”
Jessie surprised him when she sat back and reached for the hem of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head, tossing it to the other side of the bench seat. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
Without hesitation, Braydon reached for her breasts, sliding her bra down enough to allow them to spill free, her pretty pink nipples enticing him as they came into view.
Braydon knew they should’ve been going slow, but the inferno was consuming them both. The passion that ignited without effort was surrounding them, stirring up the lust that had been kept in check for far too long. He couldn’t keep his hands off her.
Placing his hands on her waist, he lifted, forcing her to raise off his straining cock as he leaned forward and tongued one nipple, then the other. He continued to bathe them with his tongue while Jessie looped her arms around his neck, holding his head to her breast.
“Don’t stop,” she urged.
“Don’t worry,” he responded, nipping her nipple gently as he reached around and unhooked her bra before allowing it to slide down her arms. When she was naked from the waist up, he used his hands along with his mouth to tease her breasts, sucking and nibbling until she was writhing and begging.
God, he loved how responsive she was. With his focus on her nipples, he reached down and unbuttoned her shorts, managing to slide one hand down into her panties. She shifted, allowing him more room to maneuver, and Braydon took the opportunity presented to him.
He was fingering her clit gently while he sucked her nipple into his mouth, high on her soft, sweet moans.
“Braydon,” Jessie whispered.
“I’m right here, baby,” he answered. Releasing her nipple from between his lips, he looked up at her. Then he shifted, forcing her off his lap and onto the seat beside him. “Lay down.”
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