Instead, she nodded and turned away, hoping no one noticed the agony she knew was written across her face right then.
UPON RETURNING TO his house after running out of Ethan’s reception with little more than a good-bye to the happy couple, Braydon had ditched his tux, all but ripping the damn thing off. His anger had been a tangible thing, but somehow he’d managed to refrain from doing any damage to the monkey suit. After yanking on shorts and a T-shirt, he plopped his ass on the couch and stared blankly at the television.
The same thing he was doing when Brendon and Jessie walked inside.
At first, he was surprised to see Jessie standing there, staring back at him as though he’d sprouted a third eyeball in the center of his forehead. He expected her to be pissed, but what he saw on her face was probably something closer to tolerance.
Yeah, she was pissed, but just as Jessie always did, she was trying to hide her reaction.
Avoiding looking at Brendon, Braydon kept his eyes on Jessie, watching as she moved across the room, that silky gown clinging to every soft curve. Damn it, she made him so fucking hard, and his frustration wasn’t helping.
In fact, it was amping up his response, something he knew wasn’t a good thing.
“Hey,” Jessie greeted him, her voice soft. “You doing all right?”
Leave it to Jessie to pretend nothing had happened earlier.
And no, he fucking wasn’t doing all right. But he didn’t say as much. He wanted to grip her shoulders and shake her, insist that she tell him what she was feeling. But then he’d be a hypocrite because he was keeping just as much inside.
Turning his attention back to the television, Braydon ignored her.
“He must be, since he’s watching the fucking nature channel,” Brendon stated sarcastically as he walked past the two of them toward his bedroom.
Braydon glowered at his brother’s back, wishing like hell he had the nerve to confront him.
If it weren’t for Travis interfering, Braydon would’ve done so earlier. Part of him was thankful that his brother had stopped him; the other part wanted to rip into Brendon in front of everyone, just to release some of the pent-up aggravation that was churning in his gut.
“Mind if I sit with you?” Jessie asked, interrupting his thoughts.
Braydon shrugged, taking the time to peer up at her where she now stood beside his chair.
The next thing Braydon knew, Jessie was sitting. With him. Or rather, on him was more like it.
Braydon’s body immediately reacted to her nearness, the sweet, flowery scent of her shampoo mixed with the spicy, floral fragrance of her perfume. His head was spinning by the time he was holding her weight on his thighs.
“What are you doing?” he growled softly, furious at her for ignoring the elephant in the room.
“The same thing you are,” she said softly, her voice lacking any of the sweetness that it had before.
They stared back at one another for a moment, Braydon’s hands gripping her hips firmly while she straddled his lap. There was a tumultuous sea of emotion roiling between them, but as always, neither of them said what really needed to be said.
“Pretending nothing happened?” he finally asked.
“Exactly.”
“And sex is your answer to this?” he asked, knowing he was pushing her, not caring that he was probably pissing her off in the process.
“Yes,” she insisted. “It is.”
Braydon didn’t say a word in response. He knew she was just attempting to soothe the tensions the only way she knew how—by distracting them with sex. It wasn’t that she did it on purpose, but that’s what Jessie proclaimed that she wanted.
Not that Braydon had any intention of turning her away.
He was in love. Not an idiot.
At the moment, he couldn’t think of anything better than sinking deep inside of her and forgetting everything, including his own damn name. But he wanted to do this his way tonight. Not hers. Not Brendon’s.
Jessie maneuvered so that she was straddling his lap fully, her knees wedged on either side of his hips while her dress pooled high on her thighs. Instinct had Braydon placing his hands on her thighs, slowly sliding his fingers upward until the tips traced the silky softness of her panties.
When she leaned in to kiss him, Braydon braced himself for the impact.
He groaned when her tongue slipped past his lips and delved into his mouth. She was fire in his arms, primed and ready. He loved when she was the aggressive one, which was about 50 percent of the time. Unfortunately, the other half of the time, Brendon was generally the one in control, leaving Braydon odd man out.
Not that he didn’t bring his own blend of heat and passion to their relationship. His goal was to pleasure Jessie, any way he saw fit.
In all the months that the three of them had been together, it seemed as though the intensity of their lust never managed to abate. And it didn’t matter if they fucked twice a week or twice a day.
Despite the warning bells clanging loudly in his head, Braydon wasn’t able to resist her. He didn’t want to.
“Fuck.”
Braydon opened his eyes when Jessie drew back, both of them turning their attention to Brendon, who had just walked into the room shirtless, his tuxedo pants unbuttoned.
“Don’t let me interrupt,” Brendon added gruffly. “I’m right behind you.”
Braydon could sense the tension in his twin. Whatever had transpired between Brendon and Cheyenne had left him as it always did, pissed off and frustrated.
There seemed to be a potent concoction of emotion building between Brendon and Cheyenne lately, yet for whatever reason, they were all pretending it didn’t exist.
Just as Braydon was doing now.
Braydon ignored his brother, turning back to Jessie. Reaching up, Braydon cupped her face firmly yet gently, holding her right where he wanted her. He allowed his fingers to slide through her glossy caramel hair, pulling her against him until he was overwhelmed by her. The heat of her skin, the exquisite grip of her knees against his hips, the lushness of her breasts resting against his chest . . .
“Braydon,” she whispered, her breath warm against his lips.
“Hmm?” he asked, sliding his mouth down her jawline, inhaling her sweet scent, not wanting to let her go.
“Get naked.”
Another round of bells tolled loudly in his head, but once again, he ignored them. That was getting harder and harder to do though. He knew he shouldn’t, knew he was supposed to be addressing the two of them because for so many reasons this situation was no longer working for him. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not when Jessie was looking at him, talking to him, kissing him.
She was the only thing Braydon had ever wanted just for himself, but he knew good and damn well that Jessie wasn’t on the same page. She expected Brendon to join them. He wouldn’t put it past the two of them to have discussed their plan on their way home from Ethan’s reception. That’s the way it worked.
But for a brief moment, Braydon wanted to pretend otherwise. He wanted to pretend that this woman belonged only to him and that Brendon wasn’t standing just a few feet away, ready to indulge in the one woman Braydon wanted for himself.
“Stand up,” Brendon instructed, taking charge just like he usually did.
And that was the cold, hard slap in the face that Braydon needed.
He couldn’t do this anymore. He couldn’t share Jessie. Not with Brendon. Not with anyone. He wanted her for himself, and if she couldn’t accept that, then he didn’t want her at all.
As Jessie got to her feet, Braydon moved with her, his hands sliding down to her hips, his eyes locked with hers. “I’m not doing this,” he growled roughly.
Jessie’s eyes widened, her mouth falling open slightly.
“What?” Brendon questioned, looking genui
nely perplexed.
“You heard me. I’m fucking done.”
With that, Braydon released Jessie, wishing like hell she’d stop him, insist that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
When that didn’t happen, Braydon slipped into his room, slamming his bedroom door as a punctuation mark on what had turned into the shittiest night of his life.
chapter ONE
One month later
Zane and Vanessa’s wedding
“You look beautiful, V,” Kylie exclaimed as she and Jessie made their way into the bridal room at the small church. Clearly, Kylie, Jessie’s sister, was excited for the woman, as was Jessie.
From the moment they stepped into the room, Jessie felt the soon-to-be bride’s exhilaration mingling with her anticipation. It was almost palpable, making the room seem even brighter, if that were possible.
Jessie and Kylie joined Zoey, the three of them admiring V, who looked simply stunning.
There was an eruption of excitement, giggles, and more compliments while V stared back at the three of them now circling her as they offered their praises. It was amazing how much of a ruckus four women could make all on their own. V’s cheeks turned pink, probably from all the attention, but as the joyous moment settled down, Vanessa Carmichael—soon to be Mrs. Zane Walker—replied easily, “Thank you.”
She did look stunning. Like a modern-day fairy-tale princess in her jewel-encrusted white gown. But V didn’t need an expensive dress to make her look beautiful. The woman just was.
Today was V’s wedding day, and in roughly half an hour she would be marrying the man who had dedicated himself to working his way into her heart. As far as Jessie was concerned, Zane and V were meant for one another, a true example of how opposites attract.
It was the second Walker wedding Jessie had attended in a month. First, she had watched Ethan and Beau tie the knot, so to speak, in a ceremony that had made her weep like a baby. Today she would have the honor of watching V and Zane, the youngest Walker brother, do the same. There was a tiny part of her that was jealous that she wasn’t the one who’d found her happily ever after with the man of her dreams.
The thought had her mind wandering to Braydon. Over the last month, ever since Ethan got married, Braydon had started to pull away. She, Brendon, and Braydon still spent time together, but the sex had come to an abrupt halt after Braydon’s declaration that he was done, which, truth be told, Jessie was okay with. From the threesome perspective anyway. Their easy friendship had become more and more strained in recent weeks, and they were all getting good at pretending that nothing was unusual.
It wasn’t that Jessie didn’t know what was going on. It’s that she didn’t want to discuss it. Neither did they. And probably because they had all clammed up, the tension was soaring to astronomical levels.
“You look like a princess,” Zoey told Vanessa, pulling Jessie back to the moment.
“I feel like one,” V declared as she stared back at Zoey. “It’s just . . .”
“What?” Kylie asked when V didn’t continue.
“Nothing. I’m just nervous.”
“Which is perfectly acceptable,” Zoey assured V.
“Right. Because we all know you were a jumble of nerves on your wedding day,” V huffed, a radiant smile lighting up her entire face.
“I was!” Zoey imparted with a disbelieving chuckle. “You should remember, you were there.”
“Yeah, but you were nothing like this,” V argued, glancing at herself in the mirror. “At this rate, I’m going to trip on my gown and fall on my face before I even make it down the aisle.”
“You’ll have Jerry to make sure you don’t fall,” Zoey reminded V.
A few months ago, Regina, V’s mother, and Jerry, a man Regina had dated years before, had opted to rekindle their long-ago love, this time with Regina giving her all to the relationship. As it turned out, Jerry just so happened to not be married or attached; therefore, when the two of them began officially dating, the man had picked up his relationship with V as though she were the stepdaughter he had always hoped for. To top it off, Jerry had stunned them all when he asked if he could have the honor of giving V away on her wedding day.
“And if that doesn’t work, I’ll make sure to warn the guests sitting near the aisle. I’m sure someone will reach out and catch you,” Zoey said sweetly.
“Thanks,” V snorted with a choked laugh.
“What are friends for?”
“So what’s left to do?” Kylie asked as she moved around the room.
“Nothing but wait,” Zoey told her.
“Yes, freaking wait,” V retorted. “My best friend here is a stickler for being on time, so what did she go and do? She got me ready half an hour early. Now I have to fight the urge to throw up for thirty more minutes.”
All the women giggled at that, including V.
“Where’s your mom? And Lorrie?” Jessie asked, realizing the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom weren’t there.
“They stepped out to make sure everything was going as planned,” Zoey explained.
“I think they got tired of listening to me freak out and they needed to get away,” V inserted.
Funny that V continued to claim she was nervous, because from where Jessie stood, V was the epitome of calm and collected, despite her frequent contradictions to the fact. She was backlit by the windows, her long white gown shimmering in the midmorning sunlight streaming in, a vibrant contrast to V’s flawless olive skin. Her dark hair was pulled into a fancy updo on her head while a few wispy pieces framed her face. Her makeup was minimal, but the woman didn’t need makeup. She was naturally beautiful.
And her smile was present and accounted for.
Ever since Jessie had been introduced to the Walker clan, she’d become close friends with Zoey and V. The two women had embraced both her and Kylie with open arms. Jessie had understood their welcoming her sister into their fold because Kylie was a Walker—technically before they were—but for them to include Jessie . . . Well, she considered herself incredibly lucky.
It was probably a little strange for them all when Kylie, who’d married Travis when she was just eighteen, came waltzing into their lives unexpectedly years later, only to be pulled back into the fold when she and Travis reconciled. They had Gage to thank for that, although Gage probably didn’t think he’d done anything all that heroic, considering his blatantly underhanded way of handling the situation, but Jessie wasn’t one to judge. It had worked out in the end, and that’s all that mattered.
Regardless, Zoey and V were the most down-to-earth women Jessie had probably ever met and the only women, aside from her sister, who she could truly call friends.
“Please tell me you haven’t seen Zane yet today,” Kylie said to V.
V and Zoey both laughed at that, and Zoey was quick to reply with, “I managed to keep him away.”
“You did?” Jessie asked in disbelief. This was Zane Walker they were talking about. The man had come up with an entirely new definition of the word “persistent.”
“Well, I orchestrated it, yes. I left it to his brothers to keep him as far from her as possible.”
“This is Zane we’re talking about,” Kylie reminded them, giving voice to Jessie’s thoughts. “I’m sure they’ve had their hands full.”
“I’ll say.” Zoey giggled. “Zane showed up at the door about an hour ago with Kaleb and Travis in tow. They were threatening to tie him up and gag him if he didn’t behave.”
Jessie could picture that. For the last couple of weeks, Zane had been more obnoxious than usual. His excuse was that he was getting married. Considering the guy had waited patiently—as patiently as he was capable of—for V to agree to a wedding date, Jessie didn’t necessarily blame him. V had presented him with the wedding date at Christmas as her gift to him. Jessie remembered feeling a pang of jealous
y at that time, too.
It wasn’t that she wanted to get married, per se. She just wished she could fall in love with a man who she could envision being with forever. Well, that wasn’t quite accurate. Jessie wished she could find a guy who was looking for the same thing she was. She hadn’t expected it to be a particularly difficult task because Jessie simply wanted to be loved in return. Funny how that never seemed to work out for her.
A knock on the door behind them got their attention, and as the four of them turned to face the newcomer, Zoey and Kylie moved to stand in front of V as though they could possibly block her from anyone’s view. Jessie laughed at the sight. Considering V was noticeably taller than they were, they weren’t accomplishing their goal.
“It’s just us,” Lorrie Walker said as she moved into the room.
The woman looked elegant in her beautiful navy gown, her short dark hair hanging loosely to her shoulders. Simple. Understated. That was the best way to describe the Walker brothers’ mother. She was the sweetest, kindest woman Jessie had ever met.
Even though Jessie was sure Lorrie knew that she had been involved with both Brendon and Braydon at the same time, she never felt any scrutiny from Lorrie. Even now, when it wasn’t exactly wine and roses between the three of them. At first, Jessie had been petrified that she’d be exiled from any family gatherings once the truth came out about her relationship with the twins. But surprisingly, everyone seemed to be all right with it. And by “all right,” she meant no one usually mentioned anything, although Jessie could see the concern in their eyes.
At first, she’d been confused, but then Kylie had informed her that everyone was worried that the twins would hurt her. She’d laughed off the idea, advising her sister that she wasn’t looking for anything permanent. And she wasn’t. Well, in the beginning she hadn’t been. Now . . .
Well, now she couldn’t seem to get Braydon off her mind.
But these days, no one looked at her cross. Probably because she was slowly drifting away from the twins. It was oddly unsettling, but Jessie had gone into the situation knowing it was temporary. The rumors about Braydon and Brendon all seemed to end the same—they weren’t interested in a long-term relationship. Jessie just happened to be around longer than any woman they’d been with before, or so she’d been told.
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