Braydon (18 page)

No, Moonshiners wasn’t equipped for this type of gathering. Hell, at most, they could probably cram one hundred people in, and that would be shoulder to shoulder. But there were still people coming through the door.

Taking a step to the side, Braydon tried to keep from being trampled. Over the heads of the people cramming themselves inside, he noticed that Travis, Gage, Kaleb, Zane, Ethan, and Beau had all gone into alpha-protector mode. Travis and Gage were flanking Kylie as she sat at the table in the back, now talking to Tessa, Katie, and Cheyenne. Kaleb had his arm wrapped around Zoey’s shoulders as she chatted with Cooper and Dalton, who were standing beside the women they had walked in with. Zane had pulled V close as they talked to Beau, who was shoulder to shoulder with Ethan.

Braydon immediately looked for Jessie, wondering just who was keeping an eye on her. He didn’t want to see her with Brendon, but he hoped like hell his twin had taken to her side to make sure she wasn’t squashed during the melee.

Wait. Brendon wasn’t there. Or at least Braydon hadn’t seen him since he came in.

Worried, he continued to scan the room until he found Jessie. She was over by the jukebox. By herself.

Without considering how she might react to him coming to her rescue, Braydon began pushing through the group that had gathered near the bar on his way to the back, but he came up short when he saw Sawyer and Jared make their way over to her. When the two men spoke, Jessie’s face lit up like a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.

A tap on his shoulder had him turning and coming face-to-face with Brendon, who looked dazed and confused. “What the hell is goin’ on here?”

Braydon nodded his head toward the back. “Someone invited the celebrities tonight.”

Brendon’s eyes moved across the room and Braydon followed his gaze. When it rested on Cheyenne Montgomery, who was arm in arm with Dalton Calhoun, his brother murmured under his breath. Braydon was pretty sure it was a string of creative curse words that he’d never heard before.

“Problem?” he asked acerbically, not expecting Brendon to answer. For the entire past week, they’d pretty much ignored one another. At one point, Braydon had thought they stood half a chance of having a civil conversation, but then Brendon’s mood had gone from bad to shitty. Braydon had left him alone since.

“Yeah,” Brendon retorted, turning an angry glare on Braydon. “Plenty of them. Take your fucking pick.”

Clearly, Brendon wasn’t trying to make conversation because he stalked off toward the back of the room. Braydon watched him go.

Shit. He was heading directly for . . . Jessie.

Oh, fuck.

This wasn’t going to be good.

Not good at all.

UNTIL SAWYER AND
Jared arrived to keep her from having to be alone, Jessie had been hoping the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

Before Tall, Dark, and Famous walked in—all three of them and the woman Jessie didn’t recognize—she’d been having a good time talking to Kylie, Zoey, and V. But the moment Sawyer announced their arrival, she found herself lost in the shuffle. As soon as the guys started with their protective bullshit, surrounding their women like they were wolves protecting their mates or something, she’d been shoved to the side.

In an effort to pretend as though it didn’t bother her, Jessie had gone straight for the jukebox. It was that or walk home, which she had absolutely no intention of doing. So she had pretended to study the music selection until Sawyer and his cousin came over and started talking.

She had heard very little of what they were saying for two reasons: one, the room was so loud, she could barely hear her own voice when she spoke; and two, she had caught sight of Braydon watching her. If she wasn’t mistaken, he had actually been planning to come talk to her, but thankfully, Sawyer and Jared had jumped in and saved the day.

But now she had more than just Braydon to worry about. He was standing stone still in the middle of the room, silently looking in her direction, but he wasn’t the one she was concerned with. At the moment, Brendon was pushing through the masses. He seemed to be heading toward her, but she hoped she was wrong. Since the hallway to the restrooms was to the right of where she was standing, maybe he was actually just planning to take care of business.

Wait. Nope. Nature didn’t seem to be calling his name. And now he was calling hers.

“Jess.”

Jessie looked at Brendon. Then over to Braydon. Then back. “What’s up?” she asked, trying not to sound too flummoxed that he was actually talking to her. Since Braydon arrived back in Coyote Ridge, Brendon hadn’t said two words to her. Not that they’d had the opportunity for as much as a conversation, but he certainly hadn’t made any effort, either.

“How’re you?” he asked, moving up close to her. That was when the warning bells began to reverberate in her head.

“Good,” she answered, glancing over at Sawyer, who was now engrossed in a conversation with some woman who was practically climbing his body. Jared seemed to have escaped. Lucky him.

“Can I get you a drink?”

Jessie stared at him in utter disbelief. And that’s when she realized what he was doing.

“No,” she said through clenched teeth. “You can’t.”

Brendon’s eyebrows rose.

“I’m not playing this game with you, Brendon. I can’t believe you’d even stoop that low.”

Jessie wasn’t naive. She knew good and damn well that Brendon was using her to make Cheyenne jealous. She doubted it would work in the first place, but God, the feeling sucked.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, but Jessie knew he caught her meaning.

“You can’t stand to look at me until you need someone to help you make her jealous.”

Brendon glanced over his shoulder, proving right then that she had nailed his motive.

“If you wanna buy someone a drink, you should try her. Ugghhh!” she growled and pushed past him. Jessie couldn’t believe the audacity he had. He couldn’t so much as talk to her, couldn’t give her enough respect to try to talk about what had happened between the three of them or even to tell her that he hoped they could be friends. But he could try to manipulate her to get what he wanted.

What in the hell had this woman done to him that would make him stoop so fucking low?

Jessie knew Brendon. He didn’t have a vindictive bone in his entire body. Sure, he was aloof and a little rough around the edges—unlike Braydon. But he wasn’t a womanizer. Yet he—

“Are you okay?”

Jessie stopped trying to push through the crowd when she heard Braydon’s voice.

“No. No, I am not fucking okay,” she yelled back at him, and then shrugged him off.

Unfortunately, the bar was so crowded, she couldn’t make her way through the people fast enough on her own. It wasn’t until Braydon stepped in front of her and began shouldering his way through with his massive body that she stood half a chance of getting to the door. She stayed right on his boot heels, doing her best not to reach for the belt loop on his jeans. She’d done that plenty of times in the past when she had wanted to remain close to him. But she couldn’t do it now.

As they stepped out onto the main porch of Moonshiners, humid, gasoline-tinged air mixed with cigarette smoke hit her face, making her feel nauseous.

“Jess, wait,” Braydon said, grabbing her arm as she tried to leave. Where she was going, she had no idea. She didn’t have a car. She didn’t even have a friend who could drive her home. Her sister was in there absorbed in conversation with her family, so Jessie was left on her own.

Which meant she was going to have to walk after all.

“Hold up,” Braydon growled.

Jessie stopped and spun around to face him. “Leave me alone, Braydon Walker. I’m not going to help Brendon and I’m not going to help you, either. I refuse to be used to help you or your brother land women. Using me to make her jealous ain’t gonna work because I’m not gonna let it.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” he exclaimed, fury blazing in his eyes.

For the first time since she had met him, Jessie actually took a step back when Braydon’s voice rose. She fought the instinctive urge to flinch at his heated reaction, but just barely. His eyes glittered with anger, and his hands were balled into fists. She was immediately put on guard, wondering just what the hell he was going to do.

Not that she would ever think Braydon would hit her.

“Just leave me alone,” she said, lowering her voice a little. “Let my sister know that I walked home, would you?” she asked as she walked backward, keeping her eyes on him as she tried to put some distance between them.

“The hell you are.”

Jessie ignored him, continuing to walk until there was a safe enough distance for her to turn around. If she had been in Dallas, she would’ve called for a cab. But the chances of getting a cab to come all the way out to Coyote Ridge were slim, if not impossible.

The sound of boots crunching on gravel told her that Braydon was still behind her, still pursuing her. But she didn’t stop. She didn’t want to.

Jessie was still fuming over the fact that Brendon thought she was naive enough to let him use her to piss off that woman. And Braydon had come to save the day. Probably planning to take her back in and pretend to be her friend while the two of them plotted how to get Cheyenne into their bed.

Her stomach lurched and she had to stop. It was the heat. That’s what it was. The unusually high temperature was making her sick to her stomach. It had nothing to do with the fact that thinking about Braydon with another woman actually made her sick.

“Jess, wait. Let me take you home.”

Jessie didn’t bother to look up at him. He had moved around in front of her as she stood there, trying to keep from losing her lunch. Yes, lunch. Because that was the last time she ate anything. She did eat lunch, right?

“Let me take you home and we’ll let Kylie know.”

Jessie shook her head.

“Come on. You can’t walk. It’s ten miles out to the house.”

Jessie slowly lifted her head until their eyes met. The black Stetson he wore tonight shielded his eyes, casting his face in shadows. In the dim light from the distant street lamp, the silhouette of his big body was surrounded by a yellow glow.

She didn’t say anything. She wanted to tell him fine, he could take her home because otherwise, she was either going to have to go back inside and endure seeing Brendon and Braydon with Cheyenne, or she was going to have blisters on her feet from walking ten miles in her boots.

Neither sounded like fun.

When Braydon’s hand slowly slid down her arm, Jessie stared at it. He continued until he linked his fingers with hers, all while he continued to stand way too close.

His voice was calm, soft when he said, “Let me take you home. I’ll even drop you off. You won’t have to worry about me trying to talk.”

Jessie’s heart fluttered strangely. His hand was so big, so warm against hers. His voice was rich and soothing, and she wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and let it wash over her. She wanted to feel the safety and security she’d felt in his arms again. It was one of the things that kept her up at night. Thoughts of what it would be like to be held by him again.

Braydon began moving and Jessie allowed him to lead her back the way they’d come. He walked around to the passenger side of his truck and opened her door. Once she had climbed inside, he shut the door gently behind her and she watched as he made his way around the front of the truck once again.

As his door opened, Jessie sent up a silent prayer:
God, please, please, please don’t let me let him break my heart again.

chapter
TEN

B
raydon was relieved that Jessie had allowed him to drive her home. If she had insisted on walking, he would’ve walked with her. Or even ten feet behind her if she demanded to be left alone. Under no circumstances would he have allowed her to walk home by herself.

He’d actually been surprised that he could persuade her to go with him. She’d been hell-bent on doing things her way since the moment he got back to town, and he hadn’t expected tonight to be any different. But then she’d climbed into his truck and he’d joined her. After he’d instructed her to message Kylie so she wouldn’t worry, the two of them had driven in silence.

But now, as he pulled down the main drive that passed by his parents’ house and led to hers, Braydon kept replaying what she’d said over and over in his head.

Leave me alone, Braydon Walker. I’m not going to help Brendon and I’m not going to help you, either. I refuse to be used to help you or your brother land women. Using me to make her jealous ain’t gonna work because I’m not gonna let it.

It still pissed him off that she could possibly think he was capable of something like that. But then it had dawned on him that Brendon had done exactly that. Braydon had been watching the two of them as Brendon made his way across the room, and when he started talking to Jessie, her eyes had flashed with rage. When she came barreling through the crowd, Braydon had known something was wrong, but not until she scolded him in the parking lot had he realized why.