Braydon(105)

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.”