Braydon(29)

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 *.”

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.”