Braydon(30)

Kylie snorted. “Yes, I can certainly see why you’d want to use that one as the basis for all of your future endeavors. Come on, Jess, that guy was a prick.”

“Not the point. Then there was Erik. He was a loser. He wanted me to move in with him so he could quit his job.”

“Yep, I remember him all too well.” Kylie sighed.

“And then Mike. I have a horrible track record with men. After what I let Mike do—”

“Hold on a minute,” Kylie interrupted, her face stricken with anger. “You didn’t let Mike do anything. No woman lets a man hit her. Regardless, Jess,” Kylie said, placing her hand on Jessie’s arm. “What he did was wrong and he should’ve been punished for it.”

“I know.” Jessie hung her head in shame. “I still let it happen. Because I loved him.”

“Bullshit,” Kylie countered heatedly. “I’m not buying that shit for a minute, Jess. We all make mistakes. We’re human. But for you to punish yourself because you’ve had some crappy boyfriends in the past doesn’t make any sense. You can’t pretend that you don’t have feelings for someone just because you want it to be true.”

“But I do want it to be true. I went into this with Brendon and Braydon without expectations. I didn’t want any promises from them, and I wasn’t giving any in return. And look what happened.”

“What did happen? You never explained what went down between you and Braydon,” Kylie stated, her tone gentle once again.

Jessie wasn’t letting go of her anger quite so quickly. Her retort contained a little more bite. “Nothing happened. Braydon left; Brendon told me to get lost. I did. The rest is history.”

“Again, I call bullshit,” Kylie said, the heat lacking in her tone.

Jessie stared at her sister, needing to tell someone her secret. Then maybe they would understand how she’d managed to screw it all up.

“I had sex with them,” Jessie whispered.

Kylie tilted her head, studying Jessie.

“With Braydon and Brendon.”

“I figured that. The three of you—”

Jessie cut her sister off. “No, not the three of us. Don’t you get it? I screwed up. I had sex with them again even after Braydon said he was done. He didn’t want it anymore.”

“Oh,” Kylie offered, obviously understanding.

“Braydon left. Now they both hate me.”

“They don’t hate you,” Kylie informed her.

“Sure they do. Brendon hasn’t talked to me in months, and we’ve seen each other almost every weekend.”

“Brendon’s been worried about you,” Kylie told her, causing Jessie to jerk her attention to her sister.

“What are you talking about? He kicked me out of the house the day we found out that Braydon left. If he gives a crap, he has a horrible way of showing it.”

“He asks about you all the time,” Kylie admitted. “I knew something had happened, but when I tried to get you to talk, you always shut down. So I didn’t mention it.”

“It’s for the best,” Jessie said. “Really. What was happening between us was just physical. Just sex.”

“So, what? You’re crying because you’re sexually frustrated?” Kylie asked sardonically.

“No,” Jessie snorted with a laugh. “I’m not . . . Well, yes, maybe I am. But that’s not the point.”

“You love him,” Kylie said. “Braydon.” It wasn’t a question and Jessie wasn’t in the mood to come up with a lie, so she just stared at Kylie. If her sister looked close enough, she would see everything right there in Jessie’s eyes.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jessie finally said. “Braydon does what Brendon wants him to.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Kylie snapped.

Jessie sat up straight and faced her sister. “No. It’s not. Remember back at Christmas? Brendon tried to give me an ultimatum. He tried to make this about me and him, tried to push Braydon out.”

“I’m not following. I thought you weren’t with either one of them exclusively.”

“I wasn’t!” Jessie exclaimed. “I’ve just been sleeping with them both.”

Kylie looked at her as though she were a complex puzzle that couldn’t be figured out. “I . . .”

“It doesn’t matter.” Jessie sighed. “The point is, when Brendon pulled that stunt, telling me to pick him, Braydon didn’t do or say a damn thing. He just let it happen. If I hadn’t refused, he would’ve just let it be. God, Ky. I don’t know when this got so damn complicated. It was fun at first. None of us were looking for anything more than . . .” Jessie let the words trail off.

“It got complicated when you added three people to the mix.”

Jessie stared at Kylie, knowing her expression reflected her bewilderment.

“What? You think just because Gage, Travis, and I love each other that it’s easy? It has never been easy. But that’s what makes it worth it.”

“I don’t have what you have,” Jessie explained. “This was just supposed to be about . . .”

“Sex. That’s what it was about at first,” Kylie finished for her.