Braydon(33)

Sawyer laughed but didn’t say anything for a moment, and Braydon started to feel like a science experiment that his brother was expecting to boil over.

“Look,” Sawyer finally began. “If you need to talk . . .”

Braydon didn’t find Sawyer’s offer surprising. Especially after he had recently found out the secret his older brother had harbored for so many years. As it turned out, Ethan had been assaulted years ago, and Sawyer had been the one who’d found him and nursed him back to health.

As the story went, Ethan hadn’t wanted to get the rest of his family involved because of his fear of what his brothers might’ve done. Would’ve done was more like it. Had any of them known that Ethan had been bullied because he was gay, a shit storm the likes of which no one had ever seen before would’ve descended on their quiet little town. Sort of like the one that came to a head when that jackass Jimmy Reardon thought he could continue to wreak havoc on Ethan’s life. The bastard had learned pretty quickly just how the Walkers felt about that shit. But Sawyer wasn’t the one who’d brought that on. Not completely anyway. Sawyer had kept Ethan’s secret, and no one had known until Ethan officially came out to his family earlier in the year. Despite the happy-go-lucky attitude Sawyer was known for, Braydon had realized just how much that had affected him.

“Thanks,” Braydon replied. “I might just take you up on that.”

Sawyer smiled and then smacked him on the back. “Anytime. If you’ve got time this week, we’ll get a beer.”

“Works for me.”

“All right, I’ll get outta your way.”

Braydon nodded and watched as Sawyer walked away. As he did, Braydon had to wonder whether there was a sign on his own forehead that warned his family that he was hanging on by a thread. As happy as he was to be home, he didn’t like all the attention. But most importantly, he didn’t like that he hadn’t settled things with Jessie yet. Or Brendon.

He really wanted to head home, so he figured he would take the opportunity to say good-bye to his mother and hope no one intervened before he got the chance. Leaving without saying anything was a guaranteed way to get your ass chewed out, so he knew not to even try.

“Do you even know how good it is to have you home?” his mother asked when he approached, her smile lighting up her entire face. V took a step back but didn’t disappear.

“It’s good to be home,” he replied, repeating once again the same thing he’d been saying all day. Braydon glanced between V and his mother and added, “Everything all right?”

“It is now,” Lorrie said, smiling up at him. “I’m sure you’re tired. And I know you’ve got to get back to work tomorrow, but I wish you didn’t have to leave just yet.”

Braydon smiled down at his mother. She could read his mind, apparently. “I’ll stop by this week. Maybe we can grab lunch one day.”

“That’d be wonderful.”

“Leavin’ already?” Brendon’s voice boomed from behind him. If Braydon had to guess, his twin had sensed that Braydon was ready to flee.

Braydon turned to look at the man who was the spitting image of himself. “Thought about it,” he answered easily.

“I’m gonna head out to Moonshiners with Kaleb,” Brendon stated.

Braydon noticed that he didn’t receive an invitation, which didn’t bother him in the least.

Okay, it bothered him a hell of a lot, but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. It was then that he realized the rift between him and his twin was wider than he’d imagined.

Braydon simply nodded his head and turned back to his mother. He offered a quick hug, met V’s concerned gaze, and then disappeared out the back door.

His chest felt like he had a two-ton anvil sitting on it, and he fought to suck in air as he walked briskly to his truck.

Thankfully, no one tried to stop him, because he needed to get away from there for a little while.

As he passed Travis’s house, which Jessie was currently occupying, he noticed that her beat-up little car was outside, which meant she was home. He argued with himself about stopping by, but his need to see her, to make sure she was all right, won out, and he found himself pulling into the driveway alongside her car.



JESSIE HEARD THE sound of a car door slamming just outside her bedroom window, and she emerged from her bedroom, rubbing a towel through her wet hair after wrapping another around her.

What time was it?

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she realized Kylie was early. She had been to enough Sunday meals with the Walkers to know that they didn’t usually leave Lorrie and Curtis’s this early after dinner. She was anticipating her sister’s arrival, but had hoped to have enough time to shower and change before Kylie and her husbands came to pick her up. Even though Jessie had tried to dissuade her sister from going out after they finished with dinner, Kylie had insisted. Apparently, Kylie didn’t trust Jessie to be alone.

Jessie was okay with that because she didn’t want to be alone.

“You’re early. I’m not quite ready,” Jessie said as she pulled open the door, still sliding the towel through the saturated ends of her hair.

She nearly tripped over her own feet when she came face to chest with Braydon. Luckily, she caught herself—and her slipping towel—before that happened. Clutching both towels to her chest, she stared up at Braydon in surprise.