Braydon(34)

“Hi,” she whispered, her heart kicking into overdrive. “What’re you doin’ here?”

They both stood there staring at one another for a moment. Unable to resist, Jessie drank in the sight of him. He seemed bigger than he used to be. His arms stretched the fabric of the dark gray T-shirt he wore, and his neck was a little thicker. It would seem the man had been working out while he’d been gone.

“I wanted to see you. May I come in?”

Jessie turned and eyeballed the room behind her as though she might possibly be able to come up with a reason to not invite him in. When she looked back at him, she noticed the concern in his beautiful blue-gray gaze and she gave in. “Sure.”

Stepping back out of the way, holding on to the towels with a death grip, she allowed him to move inside, immediately recognizing his all-encompassing presence. He smelled good, like fabric softener and man. She had always loved the way he smelled. Despite the fact that he and Brendon were identical twins, they still had their own unique scents, which was one of the ways she could tell them apart at first. Now, she didn’t have a problem. In her eyes, they were no longer identical, because their personalities set them completely apart.

“Want something to drink?” she offered, trying to play the role of polite hostess, although she certainly wasn’t dressed for the occasion. She pretended not to notice and hoped he wouldn’t, either.

Braydon didn’t answer; he simply stared back at her, his smoldering gaze sliding down her nearly nude form, and her heart did a triple Lutz in her chest. Oh yeah, he noticed.

Crap.

“I missed you,” he said softly, his voice rough.

Jessie fought the urge to break down in tears again. She had missed him, too. So much. But he had abandoned her and ignored her attempts to get in touch with him. It didn’t matter that he probably had his own personal reasons; it still hurt. And she damn sure didn’t want him to know that she’d shed any tears for him. Ever.

“I missed you, too,” she finally said when the risk of tears accompanying the words dissipated. “I’ll take that as a no?”

Braydon’s gaze slid back up, his eyes searching her face, but Jessie did her best to pretend not to notice. The way he looked at her sent heat bubbling through her veins.

When he glanced away, the relief was palpable. Jessie didn’t have a whole lot of self-control when this man was around. It hadn’t always been that way, but as time had passed, and they’d become closer, she had started falling for him. Hard.

But she had to remind herself that she’d already picked herself back up. And Braydon had too, because based on the conversation she had overheard today, he had been with another woman. Just that morning.

Anger settled in and the heat blossoming in her bloodstream started churning, mixing into a potent blend of exasperation and regret. “Is there something you wanted to say? I really need to get ready. I’m goin’ out tonight.”

Braydon made eye contact once again and nodded. “I won’t keep you. But we really need to talk. Tell me a good time and I’ll come back.”

Jessie took a deep breath. “I really don’t think there’ll ever be a good time, Braydon.”

“Come on, Jess,” he whispered.

“Don’t do that! Don’t act like I owe you something,” she bit out heatedly. “There isn’t anything left to talk about. It’s all done and over. I’m glad you’re home. I know your parents and your brothers are, too. So, if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to just keep moving forward.”

She didn’t bother to tell him that she wasn’t moving forward, she was standing still, and the unstable ground she was on threatened to pull her under any minute now.

“It’s not all the same to me,” Braydon growled softly, taking a single step closer but still leaving at least two feet between them.

Jessie tightened her grip on the towel until her fingers throbbed. She swallowed and dug deep inside of herself for the confidence she needed to push through this. What they had shared before had run its course. Jessie no longer wanted what the twins represented. And clearly Braydon didn’t want her.

Been there. Done that. Didn’t even get a crappy T-shirt.

“What you want isn’t important anymore,” she said dejectedly. She hated lying to him, to herself, but hopefully, if she continued to repeat that mantra over and over, it would be true.

Braydon’s eyes widened and the misery she saw reflected there nearly leveled her. She loved this man. She loved him with every single pained breath she took. It had been inevitable and Jessie knew it was her downfall. She fell in love too easily. Her track record of loving every man she was with was long.

They needed to make a clean break. There was no way she was going to come between Braydon and Brendon again. No pun intended.

“I need to finish getting ready,” she said, her tone much more assertive than she felt.

This time Braydon nodded, his eyes locked with hers for only a second before he turned toward the door. When he stopped, his hand on the knob, Jessie held her breath.

“This isn’t over, Jess. We’re gonna talk. Maybe not tonight, but it’ll be soon. I promise you that.”

There was no longer any misery reflected in his eyes. No, that emotion had been replaced with what Jessie could only assume was sheer determination.