Braydon(41)

Of course, his good intentions were always tested. The first time had been a night at Moonshiners when he’d gotten shit-faced drunk. One of many. The sexy redhead he’d hooked up with had been passing through, visiting her uncle or some shit. He’d spent the night—one that had been incredibly awkward with his twin not there—with her at her hotel, and in the morning, with his head throbbing as though it would explode, he had disappeared before she opened her eyes.

Even through the haze of alcohol, at first Brendon had felt guilty. Not because he’d slipped out on the woman or because he’d gone to bed with her in the first place, effectively discarding his one-on-one virginity card after all these years. No. His guilt was a hell of a lot more personal than that. It generally didn’t rear its ugly head until he thought about Jessie and how much pain he’d caused her. He might’ve been a first-rate bastard, as proven by the way he’d treated her lately, but Brendon damn sure knew his reactions weren’t rational. Nor were they acceptable.

Braydon’s disappearance had killed a lot of things—including Brendon’s peace of mind.

His ever-increasing dark mood had nothing to do with Braydon leaving and everything to do with the reason Braydon left. Women. He knew his twin loved Jessie. It had been clearly written all over his face for months. The man had been up in arms about what to do, and when he didn’t bother to talk to Brendon about it, Brendon knew he had to do something.

Well, would you look at that?

Brendon watched through the windshield of his truck as his mother came sneaking out of the restaurant, going straight for her car. If she had just looked up, she would’ve seen Brendon sitting in his truck. It wasn’t like she could’ve missed the giant four-wheel drive with the six-inch lift. It was the same as his brother’s, only the flames that decorated the glossy black paint were red, not blue.

Yep, total setup. She deserved a pat on the back. She had done what Brendon had been trying to figure out how to do ever since Braydon stepped foot in their house yesterday. He would be the first to accept responsibility for sending everything into a tailspin, and from the moment he laid eyes on Braydon, he had resolved to do whatever it took to make things right.

He could live without a lot of things, but living without his twin wasn’t an option for him.

Braydon deserved to be with Jessie. He deserved all the happiness in the world. He shouldn’t have to atone for Brendon’s f*cked-up way of thinking. If his brother was in love, then Brendon was hell-bent on supporting him.

Any way that he could.

He just had to figure out exactly what that meant. Thanks to his mother, now he didn’t have to think quite so hard because she’d just set the first domino into motion.

As he turned the engine over, the radio blared one of his favorites by Brantley Gilbert, and Brendon put the truck in gear and headed toward the Walker Demo offices. He had some paperwork to turn in and then it was off to one last job site for the day. Then, if things went the way he hoped, maybe he’d get a chance to talk to Braydon later. They needed to talk, but at the same time, Brendon knew it needed to be a rational conversation, something he feared he wasn’t quite ready for just yet.

When the song ended, one of the noon DJs started in on some sort of celebrity announcement and the mention of Dalton Calhoun, one of Brendon’s cousin’s friends, caught his attention. He reached for the knob and turned the radio up a little louder.

“Did y’all hear the news? It would seem that the sexy Dalton Calhoun is officially off the market. That’s right, ladies. It’s time to mourn the loss of another one. It seems that country music’s most eligible bachelor is going to be joining the ranks of his good buddy, Cooper Krenshaw. We’ve recently learned that he’s been snatched up by none other than the feisty West Texas princess, Cheyenne Montgomery.”

Brendon nearly swallowed his f*cking tongue. He detoured into the parking lot of a strip mall to keep from running off the road. He turned the radio up again as though that would get the announcer talking faster.

“And to top it off, it looks like Mr. Calhoun and Ms. Montgomery will be touring together. They’re gearing up to announce an upcoming benefit tour with their good friend Cooper. You can bet that as soon as we have more info, we’ll make sure you get it first. That’s all for . . .”

Brendon turned down the radio as he stared blankly out at the run-down building that used to house a flower shop. Or maybe it had been a weight loss center.

Hell, he didn’t know. And he didn’t f*cking care.

His heart was pounding and his fists were balled.

What the f*ck?





chapter NINE

Braydon evidently had forgotten how much he loved his job. As much as he had enjoyed working at the equestrian center, he still felt he was better suited for his family’s business. As a job foreman for Walker Demolition, he spent most of his time coordinating efforts between the various subcontractors on the many job sites they were managing. He didn’t have to spend any time in the office, other than checking in each morning. And for the most part, he worked by himself. He couldn’t ask for much more.

For the last week, working solo was exactly what he had done, but on a much grander scale than before. Jared had loaded him down with jobs just like he’d promised, pushing him harder than ever before, but Braydon didn’t complain. First of all, he needed a distraction. Second, he knew he deserved to put in a little extra effort, considering he had disappeared for three months, leaving his family to pick up the slack.