Braydon(43)

Taking a step to the side, Braydon tried to keep from being trampled. Over the heads of the people cramming themselves inside, he noticed that Travis, Gage, Kaleb, Zane, Ethan, and Beau had all gone into alpha-protector mode. Travis and Gage were flanking Kylie as she sat at the table in the back, now talking to Tessa, Katie, and Cheyenne. Kaleb had his arm wrapped around Zoey’s shoulders as she chatted with Cooper and Dalton, who were standing beside the women they had walked in with. Zane had pulled V close as they talked to Beau, who was shoulder to shoulder with Ethan.

Braydon immediately looked for Jessie, wondering just who was keeping an eye on her. He didn’t want to see her with Brendon, but he hoped like hell his twin had taken to her side to make sure she wasn’t squashed during the melee.

Wait. Brendon wasn’t there. Or at least Braydon hadn’t seen him since he came in.

Worried, he continued to scan the room until he found Jessie. She was over by the jukebox. By herself.

Without considering how she might react to him coming to her rescue, Braydon began pushing through the group that had gathered near the bar on his way to the back, but he came up short when he saw Sawyer and Jared make their way over to her. When the two men spoke, Jessie’s face lit up like a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.

A tap on his shoulder had him turning and coming face-to-face with Brendon, who looked dazed and confused. “What the hell is goin’ on here?”

Braydon nodded his head toward the back. “Someone invited the celebrities tonight.”

Brendon’s eyes moved across the room and Braydon followed his gaze. When it rested on Cheyenne Montgomery, who was arm in arm with Dalton Calhoun, his brother murmured under his breath. Braydon was pretty sure it was a string of creative curse words that he’d never heard before.

“Problem?” he asked acerbically, not expecting Brendon to answer. For the entire past week, they’d pretty much ignored one another. At one point, Braydon had thought they stood half a chance of having a civil conversation, but then Brendon’s mood had gone from bad to shitty. Braydon had left him alone since.

“Yeah,” Brendon retorted, turning an angry glare on Braydon. “Plenty of them. Take your f*cking pick.”

Clearly, Brendon wasn’t trying to make conversation because he stalked off toward the back of the room. Braydon watched him go.

Shit. He was heading directly for . . . Jessie.

Oh, f*ck.

This wasn’t going to be good.

Not good at all.



UNTIL SAWYER AND Jared arrived to keep her from having to be alone, Jessie had been hoping the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

Before Tall, Dark, and Famous walked in—all three of them and the woman Jessie didn’t recognize—she’d been having a good time talking to Kylie, Zoey, and V. But the moment Sawyer announced their arrival, she found herself lost in the shuffle. As soon as the guys started with their protective bullshit, surrounding their women like they were wolves protecting their mates or something, she’d been shoved to the side.

In an effort to pretend as though it didn’t bother her, Jessie had gone straight for the jukebox. It was that or walk home, which she had absolutely no intention of doing. So she had pretended to study the music selection until Sawyer and his cousin came over and started talking.

She had heard very little of what they were saying for two reasons: one, the room was so loud, she could barely hear her own voice when she spoke; and two, she had caught sight of Braydon watching her. If she wasn’t mistaken, he had actually been planning to come talk to her, but thankfully, Sawyer and Jared had jumped in and saved the day.

But now she had more than just Braydon to worry about. He was standing stone still in the middle of the room, silently looking in her direction, but he wasn’t the one she was concerned with. At the moment, Brendon was pushing through the masses. He seemed to be heading toward her, but she hoped she was wrong. Since the hallway to the restrooms was to the right of where she was standing, maybe he was actually just planning to take care of business.

Wait. Nope. Nature didn’t seem to be calling his name. And now he was calling hers.

“Jess.”

Jessie looked at Brendon. Then over to Braydon. Then back. “What’s up?” she asked, trying not to sound too flummoxed that he was actually talking to her. Since Braydon arrived back in Coyote Ridge, Brendon hadn’t said two words to her. Not that they’d had the opportunity for as much as a conversation, but he certainly hadn’t made any effort, either.

“How’re you?” he asked, moving up close to her. That was when the warning bells began to reverberate in her head.

“Good,” she answered, glancing over at Sawyer, who was now engrossed in a conversation with some woman who was practically climbing his body. Jared seemed to have escaped. Lucky him.

“Can I get you a drink?”

Jessie stared at him in utter disbelief. And that’s when she realized what he was doing.

“No,” she said through clenched teeth. “You can’t.”

Brendon’s eyebrows rose.

“I’m not playing this game with you, Brendon. I can’t believe you’d even stoop that low.”

Jessie wasn’t naive. She knew good and damn well that Brendon was using her to make Cheyenne jealous. She doubted it would work in the first place, but God, the feeling sucked.