Braydon(7)

Jessie could picture that. For the last couple of weeks, Zane had been more obnoxious than usual. His excuse was that he was getting married. Considering the guy had waited patiently—as patiently as he was capable of—for V to agree to a wedding date, Jessie didn’t necessarily blame him. V had presented him with the wedding date at Christmas as her gift to him. Jessie remembered feeling a pang of jealousy at that time, too.

It wasn’t that she wanted to get married, per se. She just wished she could fall in love with a man who she could envision being with forever. Well, that wasn’t quite accurate. Jessie wished she could find a guy who was looking for the same thing she was. She hadn’t expected it to be a particularly difficult task because Jessie simply wanted to be loved in return. Funny how that never seemed to work out for her.

A knock on the door behind them got their attention, and as the four of them turned to face the newcomer, Zoey and Kylie moved to stand in front of V as though they could possibly block her from anyone’s view. Jessie laughed at the sight. Considering V was noticeably taller than they were, they weren’t accomplishing their goal.

“It’s just us,” Lorrie Walker said as she moved into the room.

The woman looked elegant in her beautiful navy gown, her short dark hair hanging loosely to her shoulders. Simple. Understated. That was the best way to describe the Walker brothers’ mother. She was the sweetest, kindest woman Jessie had ever met.

Even though Jessie was sure Lorrie knew that she had been involved with both Brendon and Braydon at the same time, she never felt any scrutiny from Lorrie. Even now, when it wasn’t exactly wine and roses between the three of them. At first, Jessie had been petrified that she’d be exiled from any family gatherings once the truth came out about her relationship with the twins. But surprisingly, everyone seemed to be all right with it. And by “all right,” she meant no one usually mentioned anything, although Jessie could see the concern in their eyes.

At first, she’d been confused, but then Kylie had informed her that everyone was worried that the twins would hurt her. She’d laughed off the idea, advising her sister that she wasn’t looking for anything permanent. And she wasn’t. Well, in the beginning she hadn’t been. Now . . .

Well, now she couldn’t seem to get Braydon off her mind.

But these days, no one looked at her cross. Probably because she was slowly drifting away from the twins. It was oddly unsettling, but Jessie had gone into the situation knowing it was temporary. The rumors about Braydon and Brendon all seemed to end the same—they weren’t interested in a long-term relationship. Jessie just happened to be around longer than any woman they’d been with before, or so she’d been told.

Convenience. That’s what she’d chalked it up to. She was convenient, they were convenient. All in all, they were friends with benefits and it had worked for them.

Too bad she had started to develop feelings along the way. On top of that, her feelings weren’t on an even keel when it came to Brendon and Braydon. She couldn’t pinpoint why, but somewhere along the way, she’d found herself falling for Braydon, something that she desperately tried to fight. Even considering they were physically identical—if it weren’t for their polar opposite personalities, Jessie wasn’t sure she’d be able to tell them apart even now—Jessie had been seduced by Braydon’s more sensitive side.

“Is everyone ready?” Regina Carmichael asked, pulling Jessie from her wandering thoughts. “I think it’s time.”

Everyone turned to look at V, who had gone a frightening shade of pale.

“Oh, honey, you look beautiful,” Lorrie consoled her soon-to-be daughter-in-law.

Zoey, V’s lifelong friend, chimed in, “You’re gonna walk out there and take one look at Zane and all will be right in the world. Nothing else will matter as soon as you lay your eyes on him. You’ve been waiting for this. And just think, we’ll officially be sisters by the time the day is out.”

“I know,” V whispered, choking on a sob.

“Don’t you dare ruin your makeup,” Zoey said sternly, her voice wobbly despite the huge grin and tears in her eyes.

V laughed, as did everyone else.

Jessie found she had tears in her own eyes, and she quickly blinked them back, knowing that if one of them broke, they’d all be a mushy mess by the time they made their way out the door.

And right now, they needed to get the show on the road.



WHY ZANE HAD opted for a big wedding, Braydon would never know.

Braydon’s idea of a perfect wedding consisted of a quick trip to Vegas, followed by a kick-ass honeymoon where he and his bride would spend the next seven to ten days in bed.

Not that anyone had asked his opinion. Nor would his mother ever agree to one of her boys taking an impromptu trip to Sin City to tie the knot. But that wasn’t really the point.

Zane clearly didn’t share the same outlook, and a big wedding was exactly what he got.

With Beau as best man and Zoey as matron of honor, everything had gone off without a hitch, from the two practice runs—yes, that’s correct, two—to the official ceremony. The rest of the Walker brothers had all been groomsmen, at Zane’s request, which made for a huge wedding party. And now that the ceremony was over, Braydon was ready to shun the tux, but the festivities weren’t over yet.

There was a reception to go to at Alluring Indulgence Resort, which meant he’d be trussed up for a few more hours at the least. Now he just had to make the trek to his truck, head over to the reception, kill a few hours, toss back a few beers, and life would finally be back to normal.