Braydon(79)

Including his parents.

“Hey,” he returned the greeting, talking to both of them but not addressing either directly.

“Are you hungry?” Lorrie asked as she headed back toward the table, pulling out one of the chairs. “Sit and I’ll get you something to eat.”

“I’m good, Mom,” he told her. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m not hungry.”

“Nonsense,” she said sweetly, her bright blue eyes studying him intently. “My boys are always hungry. Now sit.”

A Walker did not disobey his mother’s command, so Brendon dropped into the chair she’d pulled out for him.

“How are you feelin’?” Curtis asked, folding the newspaper he’d been reading and placing it on the table in front of him before retrieving his coffee cup.

“Like death warmed over,” he admitted.

“Good,” his father replied, a small smirk on his mouth.

“I’ve got aspirin if you need it,” his mother offered.

“Took some already,” Brendon replied, staring down at the table. He was having a difficult time looking his dad in the eye, and even without looking at him, he could feel the old man’s glare piercing his soul.

“Do you wanna talk about what’s goin’ on?” Curtis asked after several moments of unbearable silence passed.

“Not really, no,” Brendon mumbled. “I screwed up.”

“Yeah? That seems to be a trend for you these days,” Curtis agreed.

“Curtis,” Lorrie admonished. “That is not why I asked him to come over.”

“Then why did you ask?” Brendon asked curiously, looking up at his mother.

“To talk, of course,” Lorrie answered easily, bringing a plate of sandwiches to the table. “I want to know what’s going on with you.”

“Not much. Working, sleeping . . .”

“Not what I meant,” Lorrie scolded him that time.

Brendon knew what she meant, and he knew he was just going to have to come out and say it. “I’m . . .” He swallowed as he glanced back and forth between his parents. He had to open up. He didn’t have anyone to talk to about this, so he figured it really couldn’t hurt.

“Is this about Jessie?” his mother asked softly when Brendon couldn’t seem to force any words out.

“What?” Brendon darted his gaze to hers. “No. It’s not about . . . Oh, crap.”

Curtis growled, that warning when one of them was stepping a little too far past their father’s comfort zone when it came to curse words in front of their mother. Brendon made a mental note to watch his mouth.

“No, Mom. It’s not about Jessie. Jessie and I . . . We were . . .”

“Friends with benefits?”

Brendon’s eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling as he stared disbelievingly at his mother. His father merely chuckled. Where the hell had she learned that term?

“What do you know about . . . ? Never mind, Mom. Don’t answer that. But okay, yes. That’s what we were. Now we’re just friends. Without the benefits. Or at least I want us to be friends. I kinda treated her like sh—”

“Watch it,” Curtis interjected, his voice unyielding.

“I messed up with her,” Brendon continued, glancing back and forth between his mother and father. “I want us to be friends. I know she loves Braydon and Braydon loves her. I’ve known that for a long time. But really,” he stated, putting his elbows on the table and dropping his head into his hands, “this isn’t about Jessie.”

“So it’s about Cheyenne?” Lorrie inquired.

Brendon peered out from between his fingers to stare at his mother. He had no idea how the woman knew everything that was going on with him. Hell, she knew everything that was going on with all of them.

“No, it really isn’t,” he admitted truthfully. He’d tried to make it about Cheyenne, but the woman was as innocent in all of this as Jessie was. He was the * who’d dragged both women through hell because he couldn’t come to terms with the fact that he and his twin were growing apart.

“So, if it doesn’t have to do with a woman, what does it have to do with?” Lorrie asked, her tone gentle and soothing.

Brendon hated that she could be so reasonable. He had expected them to lay into him for drinking and driving or ending up in the hospital. He hadn’t expected them to actually dig into his problems. Then again, these were his parents, that’s what they did, so he wasn’t sure why he was shocked.

“It’s me.” Brendon wasn’t fully prepared to divulge all his problems, but he found the words quickly rising to his tongue. “I feel lost. Like I’m in a tunnel and no matter which way I turn, it’s always a dead end. I know that there is a way out, but for the life of me, I can’t find it.”

Brendon didn’t bother looking at his parents. He didn’t want to see the sympathy in their eyes. He didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him. He was a jackass. One who’d gone and hurt innocent people for no f*cking reason, yet he somehow hoped they’d be able to forgive him.

“You and Braydon are going to eventually have to venture in separate directions, Bren. It’s inevitable. You’re gonna fall in love; he’s gonna fall in love. Life is gonna keep moving forward, and you can’t just sit back and watch it go by. You need to come to terms with what that means for you.”