Braydon(93)

“Second choice?” Braydon asked stupidly. “Help me understand this, Jess,” he asked, his anger replacing his confusion. He paused momentarily. “No. Scratch that. I don’t even know where to begin. Explain it to me.”

“You heard me,” Jessie snapped.

“I heard something about more women than I know what to do with. I’m not quite sure how the hell that fits in. My brother passes out and all of a sudden I’ve got more women than I know what to do with? How does that work exactly?”

“Brendon passed out?” Jessie asked, clearly concerned. Not to mention surprised.

“Yeah. He did. You were right there, did you not see him?”

Jessie’s eyes dropped to the floor and she fidgeted with the shirt in her hand. “The couch was in the way. I just assumed that . . .”

“You assumed what?” Braydon snarled.

“That you and Brendon were with Cheyenne. God. It’s not that hard to believe.”

Braydon laughed. He couldn’t help himself. It was that hard to believe, actually. “Are you f*cking serious?”

“Why’d you leave him?” Jessie asked disbelievingly, completely ignoring his last question.

“I had to check on you. He’s awake and coherent. Cheyenne and my mother are with him now.”

“Holy shit, Braydon. Don’t you see what’s happening here?”

“No, no I really don’t,” he muttered truthfully.

“I’m a distraction you don’t need.”

“Wait, now you’re a distraction? Shit.” Lord help him.

Braydon grabbed the back of his neck with both hands and turned away from her. He absolutely did not f*cking understand women. He was beginning to think that his brother Ethan was onto something.

“You need to be with Brendon.”

“And you need to stop packing,” he yelled, turning once again to face her. “Is this how it’s gonna work, Jessie? Do I always have to f*cking worry that you’re gonna run away?”

“I’m not the one who ran away,” Jessie stated slowly, angrily.

“You’re doing it now.” He motioned to her suitcase.

“I saw Cheyenne and you. Y’all were all three on the couch.”

“And what exactly did you think we were doing?” Braydon growled, knowing what her answer was going to be. She didn’t trust him. It was as simple—and painful—as that.

“Exactly what it looked like.”

“Trying to figure out why the hell my brother turned a frightening shade of white right before he passed out? Yeah, I’m not sure we’re on the same f*cking page.”

“You can’t blame me for making an assumption. I know how the two of you work!”

“Do you?” he barked back. “Do you f*cking know how it really is, Jessie? Or do you just expect the worst from me?”

Jessie didn’t bother to answer, and she didn’t stop packing. That pissed him off, but Braydon didn’t move an inch. He continued to stare at her.

“Fine,” she finally said. “I jumped to conclusions.”

“That’s an understatement,” he mumbled.

“Fuck you,” she shot back.

“I don’t even know what to say to that,” he told her. “I don’t know how to prove myself to you, Jessie. I don’t know how to make you believe that I care about you. You’re the only woman I want. And yes, Brendon is gonna be with other women. Is that what’s bothering you? That he might actually have an interest in this woman? A woman who is not you?”

“Oh my God!” Jessie yelled, exasperation resounding through the room.

Okay, so maybe he was trying to push her buttons.

They stared at one another for a long minute. Braydon had nothing else to say. He wasn’t sure there was any getting through to her, even if he was equipped with all the words to express just how much he loved her. She was trying to make excuses, and he didn’t know if it was because she was scared or just because. Hell, he didn’t think he had the mental capacity to figure it out, either.

Just when he thought he was going to have to give up, she spoke.

“Have you talked to Brendon?”

Braydon’s brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what freaking conversational highway she’d taken a sudden detour on.

“I’ve talked to him plenty,” he answered, hoping that would bring forth a little clarity.

“Have you talked to him about why he did what he did?” she asked, the glare she shot at him letting him know she didn’t appreciate his vague response.

Braydon knew she was referring to Brendon’s drinking and driving. “No, I haven’t,” he said with a sigh. “In fact, I haven’t talked to him at all. Not since I left for work this morning. And even then we didn’t really talk.”

Jessie’s body tensed slightly. Braydon was tempted to take a step closer, wanting to pull her into his arms and make all of this go away. He would be the first to say that the amount of emotional bullshit he’d been through over the last six months was more than he’d experienced in his entire life.

And he wasn’t a big fan, thank you very much.

“What’s gotten into him?” Jessie finally asked, looking up at him.