Braydon(3)

Jessie noticed Zane and V dancing, too. Zane being Zane, always the cutup, was copping a feel with a mischievous smirk aimed at V. Jessie admired the way those two were clearly hot for one another, and after all they’d endured back when Zane was attacked over a year ago, it was nice to see that they’d come this far.

As she scanned the room again, Jessie’s gaze landed on her sister, currently wrapped in Gage’s arms, a huge grin on her face. Jessie envied what her sister had found in the arms of two men who obviously cared so deeply for her and for each other. The three of them were perfect together. Her gaze strayed away from the pair and landed on Travis, who was deep in conversation with Sawyer, both men laughing, clearly enjoying themselves.

As she clung to Braydon, relishing the way he continued to graze her skin so lightly, Jessie noticed Kaleb and Zoey sitting at one of the cloth-covered tables, their son, Mason, cradled in Kaleb’s arms while they leaned close and talked. Jessie had fallen in love with that baby as much as everyone else had since the moment he was born. Watching the doting parents caused a strange pang in Jessie’s chest.

Shoving off the envious response, Jessie glanced away, her gaze immediately landing on . . .

Oh no.

Brendon was talking to Cheyenne Montgomery.

Not that Jessie was all that surprised. She had known for some time now that Brendon had a thing for Cheyenne. It was obvious in the way he talked about her, although he rarely did. And when Brendon looked at Cheyenne . . . it reminded Jessie of the way Travis looked at Kylie and Gage, or the way Braydon looked at her. There was a sense of wonder in Brendon’s brooding expression, and as much as she knew he was trying to deny what he might feel for Cheyenne, it was unmistakable.

And no, Jessie wasn’t jealous. Not in the least.

Should she be? Maybe.

But the fact of the matter was that she wasn’t. And she knew the sole reason was the man in her arms.

“What the f*ck?”

Speaking of the man in her arms . . .

Jessie came to an abrupt stop thanks to Braydon. She felt the tension in his shoulders, saw the corded muscles in his neck, and she immediately knew what he was looking at. Brendon with another woman.

Starting back at the holidays, Jessie had noticed a change in both Braydon and Brendon, and she got the feeling it had to do with her. At first, she had worried that they had figured her out, knew that she was pining away for Braydon when that wasn’t supposed to be part of their tryst. But then one night, Brendon had issued her an ultimatum—choose between Brendon and Braydon. Truthfully, that incident had shocked her, but somehow she’d managed to defuse the situation, refusing to do anything of the sort. Since then, their interactions had grown increasingly strained, and yes, Jessie noticed that anytime Cheyenne’s name was mentioned, Braydon morphed into someone she didn’t recognize.

For whatever reason, Braydon always had a volatile reaction to seeing Brendon talking to Cheyenne. Jessie wasn’t privy to why that was, nor had she bothered to ask. She figured she was better off not knowing. When Braydon released her, his growl reverberating through her limbs, Jessie knew she had to do something. Placing her hand on his arm, she peered around him at Brendon and Cheyenne. She knew what Braydon saw when he looked at his brother and the famous country music singer. Two people clearly interested in one another even though they tried to deny it to themselves and everyone else. It was that obvious, especially from the way they were standing so close together.

But the expression on Cheyenne’s face wasn’t one of admiration for the handsome man staring her down. No, the woman looked pissed.

Realizing Braydon was pulling away from her again, Jessie called out to him, trying to keep her voice low. “What are you doing?”

There was no way she could let him confront Brendon. She had a feeling Braydon was doing it on her behalf, and as much as she wanted to tell him that she didn’t care, she knew she couldn’t. Letting on to Braydon that she had feelings only for him was something she’d vowed she wouldn’t do.

For many reasons.

“Stop, Bray,” Jessie said, her heels clicking on the floor as she rushed after him. “He’s just talking to her.”

Braydon turned, his expression one of disbelief. “Are you blind?” he asked none too gently.

Well, okay.

Jessie’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared up at him. Hoping he couldn’t read her thoughts, she immediately masked her reaction to his outburst. After taking a deep breath, with her invisible shield securely in place once again, Jessie squared her shoulders, ready to address him. She didn’t get a chance to say anything though.

“Don’t do this. Today is Ethan’s day.” The rough, growling voice that drew her attention away from Braydon’s disapproving look belonged to none other than the oldest Walker brother, Travis. Jessie twisted to look at him in time to hear, “You handle your issues with him later. Right now, right here, you’re gonna behave.”

Jessie could tell it was taking a tremendous amount of restraint for Braydon not to say anything to his brother. If she had to guess, he was tempted to give Travis a salute and a “f*ck off,” but to his credit, he kept his mouth shut.

And Travis was right. Even if he did have a crappy way of relaying that message to Braydon, today was Ethan’s day.

“Come on,” Jessie encouraged Braydon, sliding her arm into his, hoping he’d listen. He was still glaring at Travis, the muscles in his square jaw ticking.