Braydon (Alluring Indulgence #6)(104)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“And Kylie’s going to renovate it for you?” Braydon asked, his eyes boring into Brendon.

What? Did his brother expect him to just lapse into an easy conversation with this woman? She had just thrown him a curveball that had hit him right in his nuts. She bought a house in Coyote Ridge. Which meant he’d be seeing more of her.

He didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

And he didn’t know if he would ever actually figure that out.

BRENDON LOOKED LIKE shit. His face had turned an interesting shade of green, and Braydon was beginning to actually worry about him. Was this a residual effect from the accident? Or did this woman just have that much power over his brother?

Braydon had never seen Brendon like this. Never.

The man didn’t get tongue-tied over women. Ever. Yet Cheyenne Montgomery had an interesting effect on Brendon. That was for sure.

“So what brings you over here?” Braydon finally asked, tearing his gaze off his brother for a moment.

“I wanted to see how Brendon was,” she answered easily.

Braydon noticed that she continued to glance sideways at Brendon as though she thought he might just jump on her or something.

“Did Travis really call you?” Braydon asked, recalling Brendon’s flippant explanation as to why Cheyenne was there.

“Yeah. He thought I would want to know.”

“And did you?” Brendon snapped.

“Yes, actually, I did,” Cheyenne snapped back. “Is that so hard to believe?”

“Maybe,” Brendon told her. “Actually, yes. It is. You should stay the fuck away from me, Cheyenne. I know you’re smarter than that.”

Aww, fuck. Braydon sighed. Here they went. Brendon was going off on a tangent, being a total dickhead to this woman. And why? Because she had the decency to check up on Brendon after he’d been hospitalized. Braydon wasn’t sure there was any rationalizing with his twin, so he didn’t even bother to try.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Cheyenne bit out. “I’m not sure I understand what exactly it is that I’ve done to make you hate me so damn much.”

“Hate you? Why the hell would I hate you?” Brendon argued.

Braydon noticed his brother’s somewhat green color had faded, leaving his skin a strange shade of pale. He kept his eyes on him, growing more worried by the second.

“Well, jeez, if you don’t hate me, I really don’t want to know how you treat people that you do.”

“I don’t fucking hate anyone,” Brendon gasped, his eyes locked with Cheyenne’s.

Braydon could’ve been on another planet for all these two cared. They were suddenly engaged in a staring contest, and Braydon wasn’t sure which of them was going to win.

“I just don’t see why you even bothered, Cheyenne. It’s not like I expected you to actually give a fuck.”

“Hold up,” Braydon growled. “Is this really necessary?”

“Shut up,” Brendon barked. “This is between me and her.”

“Between us? Just like all of the other times you’ve told me what you thought about me?” Cheyenne retorted as she pushed to her feet.

Braydon hadn’t planned to stand up, but suddenly Brendon was on his feet too and he’d taken a step closer to Cheyenne. The two of them were practically chest to chest, which was how Braydon ended up in between them.

But before he could tell Brendon just what he thought about his attitude . . . His brother passed the fuck out, his lax body falling onto the couch.

“ARE YOU SURE you want me to drop you off here?” Kylie asked Jessie as they pulled up to Braydon and Brendon’s house.

“Yeah,” she answered. “I need to talk to them.” Jessie looked out the window to see that both of their trucks were in the drive. There was another car parked alongside Brendon’s, and it was sporting a rental sticker on the back.

“Call me later,” Kylie said. “I’ll see if I can get Gage to go check out your car.”

“Thanks,” Jessie answered. She figured there was no hope for her car at that point. When she’d left the office, her car hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot before it sputtered, coughed and then it died. A quick glance at the gas gauge told her it wasn’t that she was out of gas, which meant the damn thing had probably just croaked.

Not that she could afford to buy a new one anytime soon.

“I’ll stop by and pick you up in the morning,” Kylie said as Jessie climbed out of the truck.

“I’ll be ready.”

And with that, Jessie closed the truck door and watched her sister drive off before turning to the house. Her stomach was a jumble of butterflies desperately seeking a way out. She had resigned herself to coming over and trying to make amends with Brendon, for her own sake as well as Braydon’s. After her conversation with Kylie, she figured it was the least she could do. Her sister had a point. Everyone seemed to be talking, but no one was talking to each other about what was important. She had a strong urge to rectify that.