Again, she just wanted to get out of there. In two weeks she’d be off to college, starting in the summer so that she could get a jump start on her degree.
Right before Sawyer turned away, Kennedy thought for a brief moment that she saw something akin to regret in his blue eyes. She knew that was only wishful thinking. It was hard to believe he could be so cruel, so cold, but he was. She knew he was. He might not have ever been the one to play a cruel joke on her, but he was always quick to laugh, which made him just as guilty as far as she was concerned.
One day . . . Kennedy vowed that one day she’d show this town. She’d show them just what she was made of and then she’d be the one to have the last laugh.
chapter ONE
Present day
“What’s up, bro?” Braydon’s deep, rumbling voice echoed in the small bar, a shit-eating grin plastered on his smug face.
Sawyer stared at his younger brother, fighting the urge to smile. It was a trained response, something he’d perfected over the years. He even had a smart-ass comeback hovering on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it. Tonight he just wasn’t feeling it. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly why his mood was sour, either. Maybe it was due to so many things going on at once. Or possibly it was a small amount of jealousy that was eating at him after spending so much time over Thanksgiving watching his brothers and their significant others together. Whatever it was, he knew he had to shake it soon or he was opening himself up for harassment from the whole lot of them.
As much as he knew his lack of response would only invite Braydon to give him nine kinds of shit from that point forward, Sawyer kept his smile to himself as he stared back down at his beer.
“Never figured you for the type to pout.”
Jab number one.
Braydon’s well-placed dig would’ve caught Sawyer off guard had he not known his downturned mood was so out of the norm for him. That, and he knew just what to expect from every single one of his brothers. And because Sawyer was so damn perceptive, he’d been able to brace himself for the verbal punch. But, rather than giving Braydon the pleasure of seeing him get riled up, Sawyer opted to continue drowning himself in his beer. Alcohol was much more pleasant company at the moment, thank you very much.
“Ah, so you’re gonna play like that,” Braydon nagged, obviously wanting to get a rise out of him. “How ’bout I join you, then? We can wallow in your self-pity together.” Jab number two. “Got an extra Bud Light back there for me, Mack?” Braydon turned his attention to the big, burly bartender who’d been nicknamed for his likeness to the vehicle. He was as wide as he was tall, which was saying something, because Mack stood close to six feet. He had a barrel chest, but not an ounce of fat on his oversized frame.
Now that he thought about it, Sawyer wasn’t sure what Mack’s real name even was. Maybe it was Mack.
The bartender responded with a quick nod and then turned his broad back on the disgustingly happy Braydon. Sawyer knew he needed to say something to his brother or he’d invite all sorts of conversations he wasn’t up for. He couldn’t bring himself to do it though.
It’d been a long week already, and quite frankly, he knew he should’ve just stayed home and enjoyed some peace and quiet rather than invite attention he wasn’t up for. After the short week last week with Thanksgiving and all, there’d been a shit ton to catch up on. Instead of opting for a good night’s sleep, glutton for punishment that he was, he’d ventured out to Moonshiners, knowing full well he would run into one or more of his brothers, and likely a few others who were interested in giving him hell.
“Not the life of the party tonight, huh?” Braydon asked him when Mack flipped the cap off the icy bottle he held in his hand and then set Braydon’s beer down on the bar.
“He’s become quite the bar decoration tonight,” Mack added, slapping his beefy hand on the bar top and then turning away from them. Jab number three—by Mack, no less.
Sawyer grinned. He couldn’t help himself. He’d never been the type who could stay down for long. But he had to admit, the life-of-the-party persona he’d perfected wasn’t making its presence known tonight. Not that he was going to let anyone know that just yet. After all, he still enjoyed the shit out of getting people’s attention. He was just so damned good at it.
“What’s goin’ on over here?”
Well, hell. With two of them, there was no way Sawyer was going to be able to wallow in anything. When Braydon and Brendon got together—which, until recently, was about ninety-five percent of the time—there was no chance in hell of walking away unscathed.