Braydon glowered at his brother’s back, wishing like hell he had the nerve to confront him.
If it weren’t for Travis interfering, Braydon would’ve done so earlier. Part of him was thankful that his brother had stopped him; the other part wanted to rip into Brendon in front of everyone, just to release some of the pent-up aggravation that was churning in his gut.
“Mind if I sit with you?” Jessie asked, interrupting his thoughts.
Braydon shrugged, taking the time to peer up at her where she now stood beside his chair.
The next thing Braydon knew, Jessie was sitting. With him. Or rather, on him was more like it.
Braydon’s body immediately reacted to her nearness, the sweet, flowery scent of her shampoo mixed with the spicy, floral fragrance of her perfume. His head was spinning by the time he was holding her weight on his thighs.
“What are you doing?” he growled softly, furious at her for ignoring the elephant in the room.
“The same thing you are,” she said softly, her voice lacking any of the sweetness that it had before.
They stared back at one another for a moment, Braydon’s hands gripping her hips firmly while she straddled his lap. There was a tumultuous sea of emotion roiling between them, but as always, neither of them said what really needed to be said.
“Pretending nothing happened?” he finally asked.
“Exactly.”
“And sex is your answer to this?” he asked, knowing he was pushing her, not caring that he was probably pissing her off in the process.
“Yes,” she insisted. “It is.”
Braydon didn’t say a word in response. He knew she was just attempting to soothe the tensions the only way she knew how—by distracting them with sex. It wasn’t that she did it on purpose, but that’s what Jessie proclaimed that she wanted.
Not that Braydon had any intention of turning her away.
He was in love. Not an idiot.
At the moment, he couldn’t think of anything better than sinking deep inside of her and forgetting everything, including his own damn name. But he wanted to do this his way tonight. Not hers. Not Brendon’s.
Jessie maneuvered so that she was straddling his lap fully, her knees wedged on either side of his hips while her dress pooled high on her thighs. Instinct had Braydon placing his hands on her thighs, slowly sliding his fingers upward until the tips traced the silky softness of her panties.
When she leaned in to kiss him, Braydon braced himself for the impact.
He groaned when her tongue slipped past his lips and delved into his mouth. She was fire in his arms, primed and ready. He loved when she was the aggressive one, which was about 50 percent of the time. Unfortunately, the other half of the time, Brendon was generally the one in control, leaving Braydon odd man out.
Not that he didn’t bring his own blend of heat and passion to their relationship. His goal was to pleasure Jessie, any way he saw fit.
In all the months that the three of them had been together, it seemed as though the intensity of their lust never managed to abate. And it didn’t matter if they fucked twice a week or twice a day.
Despite the warning bells clanging loudly in his head, Braydon wasn’t able to resist her. He didn’t want to.
“Fuck.”
Braydon opened his eyes when Jessie drew back, both of them turning their attention to Brendon, who had just walked into the room shirtless, his tuxedo pants unbuttoned.
“Don’t let me interrupt,” Brendon added gruffly. “I’m right behind you.”
Braydon could sense the tension in his twin. Whatever had transpired between Brendon and Cheyenne had left him as it always did, pissed off and frustrated.
There seemed to be a potent concoction of emotion building between Brendon and Cheyenne lately, yet for whatever reason, they were all pretending it didn’t exist.
Just as Braydon was doing now.
Braydon ignored his brother, turning back to Jessie. Reaching up, Braydon cupped her face firmly yet gently, holding her right where he wanted her. He allowed his fingers to slide through her glossy caramel hair, pulling her against him until he was overwhelmed by her. The heat of her skin, the exquisite grip of her knees against his hips, the lushness of her breasts resting against his chest . . .
“Braydon,” she whispered, her breath warm against his lips.
“Hmm?” he asked, sliding his mouth down her jawline, inhaling her sweet scent, not wanting to let her go.
“Get naked.”
Another round of bells tolled loudly in his head, but once again, he ignored them. That was getting harder and harder to do though. He knew he shouldn’t, knew he was supposed to be addressing the two of them because for so many reasons this situation was no longer working for him. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not when Jessie was looking at him, talking to him, kissing him.