Brendon (19 page)

chapter
TWENTY-TWO

S
unday dinner at Lorrie and Curtis’s had become standard for Cheyenne. As she’d learned, if she missed one, Lorrie would call her the following day and interrogate her as to why she wasn’t there. This time, however, was different from the others and it was all due to the fact Brendon had invited her. She hadn’t reminded him that she had a standing invitation because, truth was, it’d felt good that he’d wanted her to be there with him.

Ever since their lunch discussion about Braydon and Jessie, Brendon had seemed to withdraw somewhat. She’d let him be. Having been around long enough to anticipate his up-and-down moods, Cheyenne didn’t question him.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” Lorrie told her when Cheyenne entered the house.

“Thank you for havin’ me,” Cheyenne said cordially.

The house was already full, the living room packed to overflowing with people, and if Cheyenne wasn’t mistaken, there were a few more faces there tonight.

“My brother and his family are here,” Lorrie informed her. “Now that the girls are back home, they’re venturin’ out more. I’ve always offered an invitation, but they rarely accept.”

Brendon’s big, warm hands landed on her shoulder as he came to stand behind her and Cheyenne fought the urge to lean into him. She had grown accustomed to having him around. So much so that when the issue with the stalker was over, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with herself. Not to mention when she went back out on the road. Being away from him . . . it really wasn’t something she wanted to think about.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Lorrie called out to the others, and then followed with, “Mind settin’ the table?” directed at Brendon.

Cheyenne was returning to the kitchen to grab silverware when the back door opened and in walked Z and RT. She had to laugh as Lorrie eagerly greeted them and thanked them for coming. Apparently the Walker matriarch had been introduced to the enforcers and extended a dinner invitation to them as well.

Z’s eyes stopped on something just over Cheyenne’s head and she realized he was looking at Brendon. There was a world of discussion going on in that brief glance and she wished she had the opportunity to ask him what it meant, but that wasn’t an option when Lorrie declared dinner was ready.

AN HOUR LATER,
after Cheyenne helped to clear the table and Brendon and his brothers helped with the dishes, everyone gathered together in the living room. The Walker family had officially made it to standing-room only at this point, especially now that there were aunts, uncles, and cousins attending. Brendon perched on the arm of the sofa and pulled Cheyenne to him, keeping her close.

“Any updates?” Brendon asked Z when the big man came to stand beside them.

“No,” Z grumbled. His exasperation with the situation was apparent and Cheyenne completely understood. For the past week, she’d gained a shadow. Brendon didn’t leave her side, but she knew that come tomorrow morning, he would need to go back to work, which meant she’d be assigned another babysitter.

Needless to say, she wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Hey, y’all,” Sawyer hollered. “I’ve got some news.”

Everyone’s attention turned to Sawyer as he stood on the fireplace hearth, adding several inches to his already-tall frame.

“Spit it out, then,” Zane yelled.

“I’m happy to announce that Kennedy and I have set a weddin’ date.”

The room erupted in applause and shouts, followed by numerous requests to know what the date was.

“December nineteenth,” Sawyer announced, his gaze sliding down to Kennedy, who was sitting next to Jessie. “That’s the day.”

Cheyenne glanced across the room at Braydon. His forehead was creased, his eyebrows downturned. She wondered what was going through his head. There’d been discussion that Braydon and Jessie would be the next to marry, since he had proposed long before Sawyer had, but it appeared that wouldn’t be the case.

Brendon’s hand tightened around her waist and she peered at him over her shoulder. He obviously noticed Braydon’s response to the news as well. She wondered if that would encourage Brendon to finally have a conversation with his twin, the one that involved him telling Braydon how he really felt and truly encouraging Braydon to move forward.

Surely he had to see that his twin was having a hard time, even now, when—on the outside—it seemed Brendon had made a complete one-eighty.

Still, deep down, Cheyenne had to wonder just where Brendon was with everything that was going on.

Chelsea and Reilly went on to tell everyone about the salon they were officially opening, using Kylie’s office building and taking out a loan to have it remodeled to work for them.

Once the cheering and encouraging words dissipated, all attention turned to the little ones in the room. People were cooing over Kate, others were playing with Mason and Derrick, and Cheyenne was content to sit by and watch. She’d never known anything like this, not until she met the Walkers.

For a brief instant, she could imagine what her life would look like if things worked out with Brendon. As much as she wanted children and animals, she couldn’t help but wonder whether or not that was in her future. She missed being onstage, performing for her fans, but she knew when she went back to that, she would miss this, too.

The problem was, she no longer knew which one she wanted more.

BRENDON COULD PRACTICALLY
feel Cheyenne’s mood shift as she leaned against him, her butt resting on his knee. He’d noticed Braydon at the same time she had, seeing his twin’s disappointment warring with his happiness for their brother when Sawyer announced his wedding date had been set. Braydon was supposed to be next, but clearly he and Jessie hadn’t set a date yet. As much as he wanted to pretend he didn’t know what that was, the truth hurt. Braydon and Jessie had postponed their future for him.

And he didn’t know what to do about that.

He remembered their heated conversations:

“Bray, I’m gonna be fine,” Brendon told Braydon, wishing his brother would stop hovering.

“I fucking know that,” Braydon snapped.

“I’m going to Mom and Dad’s today.”

“Good,” Braydon told him. “You need to.”

Brendon rolled his eyes at his brother’s snarky comeback. “I’m not gonna do anything stupid.”

“You’ve said that before,” Braydon countered. “Look where that got you.”

“Fuck off.” The fight had drained out of him entirely. The words lacked the heat he meant for them to have. “I get it. I fucked up.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? You keep saying that. Do you think it makes things better? That it excuses your actions? Do you think we can look the other way because you said you fucked up? You obviously haven’t learned from your mistakes, Bren. You’re still fucking up.”

Brendon knew that he’d royally screwed things up for Braydon. Starting when he had attempted to take Jessie for himself, even while thinking they were much better friends than lovers. It hadn’t mattered to Brendon at the time. He’d wanted to punish Braydon for finding what Brendon had always wanted.

He thought he’d told them as much, but apparently Braydon and his fiancé hadn’t been listening to him. It was definitely time to sit down and have another chat. Whatever he could do to fix this for Braydon, he was willing.

Oddly—and he doubted anyone would actually believe him if he said it aloud—Braydon’s happiness meant more to Brendon than his own.

chapter
TWENTY-THREE

“W
here do you want this thing?” Brendon asked Cheyenne when the furniture delivery guys stepped into the house first thing on Monday morning.

The small odd-shaped table the smaller of the three guys was hefting didn’t make a damn bit of sense to Brendon, but obviously Cheyenne had found it to be unique—her words—and now it needed a place.

With how uptight—although understandably—Z and RT had been about not allowing anyone they didn’t know into the house, Brendon had to convince them to let the furniture be delivered. They’d agreed, but only if they were there when it happened. Brendon didn’t think Z would’ve been so quick to agree if he knew they were first on the delivery schedule and the truck was set to arrive at seven—which it did, right on time.

Now, as the guys moved one piece of furniture after another into the house, Z and RT stood sentry in the entryway, both of them clearly packing heat and not worried about showing it. They’d each earned a couple of double takes from the guys delivering the furniture, but so far, so good. But most importantly, no one seemed overly interested in Cheyenne’s presence, which they considered a good thing. Then again, she was fairly disguised with her hat and glasses, but Brendon had come to believe that the disguise did little to make her unrecognizable. She was still one of the most beautiful women in the world, which made her stand out regardless of what she wore.

“Over there.” Cheyenne pointed to a corner in the vast, empty living room. Even the ratty love seat had been moved to the back porch to make room for the multiple pieces Cheyenne had purchased.

Although she at first had a difficult time picking out the pieces she wanted, when they had returned to the store after taking a break for lunch that day, Cheyenne had been a woman on a mission, picking out one thing after another. It had helped that Chester was prepared for her return. As it turned out, the guy had called Travis and had a brief conversation with Kylie, who helped to explain what it was Cheyenne was looking for.

Somehow, in a matter of only two hours, Cheyenne had furnished the entire house and they’d even managed to score a brand-new, fancy-ass washer and dryer, which were the only new appliances she didn’t seem to already have.

When the last of the furniture was put in place, the main delivery guy started for Cheyenne, but was pulled up short by Z. Brendon tried not to laugh at the way the guy’s eyes widened as he stared at the gigantic man directly blocking his path.

“I just . . .” The guy cleared his throat and tried again. “I just need her signature.”

Z took the clipboard from the man’s hands, and with RT keeping an eye on things, turned to have Cheyenne sign the form before he handed it back.

“Thanks,” the guy said, trying to peer around Z to see Cheyenne, but his efforts were thwarted once again.

Way to make her look like someone important
, Brendon thought. If these guys were legit, which Brendon had to think they were, they were now intensely curious as to who the woman was and why she needed armed bodyguards in her house.

Oh well, there wasn’t a damn thing Brendon could do about it now.

“We all good?” RT asked when the delivery guys cleared out and they’d satisfied themselves by checking the perimeter of the house.

“I’m good,” Cheyenne informed them.

“We won’t be far,” Z told them as they left, instructing Cheyenne to lock the door behind them.

She did, and before she was turned around completely, Brendon backed her against the wood, pulling off her hat and glasses before claiming her mouth. He didn’t waste time, sliding his hands beneath the tank top she wore, cupping her breasts as she thrust her tongue against his.

He wasn’t sure what had come over him, but he had to have her.

Now.

The way she pressed up against him, grinding herself against his thigh, Brendon wasn’t worried she wasn’t ready for him.

“We’ve got some furniture to christen,” he informed her, pulling her with him as he led her into the living room, undressing her as he went.

Once she was gloriously naked, Brendon instructed her to bend over the arm of the couch, which she did without argument. Needing her more than he thought possible, Brendon managed to shed his T-shirt, but he only managed to get his jeans down to his thighs.

“Put one knee up here,” he instructed, patting the leather arm of the sofa. Due to her height, or rather lack thereof, taking her while she was standing put incredible strain on his thighs, so he figured adjusting her position ahead of time would speed up the process.

When her knee was perched on the edge, he guided his cock into her slick entrance, shoving deep.

“Yes!” Cheyenne cried out.

Brendon gripped her other leg and lifted it, holding her steady while he plowed into her.

“Fuck, Chey. I can’t get enough of you,” he told her as he slammed into her over and over. He’d taken her when they first woke up, at six that morning, and he was certain he would want her again in a couple of hours, if that long.

Her cunt squeezed him like a silken vise, embracing him in sweet warmth.

“Harder,” Cheyenne pleaded and Brendon slammed into her, his hips driving against her ass as he held her securely in place. She was holding herself up by her hands on the sofa cushion and he could see the impact was forcing her forward, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“I want you to scream my name when you come for me, Chey. Tell me who owns you,” he growled, the thought of owning her making his head spin.

“You do,” she told him. “Oh, God, you own me, Bren!”

The room was silent aside from their labored breaths and their combined grunts and groans as he continued to fuck her into oblivion. He wanted her pussy to clamp on his dick, and then he wanted to fill her full.

“Brendon! Oh, fuck, I’m . . . Oh! I’m coming!”

Her body followed through with her declaration, her muscles locking on his cock, enveloping him in her heat as she came. Not wanting to hold off any longer, Brendon followed her over.

And as he did, he was working out when and where he was going to take her next.

BY NIGHTFALL, BRENDON
had effectively worn her out in the best possible way. Never had she been taken quite as completely as she had been that day. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but the last thing she’d thought about doing was complaining.

Although now, as they sat on the back porch with Scrap sniffing around, her muscles ached and she felt boneless. After they’d made dinner and cleaned up, Brendon had taken her upstairs to the guest rooms so they could look at the furniture. She learned as soon as they were up there that the last thing he wanted to do was check out anything other than her.

Again, no complaints.

“Kaleb and Zoey wanna stop by tomorrow, see your house,” Brendon informed her as she leaned against him on the love seat they’d relocated to the back porch. She knew it couldn’t remain out there, but for now, it worked nicely to give them a place to sit. Until she had the deck redone, she wasn’t going to buy furniture, but once that was taken care of, all bets were off. She found herself looking forward to furnishing her own home with things that meant something to her. However, that was a close second to actually christening the furniture that she purchased. That was definitely more intriguing.

“Okay,” she told him. “I don’t want you to freak out, but I really need to go see Grams soon.”

Brendon didn’t respond and she felt his muscles tense beneath her head.

“I know you’d rather wait until they catch this guy, but I don’t know when that will be, so . . .” Cheyenne didn’t need to finish her statement, he knew what she was getting at.

There was no news on the stalker and based on what she’d gathered, the guy had fallen completely off the face of the earth. She knew she wasn’t that lucky, that he would show up at some point, whether closer to home or at her next concert, but Cheyenne held out hope that things would go down quietly if and when they located him.

“I know this is hard on you, Chey,” Brendon said softly. “But I hope you understand my priority is to protect you.”

“I know,” she replied. And she did know. Brendon had been her saving grace these last couple of weeks. She’d gotten so accustomed to having him around, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do when things went back to normal.

Part of her didn’t want things to change, never wanted Brendon to leave. She feared if he did, they’d resort back to the way things were before, arguing and being standoffish toward one another. As much as she’d come to care about him, Cheyenne had a feeling she was being selfish. She’d spent a significant amount of time thinking about going back on tour, about getting back up on that stage, and she found she truly missed it. She was ready to go back even though she still had a few months off and there was no way she’d reach out to Preston until they’d found the stalker.

Brendon’s life was rooted in Coyote Ridge and she could tell he loved it there. She did too, but her life was on the road. She wasn’t sure how Cooper and Dalton were managing to do it—starting families and putting down roots in their small town. She’d considered talking to one of them, or both, to find out how they were making it work, but she also knew their careers were significantly more advanced than hers. They were in their thirties, had been doing this for a lot longer than she had. Cheyenne wasn’t sure it was time for her to slow down, or more importantly, to settle down.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know how to share that with Brendon, didn’t want to ruin the moment they had now. Until the time came that she was going to go back out on the road, she figured it was better left unsaid.

“So, what’s on the agenda for tomorrow? Besides Zoey and Kaleb comin’ by. I hope they’ll bring Mason.”

There was a smile in Brendon’s voice when he said, “I say we just do what we did today.”

Cheyenne twisted her head around and looked up at Brendon. “I’m not sure I can keep up with you,” she told him seriously.

“You’re doin’ a damn good job so far,” he retorted.

Cheyenne smiled to herself and leaned her head against his chest.

This right here, sitting on the back porch with Brendon, listening to the sound of his breathing, the steady thump of his heart, was what she’d longed for her entire life. To feel wanted and safe, something she’d rarely experienced growing up.

And that thought had the other things once again battling inside her head. Making a promise to herself not to worry about things beyond her control until it was necessary to deal with them, Cheyenne promised herself she’d live in the moment.

Starting right now.