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The table ignores his comment, all of us in various states of thought. We go through another round of betting as Archer bites his lip to show his nervous tick. He's normally my biggest threat at this game, never showing his feelings about his hand and quiet as hell. He never joins in the ribbing that the rest of us do with each other. It makes him a damn good poker player. I'm guessing his nerves don't have to do with his hand when he lays down his cards and has two pairs.
"What's up Archer?" Colton speaks before I can. He must have seen the same look I did.
"I wouldn't mind taking Brayleigh out on a date if she would have me," he murmurs, looking around the table at each of us. "I felt a connection with her when I saw her at the engagement party."
The thing about Archer is when he speaks everyone just shuts up and listens. His voice is calm yet powerful. The fact that he is openly speaking about wanting to date Brayleigh is extremely odd for him. He's always been the one of us to hold all of his thoughts private, especially his thoughts about women.
"Me too," Mason throws his hat in the pile. "She's even more extraordinary now. Gray and I spent the day cleaning out her parents barn with her. She's hilarious, awkward, funny and probably the most amazing person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."
"What the fuck?" I shout, jumping up from my chair. "We're fucking back at this shit again? It's been eight years and all of you are falling for her all over again. None of you cared about what Brayleigh wanted back then, you made the decision for her. I won't fucking let you do that again."
Pacing back and forth in the living room, my anger takes over. I love my brothers, I really do. But I fucking hate that they think they can make these choices for someone else. Brayleigh is a fucking person with feelings and shit.
"Tuck is right," Archer utters, standing up. "We made a decision for Brayleigh all those years ago that literally took her choices away from her. That wasn't okay then and it's not okay now. I say we let the cards fall where they may. We're adults now and if she chooses one of us then the rest of us can deal with it."
"What if she wants more than one of us?" Grayson asks the room. "You're right, we're adults now. She may fall for more than one of us and I'm just going to put it out there that I'm okay with that."
"What do you mean?" Colton inquires with a cocked eyebrow. All of us are focused on Grayson to figure out what the fuck he means.
"I would be up for sharing her," he murmurs with a shrug. "I'd rather her be happy and fulfilled then have her upset because she had to choose."
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" I yell again. My hands are shaking with anger. I have no idea why this is making me so pissed, I don't even want to be in whatever group porno shit this is.
"I agree with Grayson." Archer nods from his spot. All of us turn to him, our eyes bugging out of our heads. Mason then turns to look at Colton and I with a shrug.
"I could definitely live with that," Mason agrees as well.
Colton and I just look at each other for a minute, shaking our heads. These guys have gone completely mad! They are actually suggesting sharing a girl, when they don't even know if she would be into any of them, between them. They fucking made me turn my back on her eight years ago and now they're discussing sharing her like it's completely natural.
Turning on my heel, I storm out of the apartment. I can't be around those assholes right now. I’m harbouring so much anger and resentment for what happened before and this is making it all surface again. They kept her from me before and now they want to forget that bullshit ever happened. They all need to fuck off.
Hopping in my car and throwing it in drive, I head to the one place I shouldn't go. I need to see her though. I need to understand what the hell made them all up and change their tune after eight years. I wanted her, the keyword being wanted, and they fucked that up for me. Four years is how long it’s been since I last saw her. That’s a lot of time for people to change, both me and her.
In no time at all, I pull into the Carter Ranch, heading to the barn first. Bray always loved the calmness of the barn at dusk. She said it was where she had the clearest thoughts, brushing her horse and humming whatever tune was stuck in her head. Just as I thought, humming is coming from inside the barn, her voice still as sweet and beautiful as before. Apparently this part of her hasn't changed since she's been gone.
I feel on edge as I stand at the door to the barn. I shouldn't be here, I should just walk away and avoid her until she's gone again. I don't need to be mixed up in whatever the hell is about to happen between her and my brothers. I'm definitely stronger than all of them so seeing her shouldn't make me turn into a mushy mess of a man like it did to them. I'll look at her, maybe talk to her quickly to see what all this fuss is about and then leave.
I sneak in the door, not ready to have her see me yet. The breath I'm holding rushes out of my lungs as I see her standing before her horse. She's brushing his mane, humming a song I don't recognize. If I thought my memory of Brayleigh did her justice, I was dead fucking wrong. Her smile is devastatingly beautiful, her hair still a brilliant mess of curls on her head. She grew into the curves that were always so painstakingly delicious. I need to walk away, I need to leave before she sees me, yet I'm frozen in place staring at her.
"Brayleigh," I call out before I can stop myself.
The brush in her hand falls as she turns to me. Her beautiful brown eyes go wide as she takes me in. Her eyes roaming all over me, taking in every detail, makes my mouth go dry and my hands shake. Her horse nudges her, wondering why she stopped, but she doesn’t acknowledge him. Her eyes are glued to me like she’s seen a ghost.
"Tucker," she gasps out my name finally. "What are you doing here?"
What the fuck am I doing here? I should go. I should have drove straight home and let my idiot brothers try and act out their awful plan of sharing her. Instead I came here, falling into the trap of seeing her and hearing her voice. The combination of everything that is Brayleigh has my insides twisted up in knots. Now I'm entertaining this insane idea of sharing her when I should be running for my life. Just because I'm now thinking about it doesn't mean I'll actually ever do it. At least that’s what I'm telling myself.
"I heard you were back in town," I eventually murmur with a slight rasp to my voice. "I wanted to see for myself."
"I'm back for the summer," she says with a small smile. “Piper is getting married and I’m the maid of honour.”
"The summer," I parrot back. That’s the only part that matters to me because it means she’s leaving again. "Right. Well, it was nice to see you. I'm sure I'll see you around."
With that, I turn and walk back to my car. I have no idea what the fuck I just did, all I know is I won't be able to stop thinking about her. Coming here was the last thing I should have done, it’s fucked my head up bad. Actually, fuck that. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have ever let my brothers talk me out of being with Bray. She’s the one I always wanted, the one that made me believe in love. Walking away right now is the only thing to do because sharing a woman is fucking insanity.
There’s only one problem with walking away. That dream I've always had about her being mine and us being together forever, it just passed being a want and turned into a desperate need. I want her to be mine, I just don’t know if I can handle her being theirs as well.
Seeing her tonight has brought back so many feelings I buried deep inside, feelings that may make staying away from her hard. Not that I'd ever tell my brothers that,the damn fuckers.
