12. Brandy

12

Brandy

“ W elcome in! Shopping for your wedding today?” the lady asked as we walked through the crystal-clear glass sliding doors. A cheery smile spread her bright pink lips, showing off glistening, straight teeth. Her eyes snagged on Reed’s arms for just a second too long, and all it did was piss me off when it shouldn’t.

I sent a scowl her way—for insinuating we were together, and for checking him out. Though it wasn’t her fault for the former. The two of us were in a bridal store. But even a stranger from halfway around the world could see that Reed and I would rather cut our tongues off than admit we held any feelings for each other aside from detestation and annoyance.

“Not ours,” I grumbled. “We’re here to pick up a tux for our friend.”

The blonde clasped her fingers together in front of her. “If you’re just picking up and not needing measurements, you can head over to the front desk and they’ll take care of you.”

“Thanks.” I turned to head for the beige desk pancaked between two creepy mannequins wearing massive gowns.

Reed matched my pace. “Surprised you used your manners.”

“If we weren’t in a bridal salon right now, I’d stab you with my keys,” I muttered, quickening my stride.

“Always so violent,” he shot back. “You ever stop to think that maybe that turns me on?”

I nearly tripped over my feet as my head swiveled his way. “I didn’t think it was big enough to get hard. I’ll be sure to let the girl at the front know.” Yeah, Brandy, resort to diminishing the size of his cock. Great fucking tactic.

We stopped in front of the desk before Reed could respond, and I pasted a smile on my face for none other than the fact that what he’d said fazed me. He did it on purpose, and that just pissed me off more.

A woman with short brunette hair popped her head up from the calendar she was jotting notes down on, her eyes widening slightly in Reed’s direction. If I had to watch one more fucking person check him out—

“Typically, we don’t want the groom being here if you’re trying on dresses—”

“No one’s trying on anything,” I snapped, and quickly reeled myself in with a deep inhale. To my right, Reed glanced my way, clearly taken aback by my outburst. I hated being in public with this man. I was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

The brunette’s eyes widened slightly as she dropped her pen to the desk.

“We’re picking up a tux for a friend,” I explained, my tone a bit lighter this time.

She swallowed, moving her hand to the mouse. “Alright. Name?”

“Should be under Bailey Cooper,” Reed said.

My lips pressed together with my slight annoyance at him answering for me.

Her perfectly manicured nails clacked on the keyboard before she slid her chair back. “Ah. Cooper. Is he able to try it on before you take it home?”

I slid my arms onto the counter. “No”—my eyes dropped to her name tag—“Mary. Unfortunately, it’s just his best man and me.”

She stood, facing Reed. Her eyes traveled down his biceps, and I knew she was taking in his tattoos. I wanted to spoon her goddamn eyes out for it. “Is Mr. Cooper about the same size as you?”

Speaking of fucking dick jokes.

“About the same,” Reed answered at the same time I said, “No.”

I wanted to get in and out quickly, not stick around and play fucking dress-up.

“Would you like to try it on for him?” she asked Reed, clearly ignoring me.

This wasn’t fucking protocol, and we all fucking knew it. She just wanted to see him in a goddamn suit.

Reed must’ve sensed my complete and utter indignation at the entire thing, because he turned to her with the sweetest fucking expression I’d ever seen Reed Bronson make, and said, “I’d love to.”

I swore my lips were going to lose all blood flow with how tight they were pressed together as I slowly faced him and the goddamn smirk he wore on his face.

“I’ll go grab it and meet you by the dressing rooms,” she said before turning on her high heel to head for the back.

“Something wrong?” he asked, knowing exactly what he was doing.

I forced the corners of my mouth to tilt upward slightly as I shoved off the desk. “Everything’s fucking dandy.”

I walked past him toward the dressing rooms in the back corner, and of course, he was right beside me the whole time.

“Why do they even have tuxes here?” I mumbled under my breath. This was a fucking bridal salon.

“Lettie did say they sent it to the wrong place,” he reminded me.

“Might as well have sent it to a strip club,” I muttered.

“I wouldn’t be complaining.”

I rolled my eyes as we stopped by the row of doors. Reed wasn’t that kind of guy and he was well aware I knew that. He was just trying to get under my skin, and I needed to keep that in mind before easily giving him the reactions he was trying to pull from me.

Mary emerged from the back with a plastic cover hanging off a hanger to protect the suit underneath. “Any one of the dressing rooms is fine.” She handed him the tux, making sure their fingers grazed. My eyes did another roll, and this time, they nearly disappeared into the back of my head. “We just ask that only one of you occupy a room at a time.”

She glanced my way, finding my bored stare. If she was insinuating we’d have a quickie in one of the changing rooms, she clearly hadn’t sensed the imaginary daggers being shot back and forth between us.

If only they were real.

“That won’t be a problem,” Reed said.

Mary gave a quick nod. “If you need me for anything, I’ll be up at the front. I can check you out there when you’re ready.”

Every fucking word out of her mouth could be taken a hundred different ways, and I wasn’t in the mood to dissect what she meant by any of it. Typically, I wouldn’t be so irritated with some stranger, but the way they all ogled over Reed like he was a piece of candy irritated me to no end. Had they never seen a man before?

Mary retreated back to her spot behind her desk while Reed crossed to one of the rooms. Before he closed the door, he pinned me with his gaze. “Remember, Brandy. Don’t get any ideas. Only one at a time.”

I glared at him, taking a seat in one of the cushioned chairs. As I waited, I let my eyes wander to the rack of wedding dresses sitting off to the side of a floor-to-ceiling mirror. Crossing a leg over the other, I wondered if my mom knew what her marriage was going to look like when she found the right dress. Was she aware my dad was abusive back then? That he’d cheat on her for years, and leave her with their only child?

The day I wore my own wedding dress—if that day ever came—would I know? Would my marriage end like theirs did, leaving me a single mom hopping boyfriend to boyfriend just to fill the void?

Or would I even be strong enough to risk going through that after seeing how it tore my mother apart, day in and day out?

The amount of times I’d come home from school to find her crying on the living room floor with an old photo book sprawled out in front of her, or when he finally left her and she didn’t leave the couch for a week… I saw every emotion she battled because of him, and it made me never want to subject myself to that kind of pain.

Maybe I wasn’t meant for a grand wedding or some pretty white dress. Perhaps the life I was dealt was just warning me to never go down the same road she did—to not make the same mistakes by falling in love and becoming blind.

But seven years ago, I almost did make a mistake, and while I liked to blame my father for it, there were a lot of hands at play that night. I just didn’t expect Reed to be one of them.

The hinges on the door squeaked as Reed opened it, and as I turned to face him, I froze.

He looked…handsome.

Cleaned-up, with his black cowboy hat and Bailey’s tux. I nearly had to make sure my jaw wasn’t on the floor.

Like he didn’t sense my reaction at all, he turned to face the tall mirror, adjusting the lapel before moving to fix the cuff on his right wrist.

“How’s it look?” he asked, finding my eyes in the reflection of the mirror.

I stood as I cleared my throat.

“You? Not so great. But the suit looks perfect. Bailey will love it.”

He stepped back to get a better look, but as he did, a woman appeared in the reflection, standing by the front doors. My eyes widened at the girl I hadn’t seen in almost seven years.

My heart pounded as I forced myself to think fast before she could see me. With no other options, I grabbed Reed’s arm and yanked him into the dressing room, then quickly shut the door and twisted the lock.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he demanded, his voice anything but quiet.

With my back to the door, I held a finger to my lips. “Shh!”

Clearly, he didn’t get the message, because he simply glared. “Let me out of the room, Brandy.”

I shook my head. “We can’t go out there,” I whisper-shouted.

He set his hands on his hips, staring up at the ceiling like it may give him the strength to deal with me. Newsflash: nothing would. But a man could dream.

And apparently, I could, too, because with the way he had his arms spread, the button-down was stretched across his chest, showcasing every taut muscle underneath.

I coughed and swallowed at the same time, nearly choking over the fact that I was gawking at the asshole. His gaze shot back to me. “Who’s out there?”

With watery eyes, I regained my composure. “What makes you think someone is out there?”

He gave me a bored look. “Why else would you willingly drag me into a dressing room?”

He had a point, but I didn’t answer.

He dropped his arms, his hands slapping his well-defined thighs through the slacks. With a shrug, he moved his fingers to the button on them.

My eyes widened to the size of saucers. “What are you doing?”

He got the button undone, then moved to the zipper. “I can’t just stay in Bailey’s suit forever.”

“But I’m in here,” I said hurriedly.

Hazel eyes met mine. “Then step out.”

“I can’t,” I bit out in a hiss.

With the zipper now pulled down, he moved his fingers to the waistline, ready to pull the pants down. “Not my fault, then.” He cocked a brow in my direction. “You can watch, though, if you want.”

Fuck , no, I didn’t want to. But my eyes couldn’t tear away from him in that suit. He was always Reed, the dirty, asshole farrier who was unfortunately my best friend’s older brother. Now he was some cleaned up, somehow hotter version of himself, and I couldn’t even believe I was mentally admitting that.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

What was he doing to me?

I hated Reed Bronson with every fiber in my body. He ruined my life, and now I was standing here practically drooling over him. What the fuck was wrong with me?

He began to pull them down, giving me no time to think before I threw myself at him and slammed his back up against the wall.

He had a good seven or eight inches on me, though I wasn’t very short myself. Still, I had to tilt my chin to look up at him. The brim of his hat cast a shadow over both our faces from the overhead light, and my skin practically burned with having to touch him. My hands were on his chest, his pants were way too fucking low on his waist, and this was so wrong.

“Do I need to call for help?” he asked, his voice still not fucking quiet.

I pressed my lips together, grinding my jaw. If he so much as dared—

His mouth opened, and I slapped a hand over it to keep him quiet. Both his brows rose a good inch up his forehead. I was frozen to the spot, one hand on his hard chest, the other pressed up against lips I never wanted to touch in a million years, even with a ten-foot pole.

I couldn’t help it as my eyes drifted down his body, just to see how low his pants really were. Right when my gaze stopped below his belt-line, my body froze as my stomach somersaulted.

Tell me Reed Bronson did not have a boner while he was alone in a dressing room with me.

I shot my focus back up to him to find the asshole had one brow cocked. I pulled my hand away from his mouth and took a step back. I needed distance. Less than three minutes alone in this room with him, and it was too much. Being close to Reed was never a good idea. His and my presence mixing together only led to catastrophic fallout, and I did not want to be on the hook for disrupting the peace in this bridal salon.

I went to turn around to give him the privacy to change—because I wasn’t about to go sit out there with that woman in the same building as me—but stopped mid-spin as he said, “Who are you hiding from?”

“Get changed, Reed.” This was not a conversation I wanted to have with him.

“Who, Brandy?”

I inhaled, only to maintain my composure, and faced him. “It doesn’t matter.”

“If whoever it was made you come in here with me, then it must matter.”

My eyes narrowed. Did the Bronsons ever let anything go?

“It’s just some girl from high school,” I explained.

He waited for me to continue, but I didn’t. I’d already said too much.

He shoved off the wall, moving to walk past me. “Then let’s go say hi.”

I grabbed his wrist before his hand could touch the knob and yanked it away. “No,” I hissed. The asshole fucking baited me just to make me explain. I let go of him. “Would you just drop it?”

He crossed his arms, indicating that no, he wouldn’t.

I sighed, debating just keeping my mouth shut, but instead said, “She used to make fun of me.”

Every inch of him went rigid as he dropped his arms. “About what?”

“What do you think?”

It was partially why I still hated him for that night. For him, it was a few hours where he got to act like a fucking hero. But for me, it ruined what was left of my high school years, and followed me for long after.

Realization hit him as he stiffened, like this was the first time he had ever thought that night haunted me. I didn’t want his fucking pity.

Not now.

“Get dressed,” I muttered, turning around to face the wall. Unfortunately, there were mirrors on every wall in this room, so even averting my gaze, I could still see him. I squeezed my eyes shut.

The room was quiet aside from the rustling of clothes as he stripped himself of the suit. My back hummed with the thought of him possibly naked behind me, but I didn’t dare peek.

“Done,” he announced.

I opened my eyes just in time to see him pulling his black t-shirt over his stomach. The little bit of skin I glimpsed told me all I needed to know—Reed was dangerous. If I never found myself alone in another dressing room with him, it’d be too soon.

With a deep breath, I unlocked the handle, twisting it slowly to open the door. I peeked out through the crack to be sure the woman was gone. I checked left, then right, but before I could be sure the coast was clear, a large hand grabbed the side of the door right above my head and pulled it wide open.

“Reed!” I hissed.

He walked around me with the hanger in hand, heading for the front counter. I took one step out of the dressing room, double checking she wasn’t around, and followed him.

“Everything fit?” Mary asked.

Reed nodded, setting an elbow on the counter. “All good.”

She leaned forward in her swivel chair, twirling a pen in her fingers. “I’m surprised your friend is the same size as you. It’s almost perfect that you came in his place.”

I wanted to vomit.

I sidled up next to him, too close for my liking, but I needed to send a message loud and clear. Besides, I’d already been too close to him too many times today, so what was one more?

“Thanks so much for your help, Mary. The suit looked amazing on him.” I pasted on a gleaming smile to send it home. “Have a lovely day.”

I didn’t bother to glance at Reed as I turned to head toward the front doors. I wanted out of this air-conditioned, pristine place.

I got to the truck and pulled on the handle, but of course, it was fucking locked. Crossing my arms, I tapped a foot, waiting for Reed to emerge. Two minutes later, he did. I had no doubt he stayed behind a moment longer to apologize for my behavior.

He took his sweet time getting the keys out of his pocket. “What do you feel like eating?”

“Aren’t we going home?”

He beeped the locks. “Gotta eat.”

He opened the rear driver’s side door and hooked the hanger on the plastic piece hanging from the ceiling, then closed the door.

“I’m not hungry,” I snipped.

“Still gotta eat,” he replied before getting in behind the wheel.

I stood there a few seconds longer, attempting—and failing—to calm the smoke practically billowing from my ears. With a frown, I yanked on the passenger door handle, getting in myself.

Today would be the death of me. I just knew it.