Mission: Without a Trace - Nicole Edwards Page 0,43
night since Reese walked off his back porch and right to his truck. It had been enough to keep him functioning on a physical level, but his brain was getting foggy. He needed a good eight hours, preferably ten to catch up and reboot his system.
Since he’d tossed and turned all last night, too, he would have to wait until tonight to try again.
If only his fucking brain would shut off. If thoughts of Reese didn’t plague him at all times. When he was lucid, he could easily tell himself he was damn tired of this roller coaster ride with Reese. He should’ve expected it would come down to this.
But in the dark of night, he longed for those stolen moments. Hell, he would’ve been content to simply have Reese there with him.
He hated himself for wanting the man so damn much. And he got the feeling he could easily convince Reese on a do-over. He’d spent the week working alongside him, knew a conversation was in order. Brantley could’ve instigated a chat, forgiven him for what had happened. Reese would likely be in his bed right now, waking up beside him.
Temporarily.
It all boiled down to one thing. Reese was curious, not committed.
And that, Brantley knew, was only a recipe for disaster. There was no way anything could come of this unless Reese was all in, the way he’d said he was. The guy had lied. All there was to it.
But Brantley wasn’t going to sit around and mope about it. He had shit to do, starting with a five-mile run.
After setting a new personal best for five miles, Brantley hit the shower, got dressed, and headed into town. He called JJ, invited her for breakfast. If she wasn’t going to make the effort to clear the air between them, he had to. And he would do it by treating her to breakfast and pretending all was well between them.
“Uh-oh, what’s wrong?” she said as she approached the booth he’d secured for them.
“Nothin’,” he lied. “Why should somethin’ be wrong?”
Her gaze was unsettling, bouncing over his face as she took a seat across from him. “Did you sleep at all last night?”
He offered a shrug, glanced down at the menu. “Headache. Got a coupla hours. You?”
She laughed, the sound a bit too forced. “More than you.”
Brantley met her gaze, held it. “You talk to Dante?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t call it talkin’, but yes, we managed to settle things. Or rather, end things. It was inevitable.”
He couldn’t quite gauge her mood, but he sensed she was not too upset over the loss.
JJ motioned the waitress over. “Can we get two coffees and two waters?”
The waitress nodded in response, sauntered off.
“Where’s Reese?”
“Not his keeper,” he grumbled.
JJ nodded, giving him that look that said she had it all figured out. “Y’all have another fight?”
“Nope. Nothin’ to fight about.”
Her green eyes narrowed. “All right, Walker. Enough of this shit. You invited me here. I came. We’re gonna hash this out right now. No way are we lettin’ our love lives come between us.”
Although he would prefer to talk about anything but Reese, it wasn’t like Brantley could refuse JJ. He did want to clear the air between them. He needed her right now. She was his best friend and he could sure as shit use one.
However, he wasn’t going to make it easy on her. “I didn’t ask you here so we could talk about Reese.”
“Then why did you ask me here?”
“Because I miss your company.”
“You’ve seen me nearly every day.”
“That’s work. This … is not.”
JJ thanked the waitress when she set down two mugs and poured coffee into them.
“Y’all ready to order?”
“Go ahead,” JJ urged.
Brantley rattled off his order—scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, hashed browns, and a side of pancakes. When he was done, JJ stared at him as though he’d lost his mind. He had. No way he could eat all that, but he was damn sure going to try. He’d been eating healthy since he started hanging out with Reese. No time like the present to make up for all that lost time.
“So what happened with you and Reese last weekend? Bottom obviously fell out. Why?” JJ asked after she’d ordered a fruit plate and a southern biscuit.
He considered brushing her off, telling her it didn’t matter because it was all in the past, but Brantley knew JJ was like a dog with a bone. She was not going to give up easily.