Don't Let Go by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

involved. They’d all begged Kurt to go to rehab, to get help. Brady had never been a demonstrative kind of guy, but he’d flat out told his brother that he loved him one night, that he was afraid he was going to lose him. He’d told him he’d be there with him every step of the way if he’d just get clean.
    Kurt had laughed at him.
    Wasn’t the last time, either. Then there were the overdoses. Those he just couldn’t handle. After the last one, Brady had had enough and left town. He couldn’t bear to watch the slow disintegration of the brother he’d worshipped.
    Shaking off the dark thoughts and the road he’d unintentionally gone down, Brady cleaned up his supplies and surveyed the work he’d done.
    Yeah, Kurt would have loved this bike. He’d have laughed at the horror of it.
    God, he missed his brother’s laugh. They’d laughed so much together, all the damn time. Brady could still hear the echo of that laugh even now, especially at night when he worked alone and the silence was like a deep, dark cave.
    It never freaked him out, though. He liked that it was here in the dead of night when he could still hear Kurt’s laughter, could still hear his brother’s voice.
    It was the only thing about his brother that was still a comfort. And that kind of comfort was so damn rare.
    He put his supplies away, stared at the bike one last time, then turned off the light and locked the door.

Chapter 5

    MEGAN STOPPED BY Carter’s auto shop the next day, ostensibly to talk to Molly, but also because she had a gift for Roxie. It turned out Roxie was occupying Molly’s office, because Brady was painting and he didn’t want the puppy exposed to the fumes.
    She laid her bags down on the chair in Molly’s office, then bent to scoop up the dog.
    â€œShe’s kind of adorable, isn’t she?”
    Molly nodded. “She’s made friends with everyone, from the office staff to the guys in the shop. She has a way about her.”
    Megan scratched Roxie behind the ear. “Now you need to teach that making-friends thing to Brady.”
    Molly leaned back in her chair and tucked her chin-length dark brown hair behind her ears. “Isn’t that the truth? Carter and I have tried to engage him in activities, invited him to our place and out to the bar. We thought maybe we could get him to come out and play more often. So far, no luck.”
    Megan laid Roxie on the floor and took out the little stuffed chicken she’d gotten at the pet store. She handed it to Roxie, who sniffed it, grabbed it in her mouth, and went to her blanket in the corner. Megan took a seat in the chair. “I had him over for dinner at my place last night.”
    Molly’s bright blue eyes looked at Megan with interest. “Really. That’s amazing. How did you manage that?”
    She shrugged. “We’d been talking about Roxie and then it just came up and he agreed.”
    â€œHuh. So what happened?”
    â€œFried chicken happened.”
    Molly laughed. “You know that’s not what I’m talking about, Megan.”
    â€œI know. Dinner was nice. We talked. He kissed me.”
    Molly blinked. “Wait. What? He kissed you?”
    â€œHe did. It was a sudden thing. We were talking about his brother. I mentioned offhandedly that Kurt and I dated, and I think bringing up the subject of his brother upset him. He decided to leave, I walked him to the front door, and he grabbed me, kissed me, and then left.”
    Molly leaned back in her chair. “Unbelievable.”
    â€œI know.” She was glad to know someone other than herself saw it as a big event.
    â€œSo what does that mean?”
    â€œI have no idea. I’m a little confused. But I brought him baked goods.”
    She laughed. “Of course you did.”
    The door to the painting bay opened and Brady emerged. Megan sucked in a breath as Brady, all sweaty, walked down the