Breaking Brent Read Free

pass. It has to, right? Goodnight, Chase.” With that, she turned, hiding the tears starting to pool in her eyes, and started to leave the bedroom, but not before he tried to have the final word.
    “Just give him some time, Peyton. Just a little bit of time. He’ll come around. He wants you. That means more than his pride or his temper.”
    “He only wants me when he can’t have me. He said as much along with every other breakup line ever created. So now he’ll want me for the rest of his life, because I’ll be damned if he gets the chance to hurt me again.” She left his bedroom, left their home and drove back to town, back to the bar, back to where she didn’t have to think about Brent Kiel or her broken heart.

Chapter One
    Four years later.
    Brent Kiel took in his surroundings and then took the shot his hand was wrapped around. The amber liquid burned a path from his mouth down his throat and into his stomach. It hurt like hell. Good. A few more of these and the entire evening would become a blur and hopefully tomorrow would be as well.
    Shifting on the stool he had occupied for the better part of a few hours, he watched his brother Nick sink the eight ball into the side pocket of one of the pool tables the bar supplied. The shot ended yet another game between his brothers. Hayden, the youngest of the Kiel clan, fished a wadded up bill from his front pocket and handed it over to Nick. At this rate he would be broke before midnight.
    One of the trademarked Kiel cockier-than-hell smiles crossed Nick’s face as he took the money offered. Hayden looked defeated, but would get over it soon. That was one thing about the youngest Kiel, he didn’t dwell on things too long.
    Hayden handed his pool stick to another waiting patron and followed Nick as they took seats next to him at the bar. Brent scooted over a bit to make room for his brother’s ever-growing size.
    They both were tall boys, but recently Hayden had put on about twenty pounds of muscle for no apparent reason. The added weight made his T-shirts bulge and made his Saturday nights busier than they were before.
    Thanks to Hayden and Jason Kiel there weren’t many hearts left intact in the small town of Millbrook, Texas. After tomorrow a few more would shatter thanks to Chase’s decision to marry the love of his life. Brent clenched his jaw at the thought of his brother’s wedding. Damn fool didn’t have a clue as to what he was getting himself into.
    Willa Tate was beautiful, gorgeous if the truth be told, but in Brent’s eyes she was the kryptonite to Chase’s Superman. She would break him again just like she had almost done all those years ago when she decided to leave Millbrook with Chase’s heart in tow.
    Brent had ceased trying to convince Chase of this. The last time the subject was brought up, Brent had walked away with a bloody lip and four mad brothers. Even though his opinion still stood as it was, he kept it to himself. Things were better, but they weren’t great. Brent felt bad about the strain his feelings put on his relationship with his brothers but it was his opinion and he was sticking with it.
    He just had to grin and bear it until Chase realized Willa was no different now than she had been all those years ago. She had already left him once. She would do it again. It was only a matter of time. The Kiel’s had had enough grief and heartache in their short lives. They didn’t need any more.
    As his thoughts progressed so did his thirst. Lifting his hand, he motioned for Wade, the bartender for the evening, to order another round.
    Wade nodded his head once, letting Brent know he would be there in a minute and then went back to filtering shots into empty glasses. That was when Brent saw her.
    Peyton James.
    He felt a growl roll in his chest but forbid it from coming out of his mouth.
    What was she doing here?
    True, her daddy owned the bar and she did work for him, but Friday was usually her day off. That was the only reason he had