I’ll never understand how those guys eat so much and stay in the shape that they do.
“Tell him, I said hey and yes, I’ll bake him a loaf of banana bread,” I say with a smile.
“I’ll do no such thing. That asshole doesn’t deserve any of your bread. That’s only for me,” Levi says.
“Since when do I only bake for you?” I ask at the same time I hear Jayce laugh and say, “She said yes, didn’t she?”
“No, she didn’t. She’s not baking you a damn thing if I have anything to say about it. Now get out so I can finish my conversation.”
Rolling my eyes, I put my feet up on the end of my coffee table. Those two bicker almost as much as Levi does with is brothers. There’s some shuffling on the other end before I hear a door slam shut.
“I’m offended Mia, I can’t believe you agreed to bake that asshole some of my banana bread,” Levi says coming back onto the line.
“Since, when is every loaf of bread I bake solely yours?”
“Since now.”
“Levi Trace, stop being rude to your friends.” I say, but I can’t keep the smile out of my voice. The fact that he loves my baking so much does make me incredibly happy.
“Whatever, he had it coming,” he grumbles
I open my mouth to say something else, when I hear Brianna’s voice in the background again. This time I can’t make out what she says, but I hear Levi chuckle in response.
“I’ll be right there” he says. The smile dies on my lips.
“I’ve gotta run, baby girl. I’ll try to call you later okay?”
“Yeah, sure. Have a good time,” I force brightness into my voice.
The line disconnects and I throw the phone onto the couch beside me.
Levi going out with his friends should affect me this much. He’s gorgeous, rich, funny, smart and successful. It’s a combination that very few women can resist. I know he hooks up with women. Thankfully, he’s never flaunted it in front of my face.
I’ve been in love with Levi Trace for almost fifteen years, but I can’t bring myself to tell him the truth because I’m a chicken. The mere thought of telling him how I feel, how I’ve felt ever since the day he stood up for me, terrifies me.
It would ruin our friendship.
It would ruin us. And I refuse to let that happen. Heaving out a huge sigh, I get up from the couch. It’s time to get ready for girls’ night out with Imani.
Chapter Three
LEVI
“Shift a little to the right, Brianna.”
Her chest brushes against mines as she fits herself as snuggly to me as she can. Her hair brushes my shoulder. Her strong perfume surrounds us, invading my senses.
“That’s perfect. Hold it.” Chris the photographer says. His camera clicks in rapid succession as he takes picture after picture.
This is the part of my job that I love and hate. In the beginning, I loved having a beautiful woman draped all over me. I was young and new to the industry. Posing with different models all the time felt like a dream come true. It was easy and fun.
Now…well it’s starting to get annoying. Some of these models think their shit doesn’t stink. They think they can do and say whatever they want and get away with it. I’ve lost count of the amount of times some of the bigger and newer names in the industry have thrown a hissy fit because something wasn’t up their standards. Like there trailer wasn’t big enough. Or they didn’t have the specific brand of water they wanted.
It gets old really fast.
I’ve always loved the craft of modeling. The behind the scenes work of taking an idea and turning it into a look that thousands of people around the world will see and admire. The creativity if what drives me. I’ve been thinking more and more about opening up my own modeling agency one day.
It’s one of the reasons I’ve been picking my brother Liam’s brain about what it takes to run a business. I’m getting closer to completing my degree, but he has experience. Liam runs several nightclubs and restaurants all over the world so it was a no brainer that he would be the first person I would go to. Besides Mia that is, when I told her a few months back about my idea, she immediately started researching and putting together a checklist of all the things I would need to do. No questions asked. That’s the type of person she is.
“Alright, that’s a wrap. Thanks everybody,” Chris says.
I step away from Brianna, extracting myself from her arms. I don’t miss the glare she throws my way as I walk away. I ignore it.
“Asshole,” she mutters. I ignore that too as I make my way to my trailer.
I know she’s still pissed about last night. She’s been throwing me less than subtle hints for a while now that she’s interested in hooking up. Last night, she tried every move in the book when we went out to the club. It started with casual arm brushes and coy smiles. Then she moved onto touching me and brushing up against me every chance she got. When she realized that I wasn’t taking the bait, she took a more direct approach by cornering me in the hallway
