“Braden?” I snap out of my thoughts and look at McKinley. She giggles and stands up. “I didn’t think you heard me. Are you ready?”
“Absolutely,” I say, standing up.
We both thank Blake and London for dinner and for having us before we leave.
The next week flies by. McKinley is busy with work and modeling. Kallie asked her for another shoot and another photographer reached out to set up a shoot. She’s been so damn happy, which makes me happy.
I’m on my way to meet Kallie for lunch and even though we’ve talked a little since our argument, I need to apologize again. I feel like an asshole for jumping at her like that. When I pull up to the restaurant, I see her jeep and head inside. She is standing by the hostess laughing and I can’t help but smile. My sister is not only the most talented photographer I know, the most fun and outgoing person, and has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen, but she’s my best friend. Besides my mom, she is the only other person in my life who has never let me down. I’m damn lucky for that.
“Hey,” I say grabbing her attention.
She turns around and hugs me. “Hey, big brother.”
We get seated and after the waitress takes our drink order, I put my menu down. “Kallie?” She lowers her menu and looks at me. “I need to apologize again for the other night. I never should have yelled at you like that.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she says, looking back down at her menu.
“No, I do worry about it. I was a dickhead. You were only telling me how you felt and honestly how I felt. That’s why I snapped. You were just saying everything I was feeling, and the guilt was eating me alive.” I give her a weak smile and she puts her menu down.
“Braden, I was drunk and totally out of line. You had every right to yell at me. It’s none of my business when or how you tell the girls about McKinley,” she says.
The waitress comes over and gives us our drinks before taking our order. Once she is gone, I lean back in my seat and stretch my arms out over the back of the seat.
“I decided next time the girls are here; I am going to tell them about McKinley.” She gets a huge smile on her face, but I keep talking before she can interrupt. “They deserve to know that I am in love.”
Her eyes get huge, and she covers her mouth. I chuckle as she starts bouncing in her seat. “Holy shit. I knew it, I knew you loved her. She loves you too, you know. It is so obvious when you two are together.”
I smile and take a sip of my beer. “Oh, I know she loves me,” I say with a wink.
“You guys said it didn’t you?” I nod my head and she practically screams. “Oh Braden, I’m so happy for you. You deserve this more than anyone else.”
Our food gets dropped off and after thanking the waitress I turn my attention back to Kallie. “That’s not true. Everyone deserves to fall in love.”
The rest of lunch consists of talking about what is going on in our lives and our mom and all her movie dates. After I pay the bill, which of course she argued about, I walk her to her jeep.
“Thanks for meeting for lunch,” I say, kissing her cheek.
“Thanks for paying jackass. Hey, if you and McKinley don’t have plans this weekend, we are all going over to Blake’s, you guys should come,” she says with pleading eyes.
I chuckle and start walking away. “I’ll check with McKinley, but I’m sure we’ll be there.”
When I get home, I fire up my laptop to finish a few things for work. Just as I start my phone rings and I grab it. When I see it’s my lawyer I answer quickly.
“Hey, Braden. Hope you’re ready because I’ve got a date for the custody hearing,” he says, and I grab my calendar out of the drawer.
When he tells me it’s only two months away, I smile writing it all down. He tells me that he will call me, and we will go over everything when it gets closer. I hang up and lean back in my chair with a smile. I have no doubt in my mind that my girls will be living here soon. Once they are, things will be perfect. I’ll have everyone I love in one place. Great things are going to happen, I can feel it.
Chapter 17
McKinley
“Beautiful. Now take the bra off and drape your arm across your breasts,” Kallie says, snapping away.
We are almost done with the shoot. Kallie has taken some great photos. Not because of me, but because she is so great at what she does. She knows exactly where to tell me to look, move or turn. Talented doesn’t seem like the right word to describe her.
Aside from the shoot at Blake’s, this is my first outdoor shoot. We’re at this stunning lake in the woods. The sun, green trees, and tall grasses bounce their reflections off the clear water. The most breathtaking thing is the waterfall. It’s the perfect background and the sound of it hitting the water is so relaxing to me.
Once I have my bra off, she has me stand just in the water, with the beautiful waterfall behind me. I was worried I would be nervous, especially not having clothes on. That’s not the case though. Kallie makes me feel so
