He laughs and takes a sip of his beer. "Not just Monica, you douche." He and Max laugh again when I flip them off and grab the tray of steaks.
After about two hours, the party is in full swing. There are easily forty people here, maybe more. There are people in the pool, hot tub, sitting down, or just standing around talking. I texted my brother an hour ago, but haven"t heard back. I guess he"s blowing me off again. He does that from time to time, so it doesn"t bother me. I"m standing by the fire pit smoking when Summer comes walking over in nothing but a tiny bright pink bikini, leaving very little to the imagination. I give her a half-smile as she reaches me.
"Hey, Jax. I was wondering what happened to you," she coos, batting her eyes.
I give her a wink and take a drag of my cigarette. "Just having a smoke before I start the fire." She looks around the yard then back at me. She doesn"t say anything, just stares at me. "Can I get you a drink?"
"Nah. Nice place. You rich?" What the h.e.l.l?
"Rich? No. But thanks, I like it," I say with a grin.
She reaches out her hand and lightly touches my arm. I just stand there, because it"s like she isn"t sure what the h.e.l.l she is doing. She"s petting me like a dog. Yeah, this isn"t going to happen. Luck is on my side when Ivy calls her, and she runs over. I roll my eyes and start the fire.
Max walks over with a beer for me, and I gladly take it. "Did you have an enlightening conversation with Summer?" he asks with a laugh.
I almost spit my beer out and start laughing right along with him. "Holy s.h.i.t, man. That is not a chick I find attractive. I like to at least be able to have a conversation."
He shakes his head and sits down. "Tell me about it. I met her a few months ago at a party, and after about thirty seconds, my d.i.c.k tried crawling into my body."
This time I do spit my beer out. "Yeah, I"m thinking my d.i.c.k is in hiding right now too."
We talk for a few minutes, and the bigger the fire grows, the more people make their way over. We"re all talking, laughing, and drinking pretty heavily. Monica comes over and sits on my lap since there are no chairs available. I don"t even think anything of it; there are no feelings there whatsoever.
The longer the night goes on, the more drunk everyone gets. There are people making out all over the place like a d.a.m.n p.o.r.no. Don"t get me wrong, there are plenty of times I"ve done the same, but tonight, I"m just not feeling it. No one here has caught my attention for more than a few minutes, which I"ll admit sucks, because I was hoping to have some company tonight. I decide to go grab a beer. I don"t stop at the cooler, but go to the fridge, taking a few minutes to myself. I"m leaning up against the counter when someone comes walking down the hallway. She turns the corner, and my c.o.c.k jumps to attention. Where the f.u.c.k has this girl been all night? She jumps when she sees me.
"s.h.i.t, I didn"t mean to scare you," I say, crossing my arms.
She give me a shy smile, and I know my night has just turned around. "Sorry, I didn"t know anyone was in here. I"m Jenni. I was supposed to meet Monica here earlier, but I just got here." That"s why I didn"t see her, because I know I"d remember her even in my drunk state.
"I"m Jax. Nice to meet you. Can I get you a drink?" She shakes her head and bites her lip. f.u.c.k me. "Can I get you anything?" I move a little closer, and she appears a little nervous, but when I put my hands on the wall above her, she smiles up at me. "You are beautiful." She drops her head, then slowly lifts it to stare at me.
"Thank you," she whispers. I can see her chest heaving with antic.i.p.ation, and I f.u.c.king love it.
"Am I making you nervous, beautiful Jenni?" She shakes her head and I wink at her. "Good." I don"t even give her time to think. I slam my mouth to hers, and she moans, opening right up. It doesn"t take long for me to realize I need this girl in my bed and my d.i.c.k in her. And that"s exactly what happens...twice.
Chapter Three.
Kallie I am sitting at my computer editing a s.h.i.t load of pictures from the last week. I am so incredibly happy with the results of all of them. I definitely have some extremely s.e.xy ones, which makes me happy, since that"s what I was going for. I also did a lot of outdoor shots. I"ve found some amazing places locally to take photos, from the beach, to the woods, and everything in between. I have a friend who has some cars from the fifties, and I did some unbelievable shots of Brinley and Max. There"s one of her lying back on the hood and Max hovering over her; it is stunning honestly. I rub my eyes and decide I need to take a break since my eyes are tired now. I go into the kitchen and make myself a quick sandwich, taking it to the living room to watch some TV.
Just as I finish my lunch, my cell phone rings. "h.e.l.lo?"
"Aunt Kal." I smile and lay my head back on the couch when I hear my niece"s voice.
"Hi, baby girl. How are you?" She giggles, and I can"t keep the smile off my face. I adore my nieces; they mean the world to me. I love when I get a random phone call from Dawn. She"s only five, but always seems to be able to sneak my brother"s phone away. She looks at the pictures next to the phone number before calling; she"s a smart little thing.
"Daddy is in the shower, and Mommy is napping with Tiffany. Guess what? I colored you a picture, and Daddy said I can give it to you soon. When can I come to your house? I want to play in the picture room. Can you take my picture?" I laugh, trying to keep up with her.
"Thank you for coloring me a picture. I"ll talk to Daddy, and we"ll make plans for you to come over. I will definitely take your picture. You"re my favorite model," I say and she giggles.
"Aunt Kal, yesterday at school we had gym, and I played with a parachute. We got to run under it, and we hided from Mrs. Jones. Did you play parachute in school? Want to hear a new song?" She rushes out.
I take a sip of my soda and smile, loving this conversation. "Yes, I did play parachute in gym. I loved it. Of course, I want to hear you sing." I look at the family picture I have of Braden and his family. His wife Sarah is beautiful, and so are the girls. I"m so happy with the life he has made for himself. It gives me hope that one day I will have something similar.
"I"m a puppy...bark, bark, bark. I like to be petted, and I lick your face. I am chasing the ball and sliding on the floor." She laughs, and I know she"s just singing what the dog is doing.
"Sweetie, I love that song." I hear Braden in the background and know our conversation will soon be over.
"But Daddy, I want to talk to Aunt Kal." I hear him tell her to say goodbye, and she does with a sad little voice.
"Hey, Kallie, sorry. You know how she loves to play with my phone, well, steal it is more like it," he says, chuckling.
I laugh and get up to put my dish in the dishwasher. "Stop, Braden. I love when she calls me. She wants to come over, so we need to make plans. How are you?" He proceeds to tell me how tired he is between working and having the kids. "You love every second of it. You can"t bulls.h.i.t me."
He laughs. "I do. Listen, I need to get Dawn over to Mom"s house. She is keeping her overnight to give us a little break. I"ll call you during the week and make plans. Love you."
We hang up, and I figure I"m done with editing pictures for the day. I want to do something. I grab my camera and head down to the beach. I like to do this every once in a while-go to the beach and just snap random pictures. It"s relaxing.
I wish I lived close enough to the beach to walk, but it"s only a short drive. Once I get there, I get out and head over to one of the big rocks I like to sit on and people watch. I still like to take pictures of objects, not just people, so I focus where the sand meets the rocks and snap. I smile, checking out the picture, and just begin snapping. Nothing specific, I just snap away. "This rock taken?" I glance over at a very good-looking guy and smile.
"Not that I"m aware of." He laughs and I smile at him.
"What are you doing exactly?" he asks.
I hold up my camera. "Just taking a few pictures."
He nods his head and sips on the coffee he"s holding. I normally don"t have company when I"m here, so I"m a little uncomfortable taking pictures now.
"Please don"t stop invading people"s privacy because I"m here," he says. I snap my head to him, and he"s just staring at the crowds of people on the beach.
"Excuse me?" I say with a bit of anger in my voice.
He looks over at me and shrugs his shoulders. "That"s what you"re doing. You"re taking photos of people without their knowledge, therefore, you are invading their privacy." I just keep staring at him, and he"s holding my gaze. "Cat got your tongue?"
I clear my throat and turn my body to him. "First of all, who the f.u.c.k are you? Second, I"m doing nothing of the kind. I"m capturing the beauty that is around me. I"m a professional photographer, so maybe before you come over here accusing me of something, you should know what the f.u.c.k you"re talking about. Now if you"ll excuse me, I don"t feel so inspired anymore."
I stand up and make my way to my car, feeling p.i.s.sed and hurt. I climb in and close the door. For the first time in my life, I wonder if maybe I shouldn"t be here taking pictures, maybe I am doing just what he said. I back out of my spot and head toward home. The more I think about it, the more I know he"s wrong. I never focus on anyone"s face, and I always, always fade them out. a.s.shole, making me question what I do.
After I get home, I call Brinley and see if she wants to do something. She can tell I was upset about something and told me to head over to her house. I shower and take my time getting ready. I curl my hair, apply my makeup, and pick out an outfit to make myself feel s.e.xy. I end up with a pair of skinny jeans, a black halter-top, and black heels. I look in the mirror and smile before grabbing my phone and purse off the counter and heading to Brinley"s.
When I pull up, I see a few more cars here. I walk up to the door and let myself in. "Brin?" I close the door and head toward the living room.
"Outside, Kallie." I head out there and give Brinley a hug along with Nora, Jackie, and Ella. "Grab a drink, sit, and talk," Nora says.
I tell them all about the guy from the beach, and being the supportive friends they are, they all tell me what a d.i.c.khead he is. After a few beers and bashing men, we are sitting around talking and laughing about our love lives or lack thereof.
"Last night, I was at the bar, and this guy comes up to me. Hot, muscular, tattoos, just my kind of guy. He asks if he can buy me a drink, and we start talking. Every word out of his mouth made me want to become deaf. Is it too much to ask for a s.e.xy guy that can actually hold a conversation?" We laugh at Nora but completely agree. Honestly, I can"t remember the last time I had a conversation with a guy where he seemed intelligent. Let me rephrase that, the last time I had a conversation with a guy that was available to me. Plenty of my models are extremely intelligent, but extremely off limits.
"Enough of the pity, lack of good men talk. I say we rent a funny movie and get trashed," Brinley suggests.
"Brin, that"s the best offer I"ve had in months," I say.
We all laugh and head to the living room to find a movie. Brin goes to the kitchen and comes back with a bottle of vodka and five gla.s.ses. Looks like I"m going to be spending the night. We go through all the movies on Netflix and finally settle on Step Brothers.
Brin pours us all a shot and holds up her gla.s.s. "To the most beautiful women I know and am d.a.m.n lucky to call friends."
We all raise our gla.s.ses and throw them back. I am definitely one lucky girl to be surrounded by such amazing friends. They have my back no matter what. I throw myself into my work and don"t talk to anyone for sometimes weeks at a time, but they love me anyway.
I wake up to the sun blinding me. I roll away from the window, but it"s useless; it"s so bright in here. I open my eyes and look at the clock. "Ugh." It"s ten o"clock already. I need to get home and finish my edits. I have another busy week and that huge shoot this weekend*I"m so excited about it*not only because I"ll be working with Max, but also I"ll finally get to work with Jax. You"d have to live under a rock not to know who he is. He"s one of the most popular models right now, and I"m beyond excited to work with him.
"Morning," Brinley says.
I turn my head and see her sitting on the chair in the living room. Even when she first wakes up, she looks stunning. b.i.t.c.h.
"Morning." I push myself up and face her. "d.a.m.n, I haven"t gotten that drunk in a long time." She laughs and I shake my head.
"Maybe you need to hang out more. Once every couple of weeks sucks, Kallie. I know you"re busy with work, but I think you need to relax more often." She"s right, I know she is, but photography is my life. I don"t know how to step back. "Stop over-thinking it."
I laugh and rest my head back. "You"re right, I do need to get out more, but I don"t know if I can do it."
She sits down next to me and rests her head back by mine. "You"ll never meet someone if you don"t get out, Kal. You can"t expect someone to just show up on your doorstep one day." I stick my tongue out at her and she smiles. "Don"t you think if you take a break sometimes you might enjoy it more?"
"Impossible. I live for this and you know it. I will promise to make more time for relaxing and going out. How about we plan a vacation in a few months? Me, you, and the girls."
"Now you"re talking. A girl"s vacation would be f.u.c.king awesome. How about in the meantime we go out to dinner Friday night? We have that shoot Sat.u.r.day morning, so we"ll do an early dinner. Sound good?" she asks.
I lean over and pull her in for a hug. "Sounds perfect. I do need to get home and get a few things done, though. I"ll call you later. Thanks for last night."
She kisses my cheek and tells me she"ll talk to me soon. I head home, and right as I walk in the door, my cell phone rings. I drop my purse and keys down on the counter as I answer it.
"h.e.l.lo?"
"Kallie?" I walk to my office and turn the computer on.
"Yes," I say.
"Hi, this is Jax Burke." f.u.c.k, he"s probably calling to cancel for the shoot. My palms start sweating at just the thought.
"Hi, Jax, what"s up?" Please don"t say you can"t do it, please.
"I was going through the list of clothing for this weekend and wanted to make sure there wasn"t anything else I needed to bring," he says.
I breathe a sigh of relief. "No, everything I sent you is all you need. If you have a favorite pair of shorts or boxers that you would like to bring, that"s great too."
I hear a lighter and imagine him relaxing with a smoke. d.a.m.n, I haven"t had a cigarette since college and that was just when I was drunk. Maybe I should smoke to relax. What the h.e.l.l is wrong with me? I"m not going to smoke. Focus on the phone call.
"Okay, I just wanted to make sure," he says and I hear him blow out the smoke.
I smile even though it is the strangest conversation. "Believe me, I"d let you know, but like I said, if you have anything you"d like to bring, I"m totally game for that also."
"Sounds good. I wanted to let you know I went onto your website and checked out your photos. They"re amazing. You"re truly talented," he comments.
My heart starts racing. I haven"t felt that happen in a long time, but I think it"s just because this amazing model is complimenting my work.
"Thank you, Jax, that means a lot to me. I"m really looking forward to the shoot this weekend. I think it will be great."
"I completely agree. I"m thrilled to be a part of it." I giggle a little because it"s almost like we"re talking in circles here. I"m not exactly sure what the point of this conversation is, but I"ll be honest, it"s nice to talk to someone new.
"I have big plans, so I hope everyone will be cool with all my ideas." I hear someone talking to him, and I figure it must be Blake.
"Everyone will love it, I"m sure. All right, Blake is finally ready to head out to the beach. Thank you for clearing that up for me. I"ll see you Sat.u.r.day."
We hang up and I sit there, perplexed. What the h.e.l.l was the point of that? I guess the guy likes to make sure he can bring his choice of clothing too. I shrug my shoulders and start editing the rest of my pictures.
I can"t believe it"s finally Sat.u.r.day, the day of my big shoot. Brinley and I had dinner last night, and I was a bundle of nerves and excitement. I want everything to work out like I have pictured in my mind. It"s four o"clock in the morning, and I"m showered, hair and makeup done, and sitting on the couch drinking a cup of coffee. I want to be on the beach in about a half hour since I told everyone to be there before sunrise. I finish off my coffee and go grab my gear. I have my camera and all my different lenses packed and ready to go. I carry it out, leaving it by the front door while I make myself a travel mug of coffee. Once I have that all done, I grab a hair tie because I know before long, I will want to keep my hair off my face. I look around to make sure I haven"t forgotten anything and head out to my Jeep Wrangler.
I get to the spot on the beach where I asked everyone to meet me and put everything down. I look around at how still everything is. The only sound is the waves washing up on sh.o.r.e, and the only light is the full moon. It"s so peaceful. I grab my camera out of the bag and snap a few photos of the moon and the way it reflects off the water.
"Have you been here long?" I turn when I hear Brinley and she"s walking up with another two of my models, Melanie and Danielle.
"No, I actually just got here myself." They all give me a hug, and we talk for a few minutes about my plans.
"The party can start. I"m here." I smile at Max as he hugs me tight. "Jax and Blake will be right here. They stopped for coffee, and Joey, Dan, and Ben pulled in behind me. Who else is coming?"
"I have another new model, Lori, coming, and Jack and Ruben." I take a sip of my coffee as he nods his head. "Girls, you all know Max, right?" They all come over and start talking. With every second that pa.s.ses, I start getting nervous that everyone else is going to be late.
"Relax, everyone will be here, and it will be perfect," Brinley says. I smile at her and she gives me a wink.
I hear laughing and see everyone except Jax and Blake heading toward us. I breathe a small sigh of relief. They"re all talking, and I"m starting to wonder how the h.e.l.l I"m going to talk over all of them. I clear my throat to get ready to yell and Max looks at me. He lets out a loud-a.s.s whistle, and they all shut up. He smiles as he holds his arm out, indicating I have their attention.
"Thank you all so much for being here. We"re waiting on Jax and Blake, but I want to tell you about the first shot, since it"s starting to get light out. I don"t want it perfect; I almost don"t want any organization. I want you all to get close to the water, but please don"t get wet yet. We have plenty of time for that later. I want you to all be goofing around, having fun. Guys, you can pick up a girl, girls you can piggyback on a guy, h.e.l.l, guys you can piggyback, I don"t care. I want it to look fun and carefree."
"What if I"m on Max"s back and Brinley is on my back?" Joey asks.
I can"t help but throw my head back and laugh. Yes, this is definitely going to be a fun day.
Chapter Four.