Chapter Two
Kellie flipped the card over in her hand for the tenth time and sighed. She had absolutely no logical reason for why she should give Tate her business, but there was something that had been bugging her ever since. He was intriguing, but she also wanted to give him another chance because he was fine as hell and definitely worth swallowing her pride for.
That was so superficial and she hated herself for it. She’d never been hooked on a guy because of how he looked; she saw thousands of “beautiful people” every week. No guy had ever caught her attention quite like Tate had and it was something she really needed to comprehend.
Those eyes…
“What’s got you quiet?” Brandon asked as he rejoined her on the couch. He set two beers on the coffee table and waited for her response instead of restarting the movie they’d been watching.
Kellie paused as she considered a reply. Brandon was the type of guy she could probably share anything with and he wouldn’t cast judgment. They were actually friends with benefits more than anything, and although they’d agreed on that from the start, Kellie was still hesitant to get too close. She didn’t like opening herself up to feel vulnerable to anyone.
“Meh, just thinking about more ink,” she answered, holding up the business card before tossing it onto the end table. “I’m feeling indecisive.”
“I thought you already had something picked out?”
“Sort of,” she shrugged. “I want to finish what’s on my back. But I’m just hitting a wall, I think. I don’t know.”
“Hmm, well no hurry then. Don’t do it until you’re sure.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve pretty much decided,” she smiled. But deep down inside she didn’t feel so happy. That feeling of discontent was eating away at her and she didn’t like it.
Brandon playfully tackled her onto the couch and slid her shirt down from the neck. He kissed a tattoo on the front of her shoulder—the skull with a pair of kissable lips—and asked, “What’s this one mean?”
Kellie pulled her shirt away a little more to look it over. Every single one of her tattoos had meaning, and even though she was always willing to share their significance if someone asked, some held more depth than others.
This was one of them.
“Well…basically it represents someone who’ll put out but doesn’t feel or connect to anything from it. Affectionate and all—the lips—but completely unavailable otherwise. The skull. Dead.”
He looked up and studied her for a second. “Are you talking about yourself?”
She shrugged. “Yeah.”
“You’re not completely dead inside, Kell. I think you’re too hard on yourself. You have a big heart and the right guy is gonna realize that.”
She shrugged again but smiled. “I’m fine with the way I am. I don’t need a guy to ‘complete’ me,” she used air quotes.
“It’s not about finding someone that completes you, but finding someone that loves you completely the way you are.”
“Aww that’s so poetic,” she teased. She pulled him down and kissed his lips. “You almost made me feel something there.”
He laughed. “I lied. You’re such a cold-hearted bitch. I thought for sure that would chip away that block of ice in your chest.”
“Nope, not quite.”
“Damn it, I should have had chocolate, too.”
“Nope, not chocolate. Maybe some nachos.”
Brandon laughed again. “This girl is won over by nachos. Got it.”
“No, there is no ‘winning over’ at all,” she cocked an eyebrow at him. “Unless you added a margarita.”
Laughing, he shook his head but continued to kiss her. “You’re a hopeless case.”
“But not entirely useless,” she grinned back.
***
“Okay, where is he?” Kellie called as she entered Camryn and Teague’s backyard. Her eyes scanned every human body until she spotted the one she was looking for. Teague was sitting on the deck with a couple of his friends, but Kellie went straight for the baby in his arms.
“Oh, nice to see you too,” Teague scoffed as he forfeited his son.
Kellie only smiled but kissed on baby Camden’s face as she held him to her chest. “Hi, my sweet little cousin,” she cooed. “I’ve missed you.”
“He missed you, too,” Teague told her. “In fact, he missed you so much he told me he wanted you to change his diaper.”
Kenton and Gage laughed, but Kellie shrugged and said, “No problem.”
She made her way into the house for the baby’s room, but hugged Camryn and Melanie on her way by the kitchen. They were arranging food for the barbecue, but Camryn held out her arms and said, “Oh if he needs changed, I’ll take him.”
“Hell no,” Kellie chuckled. “You carry on, I got it handled.”
“Okay,” she smiled.
“Hey, we need to talk,” Jay said as he came through the back door.
“Talk about what?” Kellie asked when she realized he was looking right at her and he sure as hell didn’t look very happy.
“Oh shit,” she heard Melanie murmur under her breath.
“Hey, you better not burn my steaks,” Camryn narrowed her eyes at him, pointing outside. “Go back and man the grill.” Obviously she was trying to redirect Jay, and Kellie was fully aware that something was up.
“Teague has it covered now,” he answered without even looking at her. He was still staring at his sister.
Kellie turned for the hall but her brother followed her into the baby’s room. Camden—whose full name was Camden James McCallan and often called C.J. for short—was only six weeks old. He had Teague’s dark hair and his mama’s pretty lips and chin. He was one of the cutest babies you would ever see.
“I’m kinda busy,” she said. She did not like the look on Jay’s face, and knowing her brother, he didn’t give a fuck.
“Tough shit,” he answered. “You can change a diaper and answer a few questions at the same time.”
“No I can’t. I guess you have to take away my girl card for my inability to multi-task.”
“So I happened to drive by your apartment yesterday when I was headed to meet Teague at the studios,” he stated, moving the subject along.
She’d just removed C.J.’s diaper but paused for a few seconds. “So?”
“So you’re either driving Brandon’s truck these days, or he’s been fucking my sister. Which is it?”
Leave it to Jay to get straight to the point. “It’s really none of your business.”
“Uh, yeah, it is my business, Kell. It’s my right as your brother. Now answer the damn question.”
“We’re just friends,” she glared at him. “And you have no right to get in my business all the time just because you feel like it. You know he’s a good guy, so why do you even care?”
“So you are sleeping with him,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “So he’s been going behind my back to screw my sister and doesn’t have the balls to tell me to my face?”
“Jay,” Kellie growled. “We are friends. That’s all. Leave him the hell alone.”
Camryn came into the room just as Kellie realized that the baby had been squawking on the changing table. The poor guy was still lying there naked and neglected.
“God, I’m so sorry,” Kellie sighed, pressing her palm to her forehead. She was beginning to get a headache.
“It’s okay,” Camryn smiled as she quickly wiped him clean and put a diaper on him. “I got it, go talk.”
“No, I’d rather not,” Kellie growled as she brushed past her brother and out the door.
“How long has this been going on?” Jay asked, practically on her heels.
Kellie turned abruptly and smacked Jay in the chest with her hand. “None of your damn business! We’re just friends!”
“Right,” he scoffed. “I’ll believe that when I grow a second dick.”
“Oh my God,” Kellie rolled her eyes. “You can believe whatever you want, but we’re just friends because I’m already seeing someone else.”
His eyes bore into hers, and that oh-shit-what-have-I-done feeling spread through her body almost immediately.
“Who?” he demanded in a low voice.
She didn’t know what would have been worse: admitting that she was casually sleeping with Brandon or was in an actual relationship with someone else. Either way she couldn’t win with Jay, but she hated lying to him.
“No one you know.” She turned and walked away.
“Then tell me his name,” he said as he followed her again.
This was never going to end, and going by past experience, Kellie needed to lessen the potential damage for Brandon’s sake. “Tate,” she answered without thinking.
“Tate who?” Jay asked. “If you’re seeing a guy named Tate, I wanna meet him.”
Kellie stopped dead in her tracks after they rounded the corner for the kitchen. Not only was Melanie still in there, now holding baby Cade, but so were Sarah and Tyse, and Kellie didn’t miss the surprise on Sarah’s face. Tate was the first name that came to mind, but he was also the brother of Sarah’s best friend. Of course she was here right at that very moment to hear that she was magically in a relationship with him despite his knowledge.
And hopefully Sarah caught her silent plea to keep quiet.
“What’s his last name?” Jay demanded again.
“Holy shit, would you shut up!?” Kellie yelled at him. “It’s seriously none of your damn business!”
“I only want to know who you’re with!” he shouted back. “God, Kellie, why can’t you understand that? I want you safe!”
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She understood why Jay was so protective of her, but she couldn’t handle the fighting every time it came to something like this. If it wasn’t her grandfather’s interference, trying to push her together with someone of status, it was her brother’s protectiveness when she dated an “unknown.”
“I’ll let you know if I need rescuing,” she answered bitterly. “And maybe if you weren’t such an asshole, I wouldn’t mind introducing you to my friends now and then.”
“I’m an asshole? Because I care?”
“It’s fine that you care, but try to do it with more tact.”
“Tact?” he scoffed loudly.
Then he laughed, but Kellie could tell he was pissed. This family barbecue wasn’t going to be a pleasant one if she and Jay were at each other’s throats the entire time.
“What the hell is going on?” Teague broke the silence. Everyone turned at once to see him standing in the open sliding glass door with a plate of steaks.
“Nothing,” Kellie sighed.
She automatically reached for the bowl of potato salad and carried it out to the deck, and after the girls brought the rest of the food out, thankfully the evening’s mood changed.
Family, friends, and food… You couldn’t get much better than that—even when you wanted to strangle one of them.