“I want to move there. I hate it here, everything I love is in North Carolina. Always has been.”
I laugh without humor and cross my arms. “Considering I live here, your daughters live here, my family is here and all of our friends, I find it hard to believe everything you love is there and always has been.”
She takes a deep breath and starts walking away. “Come or don’t, it doesn’t matter to me, but I’m leaving at the end of the week and the girls will be with me.” She goes into the bedroom and closes the door.
What choice do I have? I’ll never leave my girls and I don’t want to walk away from this marriage without being able to say I tried everything I could.
Staying there didn’t help and when the shit finally hit the fan, I couldn’t get out fast enough. We’ve been divorced nearly a year now and even though I miss my girls horribly when I’m not with them, the last year has been great. I sold our house, giving her half of course, and bought myself a place on the beach like I always wanted. I’ve been able to spend time with Kallie and my mom without listening to her complain, plus I get to go out and have fun. I’ve been to every party Jax and Blake have and I’ve never been the guy to sleep around, but I have had sex with three beautiful women. I’m just enjoying life and healing from the lies and deception from Sarah.
Today, I am picking the girls up at the airport and we are going right over to Jax’s to celebrate their engagement. I am so fucking happy for Kallie; I couldn’t have found a better guy for her if I hand-picked him. He treats her exactly as any guy should; like she’s, his world. She treats him the same though and that is what makes a perfect relationship. That and trust, respect, and undying love. All of which they have.
I pull my thoughts out of their relationship and walk over to the gate where my girls will come running out of any minute now. I can’t keep the smile off of my face. I don’t get to see them every day and it kills me, so I always make sure that when they are here, we have a great time. When I told them, we were going to see everyone at the party they both screamed in the phone. They love spending time with everyone as much as I do. The bond they have with Kallie and my mom is so special and I’m grateful for it. The door opens and people start coming out, my girls come running out with the stewardess running after them. I laugh as I bend down and catch them as they run into my arms.
“Daddy,” they yell as I squeeze them and just like every time, I hold them, my empty heart is full.
“Girls I missed you so much.” I stand up with them in my arms and the stewardess smiles at me.
“I guess you must be their dad. They were very excited to get here and go swimming at their aunt’s party.” I thank her for watching over them and I carry them over to get their suitcases. Once I have them, I hold their hands as they pull the suitcases, and we leave the airport.
“Daddy, Tiffany was good on the plane and I made sure she held my hand the whole way because you always tell me to watch out for her because she is my little sister.” I need to hold back the tears at listening to Dawn.
“You are such a great big sister, isn’t she Tiffany?” I ask, looking in the rearview mirror.
She takes the sippy straw out of her mouth and smiles. “Yep, she is the bestest big sister.”
They both talk my ear off on the drive and I love every second of it. When we pull up to Jax’s they are both nearly jumping out of their seats. I open the back door and smile at them.
“I expect you both to behave. No whining and remember to say please and thank you.” They both agree so I help them out and they run to the front door. I grab their suitcases out of the trunk and meet them at the door. I open it and they run inside screaming when they see Kallie. She catches them, much like I did and it’s nothing but excited talk. Jax stands next to me and watches over them.
“They love their aunt so much,” I say watching with a smile on my face.
“Believe me, she loves them just as much,” Jax says. I look at him and grin. I know she does, she always had a special connection with my girls, and I love that.
After Kallie helps them change into their bathing suits and I blow up tubes and swimmies, they jump into the pool where I am sure they will spend the entire day. I watch them swimming around and I can’t believe how big they have gotten since I last saw them. Dawn is now eight years old and Tiffany three, and I am missing so much of their lives. I didn’t even know that Tiffany could swim around like she is in the tube and swimmies.
“Why the serious face? You should be nothing but smiles watching them,” Kallie says.
I look over at her, wrap my arm around her shoulders and kiss her head. “Just thinking about how much I miss out on. Only seeing them a few times a year is hard as hell.”
She looks up at me and smiles. “You could always sue for custody. After everything that bitch did to you…”
I cut her off. “How many times do I need to tell you I won’t take them away from their mother, no matter how horrible she was to me, she loves them. Think about it, what if our dad wanted to see us and mom kept us away.”
She’s right though, and I am doing just that. I just don’t want anyone to know just yet. I need to be careful with everything I do because Sarah is a bitch, and she is already giving me hell.
She sighs and looks back at them splashing around. “You’re right.”
After a few hours, the girls are running around the backyard and my mom is watching them so I could have a few beers. I’m standing there talking with the guys and laughing when they all start busting on Blake for the food still not being here. Just as I finish off my beer the girls are yelling for me by the pool.
“Shit, the girls want to go back in the pool. Who wants to bring them in for me?” Even I laugh at the question. I walk over to the pool and sit on the steps as they jump back in.
My mom sits next to me and smiles. “I miss them so much when they aren’t here.”
She does so much for them, and I know it breaks her heart that she can’t be the kind of grandma that has her grandkids spend the weekend with her. I usually let her take them one night when they visit, just so she can have that.
“I know Mom, I miss them too,” I say, watching them and hoping that one day I will be able to spend every day with them.
She laughs at the girls before turning her attention to me. “You’re a great dad Braden, just because your marriage didn’t work doesn’t mean a damn thing. I don’t think she’s fit to have my grandbabies, but I’m not going to get into that again.”
No, please don’t. I’ve heard it all before. I know she did me wrong, and the reason everything fell apart was her fault, but I’ve heard it all so many times before.
“You’ll find someone, and she will love you enough to never break your heart.”
I smile at her and kiss her cheek. “Thanks, Mom. Let’s hope so because I’m man enough to admit I don’t think I’d survive that shit again.”
“Daddy, you said a bad word,” Dawn yells with a smile on her face.
Crap, I always forget they listen so closely. “You’re right Dawn, sorry. I’ll go put myself on a timeout while Grandma watches you.”
She laughs when I get up to go get another beer.
I walk over to the cooler and look around for Jax and Kallie, when I don’t see them, I figure the food must be here. I open my beer and walk into the house where you could hear a pin drop. Walking into the living room I see Kallie, Jax, and London standing there looking at Blake with a woman I have never seen before. I know that for sure because she is beautiful, actually gorgeous and I definitely would have remembered her. “What’s going on?” I whisper to Kallie.
“Umm, apparently Blake has a sister.” I snap my head to her, and she shrugs her shoulders. How the fuck does a sister just show up?
Chapter 3
McKinley
* * *
I thought the most uncomfortable thing would be telling Blake I’m his sister, but I was wrong. Standing here with all these strange eyes stari
ng at me, in a silence I’ve never heard, this is uncomfortable. Obviously, I figured it would be a lot for Blake to take in, I just didn’t expect him to be having a huge party when I showed up. Part of me feels bad, but another part thinks this might work to my advantage. I don’t think he’ll toss me out on my ass in front of people, or maybe he will. I don’t know anything about him.
A beautiful woman walks over to Blake and grabs ahold of his hand. He breaks his eye contact with me and looks to her.
She gives him a nod and smiles before looking toward me. “McKinley why don’t you and Blake go out front and talk. There is a lot to discuss obviously.”
Just as I nod my head and reach for the door, Blake’s booming voice stops me. “No! Anything that is said will be said in front of my family. Right here.”
The way he says, my family, stings. Although, I don’t except anything else. I just dropped a bomb on him. I look around at all the eyes I still feel burning into me and that’s when I notice Jax and Kallie. So, when he says family, he must mean the people he is close to. At least I hope that’s the case because the one guy that seems to be undressing me with his eyes better not be another half-brother.
I straighten my back and look back toward Blake. “Please, ask me anything. I will gladly answer all your questions if I know the answer.”
He nods his head and moves to the couch with, who I assume must be his girlfriend because he hasn’t let go of her hand. I don’t know if I should sit next to him or in that chair or remain where I am. That is until he motions to the chair and I make my way over.
He takes a deep breath and looks around at everyone before blowing it out. “How the hell can you be my sister? I’m an only child. Always have been and by the looks of it you must be the same age as me.”
Yes! That sexy guy is not my half-brother. Alright, not the thought I should be having. I clear my throat of the nerves I’m feeling and wring my hands in my lap.
“Honestly, I just found out the other day myself. My mom and your dad were together for a very, very short time. In that time, she got pregnant, and he didn’t want anything to do with my mom, no less a baby. My mom told him she didn’t want him around if he didn’t want me. He left and never contacted us again. I’m so sorry to just show up and drop this on you, but I wanted to meet you. I’m an only child too and I just thought maybe we could form some sort of relationship.” I risk the chance of looking at him to gauge his reaction and he looks pissed. Fuck.
He stands up and begins pacing and all eyes are bouncing between him and me. No one has said a word and I feel like the air is thick with questions from them.
“So let me get this straight. My father knocked up your mother and just walked away? He knew he had another kid out there and never once did anything about it?”
“I know how shocking this is, believe me. This is actually how I felt the other night, but after I had time to process, I thought it must have happened for a reason. We both grew up without siblings that has to tell you something. Maybe they both felt some kind of guilt.”
I’m not entirely sure what I should be saying at this point. I’ve never felt so judged before and that’s saying a lot.
He moves to stand in front of me and squats down so he can look into my eyes. “My father sucks, but for him to ignore his child is fucked up. I’m sorry on behalf of him and I’d love to get to know you.”
My heart beats excitedly in my chest knowing that he wants to give this relationship a go. I wasn’t sure how he would react but just him saying he is willing to get to know me is enough right now.
“I’d really like that, Blake.”
I smile and for the first time, he smiles back. He stands up and motions with his head for me to do the same. “Let me introduce you to everyone.”
I keep the smile in place because this all feels surreal. Blake Foster is my brother and he’s going to introduce me to Jax and Kallie.
“This is my best friend, my brother, Jax. That beautiful woman is his fiancée, Kallie. This is actually their engagement party.” Holy shit. I just interrupted their engagement party. This is too much.
“So nice to meet you both and congratulations. I’m sorry to have crashed your party, I feel terrible about it.” I don’t really, I’m excited as shit to be here. I can only imagine who else is here.
“Blake loves all the attention on him, believe me, you have no reason to feel terrible. It’s a great surprise to meet you.” Holy shit, Jax just talked to me. I smile, trying to seem unfazed by it, and turn back to Blake.
“This guy is Kallie’s brother and one of my best friends, Braden.” Damn, Braden. He even has a sexy name. Every part of my body takes notice of him, begging me to touch him. Of course, I won’t, hell I’m not here for that.
“Nice to meet you, Braden.”
He simply nods his head and I feel a little disappointed I haven’t heard his voice.
“And this sexy, beautiful, amazing, goddess is my girlfriend London.” Wow, he must really be into her.
“It’s great to meet you London.”
She stands and kisses Blake’s cheek before looking at me. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
After another awkward silence, I clear my throat. “Well, I’ve taken up enough of everyone’s time. Blake, I’ll just leave my number and when you are free give me a call and we can make plans. Congratulations again Jax and Kallie.”
I reach into my purse to find a piece of paper to write my number on, praying they ask me to stay. I didn’t consider what I would do once the introductions were done. There is no one for me to stay with. I guess I need to find a motel.
“McKinley, why don’t you stay? We can hang out and talk even with the party going on. Soon the old people will be gone, and it will actually be fun,” Blake says.
Everyone laughs and can feel how close they are.
“I’d offer you something to eat, but your dumbass brother ordered the food which isn’t here yet,” Jax says, causing my stomach to drop to my toes when he calls Blake my brother. It brings tears to eyes just hearing it. I laugh as I quickly wipe under my eyes.
“Oh my God, don’t cry. What the fuck Jax, you made my sister cry,” Blake says, seriously pissed that Jax made me cry.
This time a tear does spill, but I continue to laugh. “No, no it’s fine. It’s just hearing him call you my brother and you calling me your sister. It’s overwhelming in such an amazing way.”
I’ve been here for a few hours and met everyone that was here. Besides the family and I’ve met so many models it’s mind-blowing. I feel like my head is spinning with everything I’m trying to process.
Almost everyone has left except for the ones who were in the living room when I first got here and Brody and Shannon. When Blake introduced Brody as Jax’s brother it was unreal, but when he introduced Shannon, it was like a dream. Shannon is another huge photographer. I can’t believe I’m in the presence of her and Kallie.
I keep thinking about how mind blown I am as we make our way around the fire. I’m sure the buzz I’ve got going on doesn’t help with being overwhelmed by it all.
“McKinley, now that everything is settled down and the cool people are left, let’s talk,” Blake says, and I giggle.
I look at him through the fire with London sitting on his lap. They are such a beautiful couple, actually everyone sitting around this fire is beautiful. It feels like a dream being surrounded by this much sexy.
I pull my legs up and wrap my arms around them. “What do you want to know?”
“How about where you are from?” he asks, kissing London’s head.
“I’m from Louisiana.” I look around and everyone starts to laugh. I’m not sure what is funny about that, but now I feel my guard going up.
“I see I’m going to have to list the questions. Now we know where you are from. How old are you? What do you do for a living? What was it like growing up?” Blake looks around at everyone and they all start shouting out questions.
“How long ar
e you staying?”
“Did you go to college?”
“Are you dating anyone?”
With all these questions being thrown at me, the only one that has me really take notice is Braden. He’s the one who asked if I’m dating anyone and for some reason, that really excites me. The way he says it so quietly over everyone’s shouting does things to me.
When Kallie introduced me to her nieces, I felt disappointment swim through my veins thinking he was married. Although when I asked about his wife, she just rolled her eyes and said they were divorced. I sat at the pool chatting with the girls because let’s face it when you are a stranger and everyone is constantly looking out of the corner of their eye at you, you hang out with the accepting ones. The kids.
They are so adorable, and I loved hearing all the stories they shared with me. Braden seemed to dote over them, which made me realize how lucky they are to have a father who loves them so much. It was a huge turn on, to be honest. Braden’s mom took the girls to her house tonight to let him enjoy the rest of the night. And even though I know nothing will happen with us, I was excited to know he would be staying. If for nothing else, I could keep staring at the hotness he exudes.
I pull myself out of my Braden thoughts and laugh at them all. “Alright, alright. I’m twenty-nine. I don’t have a job right now. I left the bar I was working at recently.” I’m not about to tell them it was a strip club. “Growing up, well it kinda sucked. Without looking for any sympathy, we were very poor. Used clothes, just enough food, and living in a trailer. The town I lived in, well it was small and because we had no money, people treated you like you didn’t. That brings me too how long will I be here. I’m hoping to find a place somewhere in California to live. I can’t stay in that town any longer, twenty-nine years too long as it was.” I take a breath and look around at them all. They are all taking in everything I am saying, hanging on my every word. It’s flattering to be honest. “No, I didn’t go to college. It was never something I wanted to do.” I turn my head and look at Braden and smile. “No, I’m not dating anyone.”
Behind The Lies Page 2