by Fields, MJ
She releases a deep breath, and her long-ass, makeup-free eyelashes flutter.
Love that girl in her natural, God-given state.
Love her in makeup, too, but right now, she’s in a Brand Falcon long-sleeved tee, a pair of leggings she had shoved in her purse, a black puffy vest, and black cowboy boots that Mom gave her.
I stifle a laugh because it was one of my new favorite Katy moments—watching her act thankful, excited even, that Mom gave her a pair of boots and a puffy vest.
She opens her eyes, looks out the window, then sits up a bit and rolls her neck before looking over at me. “Everything okay?” she asks in a sexy, sleepy voice.
I shake my head.
“Did you get a flat and need me to change it or something?”
“What?” I ask.
“Just so you are aware, I have no idea how to do that, probably never will, so you’d better learn.”
“Gimme your lips, and I’ll change your flats forever.”
Leaning over, she says, “You drive a hard bargain, but okay.”
I kiss her softly then whisper, “Sorry I got—”
“Sideways?”
I nod.
She pecks my lips. “Just be happy that this little thing growing in my belly makes me tired and that its daddy is doing his best to do the same, or I’d have given you hell, Brand Falcon.”
Smiling, I nod. “Don’t wanna leave the bubble we’ve been in for the past twenty-four hours.”
“We weren’t in a bubble. We were with your family. Now we’ll be with mine.”
“Your dad’s been chill and all, but I know damn well he meant what he said when he said no banging at the beach.”
“So, it’s not me you love; it’s getting in my panties.” She rolls her eyes.
“No, got plans to sneak away, but waking up without you and falling asleep without you is gonna be an issue for me.”
She smiles slightly as she rolls her eyes.
“Also love your panties.”
“They love you, too.” She kisses me quickly then sits back and sighs.
It hits me that it doesn’t matter that it’s her family we’re going to see. It’s going to be weird for her, too, and I need to get it together.
After I start the truck, I turn on the radio, which we’ve yet to do, and take her hand.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She laughs when my first hit, “Short Skirts, Tight Shirts” comes on.
“Sing it for me, Katy girl.”
And she does, with a little bit of an exaggerated twang to it.
One day, I’ll have her show me the dance, wearing just the boots Mom gave her.
Home and Away
Katherine
Brand eased my anxiety and made me feel extremely comfortable when we walked into not only his house, but when we had breakfast at Gage and Phoenix’s with their kids and Mags. I wanted to do the same for him, but honestly, walking in with his band’s shirt on, a puffy vest that smells too new to be a hand-me-down, and boots that are a size six and a half that I pulled out a packet of silica gel with the words “Do Not Eat” emblazoned all over it, is hard.
Bottom line: she bought them for me, and as ridiculed as I know I’m going to get for wearing them, I’m wearing them anyway.
As badass as I think I am, it’s me who pauses before opening the door. Stopping so abruptly that Brand actually bumps into me and laughs when he does. Then he realizes I’m hesitant.
“Would you rather rip off a Band-Aid real quick, or slowly peel it back?” he asks.
I sigh exaggeratedly. “Fine.”
I look down at the keypad and tap in the code that we use every time we come here, but it doesn’t work.
Brand takes my finger, using it to push the buttons as he whispers, “Zero, four, one, two.”
“Our birth months.” I nod.
“Wonder what we’ll be adding.” He lets go of my hand and splays his across my belly very gently. “A five or a six?”
“I lied to the doctor, because I knew if I told them, I knew my parents would figure it out and …” I stop.
“You thought I said …” He stops now.
I look over my shoulder and nod. “I wasn’t going to force the issue with you. Not after, you know.”
“May twenty-third then.” I love that he obviously looked into it.
“It’s approximate.” I open the door to the main house, and we step into the foyer.
He smiles, nods, and rubs my belly. “I’ll just clear May, June, July, and August then.”
“Oh, yeah?” I look up and see Uncle Xavier leaning over the railing from the main level.
“Something’s come up,” Brand says as if it’s not a big deal. “We’ll plan the next ten around my career.”
I elbow him in the stomach.
“Ooof.”
“I’ll cut it off,” I snap.
“Uh-huh.” He chuckles.
“I’ll do it for you.” I hear Dad mumble from somewhere inside.
“Jase,” Mom calls after him in her exaggerated sweet voice.
“Kiki home?” Max asks.
“Yeah, be right up.”
My intention was to kick off the boots and push them as far back into the closet as I could, ditch the puffy vest and jacket, and head upstairs, rocking the long-sleeved tee that’s oddly comfortable and flattering.
“Got to be kidding me.” Max chuckles as he looks down and snaps a picture of me. “Kiki the cowgirl.” He laughs as he walks away.
“Max!” I call up to him. “That picture better not show up on social media.”
“Gotta happen. It’s perfect.” Max laughs.
“Max.” Brand moves past me and takes the stairs two at a time.
I hear Dad laugh. “This should be good.”
“I’m good with blasting it everywhere, but she’s not. She doesn’t want it hanging over all your heads while starting a new school.”
“He’s got a point, man,” Patrick says.
“Fine,” Max grumbles as I make it to the top.
“Oh my goodness.” Mom giggles. “Look at how adorable you look.”
“Yeah.” Dad smiles hugely, but his eyes don’t smile one bit. “Brandon, how about you and Katy stand next to each other so I can take a picture of just how adorable you look.”
Brand smiles, same as Dad. “Would love to.”
He stands beside me and puts his hand around my waist. “Say giddy-up, Katy.”
“Oh, no,” Mom whispers, and I assume she’s expecting Dad to flip his shit. I certainly am.
Dad looks at her, eyes kind of creepy wild, and smiles. “Adorable, right, baby?”
She nods. The look in her eyes is much softer than it is when she and Dad usually fight, and for some reason, that’s not settling well with me.
“Aunt Kiki, I wanna be a cowgirl, too.” Luna gallops up to me. “Giddy-up!”
“Giddy-up.” I laugh.
“You got a minute, Brand?” Xavier asks.
“Sure.” He kisses the top of my head. “See you later.”
“Lunch in two hours,” Mom calls after him.
“Oh, that reminds me.” Brand turns back and looks at Dad. “My dad sent a cooler of steaks. He knows how much you like Falcon Farms meat.”
“Okay, cool. Go.” I push Brand toward the French doors.
“Punk-ass, little—”
“He’s six-foot-three; there’s nothing little about his ass. And seriously, Dad, it was nice of Garrett to send the meat you love so much. And you know what I love?”
Dad swings his whole body toward Mom. “Baby, I’m doing good here, but if his meat comes out of her mouth, I’m gonna blow my fucking lid.”
“Well, Dad—”
“Katherine,” Mom cuts me off, “he’s really trying.”
“I’ll vouch for that.” Carter chuckles as he walks into the living room. “He hasn’t thrown a punch or threatened his life like he did mine.”
“Poppa Jase.” Luna puts her little
hands on her hips.
Dad looks at her. “What’s up?”
“Did you be mean to my dad?”
Dad rolls his neck then crouches down. “You and I get each other, right?” Then he hits his fist twice to his chest.
She does it back and grins. “Yeah.”
“You’re family. Your dad is family.”
“And Brand is, too, right?”
I walk over and squat down, right next to Dad, and look at Luna. “He is, and we love each other.” I look at Dad. “I love him, Dad. Very much. And he feels the same. Isn’t that what you want? Your kids to find a love like you and Mom have?”
“I was banking on my daughters, my nieces, my grandkids making six figures and slapping men for fun.”
“Papa!” Luna gasps.
He looks at her and starts to laugh, which makes her laugh. “You know I’m joking.” Then he winks as he smiles at her, and I know Luna is no longer on my team.
She throws her arms around him. “You’re so funny, Poppa Jase.”
He looks over my head at Mom then back at me. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me into their hug.
* * *
“Hey.” Truth plops down next to me on the sectional that fills more than half the room.
“Hey.” I smile.
She grins. “You look exhausted.”
“I am.”
“Who exhausted you? Baby Brand or Big Daddy Brand?”
I shake my head.
“I’ll tell you my secret, if you tell me yours,” she whispers as she looks around, I’m assuming for Justice.
“He’s downstairs with Max and Patrick, playing Xbox.”
“And Amias, Brisa, and Tris are visiting Aunt Bekah’s dad in”—she shrugs—“one of the Carolinas.”
“They left already?” I ask.
“Yeah, while you were sleeping in on Friday. They have to be back tomorrow night. We start school on Monday.”
“I think it’s insane to start just a couple weeks before Christmas break.”
She laughs. “Pretty sure you were okay with it. Which reminds me, we have to wear their Seashore Academy blazers. We picked them up while we were shopping, but we can wear whatever we want under. I grabbed you some things when we tortured our parents on Black Friday.”
“Did you get muumuus for me?”
“Shut up. You don’t even have a bump.”
“She does, but it’s tiny.” Brand leans over the back of the couch and palms my belly. “Can’t wait until it’s bigger.”
“You’ll want to cut me up, freeze me, and eat me,” I joke.
He winks. And Truth giggles.
“Brandon, how about you help me barbeque your meat?” Dad calls from the kitchen.
“He’s everywhere,” Truth whispers, and Brand and I both laugh.
He pulls my hair back so my head rests on the back of the couch then kisses my forehead. “I’m gonna go show Poppa Jase how to grill a perfect steak.” Then he walks away.
As soon as he and Dad walk out onto the deck, Truth looks at me, eyebrows wagging. “So, he’s a carnivore.”
“He’s pretty amazing,” I admit.
“I’m happy for you, truly. Now my turn.”
I turn toward her, and she’s … glowing.
“Please tell me you’re not pregnant.”
She laughs. “No, but I finally found someone whose future babies I’d love to swallow.”
“Ew … Truth, just ew.”
She pulls her phone out of her hoodie pocket, taps the screen, and turns it to shove it in my face. “Meet Harrison Reeves. Yes, that Reeves family.”
“Wait—what?”
“Keep up, would ya? His family owns five Broadway houses. He’s a classically trained ballet dancer.”
“Is he gay?”
“Does your man smack your ass and scream yeehaw, ride ’em, cowgirl?”
“Hell no!” I laugh.
“Then don’t assume any man who dances wants to suck a dick.” She hands me the phone. “Check out his IG.”
“Okay, I’ll swipe, you explain.”
“He’s an artist.”
“He’s also a player. Jesus, Truth, look at all these girls hanging on him.”
“Skip those. Check out the ones in gray sweats and see what he’s got hanging.”
The phone gets snatched out of my hand, and I look up as Brand looks at her phone. “At best, he’s average. A fuck boy, socialite who needs attention.” He scrolls more. “Rich, but needs to flaunt it.” He hands the phone back to Truth. “You can do better.”
He looks at me. “You told me you have a jealous streak. I’m telling you, so do I. You wanna check out gray sweats, I’ll wear them all day”—he winks—“long.” He kisses my cheek then walks toward the fridge.
“Long, huh?” Truth whispers.
“Bigger than that.” I shrug.
“But this …” She holds the phone out.
Brand walks back past us with marinade and turns the phone back to facing Truth.
I laugh. “Leave her alone.”
He lets out a low growl and heads back outside.
“All these years, you thought he was into Bella.” Truth sets her phone down and grabs my hands. “He loves you.”
I nod. “And I love him, too.”
I hear Mom clear her throat and look back toward the room that she and Dad are staying in.
“I’m so happy you do, Katherine.” She looks tired.
“Thanks, Mom. Wanna come sit with us?”
“Yeah.” She walks over and sits next to me.
“Hey, mind if I join you girls?” Aunt Tara asks.
Mom smiles. “Come sit.”
“I could use some girl time, too,” Taelyn says from behind me and sits next to Tara.
“Same.” Bella walks out of her room. “And Luna is napping.” She sits next to Mom.
“I like this,” I say, looking at them all. “Being here is like being on a permanent vacation.”
“And from what I hear, Brand Falcon bought it for you.” Bella smiles. “One question.”
“Okay, but just one.”
“Any chance you conceived here, on a chaise lounge by the pool?”
I feel my face heat up. “Ask a different question.”
Bella laughs. “I told Carter I thought we may have—”
“Next!” I yell.
Bella continues to laugh. “I knew you two would someday hook up.”
“Serious tension between you two forever,” Taelyn says, tucking her feet under her.
“Sexual tension,” Truth goads.
“That better not have been my daughter’s voice I just heard,” Uncle Cyrus growls as he walks past.
“Um …” She looks up at him, and he cocks an eyebrow. “Just walk away, Dad; this is girl talk.”
The Talk
Brandon
“She’s smart and strong, funny and full of life. She’s eighteen, Brand.” He throws a piece of steak on the grill. It sizzles, and the flames shoot up higher than they should, but I’m not going to tell him that, not when he looks like he’s five seconds from breaking out of his own skin. “She can do this alone.”
“No, she can’t. Not now. Your daughter loves me, Jase, and I am crazy in love with your daughter.”
He throws another steak on the grill. “You hurt her, I’ll kill you. Won’t be right away, though, because I promised my wife.”
Not sure what the hell kind of reaction he expects, so I pull one out of my ass. “I appreciate that.”
“Good.” He throws the last steak on the grill, closes the top, and then picks up his beer and looks out over the ocean. “Bella and her family are going back to the city tomorrow. You’re leaving Monday, and the kids start a new school.”
“The new normal?”
He turns and looks at me, the corner of his eyes creased. “I don’t want to like you, Brand, but I see how she looks at you; has looked at you for years. I just hope you feel the same about her.”
; “Not only love her but know she’s the one.”
“Just because she’s pregnant doesn’t mean—”
“No disrespect, but I didn’t even know she was pregnant before I started planning my world around her, even when she was telling me not to.”
He looks at me curiously.
“I don’t think you want details about how this all went down, but it wasn’t what I had planned.”
“Not worried about how it all went down. I’m worried about what it is you do while you’re on the road.”
“Shows, meet and greets, press, travel, write, record, and repeat. Very little downtime.”
“And when there is?” He raises a speculative brow at me.
“Why not stop dancing around your real concern and ask the question you really want to ask?”
He takes a long pull from his beer and swallows it down. “Perfect. You’re a twenty-year-old boy—”
“Man,” I correct.
“Whatever.” He rolls his eyes, just like Katy does. “I’m never going to be good with you fucking your way through the country, any country, and coming home talking about love and shit.”
“Never gonna—”
“Don’t bullshit me. I’ve stalked your social media. I’ve been Branded? Do you think I want my Katy to—”
“Pardon my frankness, but I’ve never fucked a fan. Never even so much as let them suck me off, and both have been offered. I have a hell of a lot more respect for myself than that, and for those offering. No desire to be intimate with anyone physically and not emotionally.”
“You say you’re a man, yet you stand here, eyeball-to-eyeball with me, lying through your fucking teeth. That’s not a man, Brand. That’s a little bitch move. My daughter will stomp all over that when she figures it out and walk away, kid or no kid, you feel me?”
“I feel you and gonna give it to you straight, always. Keep in mind that you asked for this, and your daughter hasn’t even asked about my past.”
“Because she can’t see beyond a schoolgirl crush at best while carrying your kid. Been there, done that.”
