Brynn
• • •
Brooks and I go over to Ryan's apartment to hang out for a little while. When she opens the door there's a blob of royal blue paint right between her eyes.
"What are you doing?" I ask with a laugh, smearing the blob down her nose with the tip of my finger. I pull my hand back to show her the blue paint there and arch an eyebrow at her.
She shrugs and motions for us to come inside. "My mom used to paint all the time so the smell of the acrylic paint helps me feel close to her on the harder days."
There's a small metal easel holding a partially painted canvas on top of her island, covered in smears of blue and green. I place Brooks on the floor by the basket of toys Ryan keeps for him near her loveseat and the first thing he grabs is a car.
Ryan rips a paper towel from the roll sitting on the counter and wipes the paint off her face with a huff. "But I'm honestly not that good at it."
I eye the painting that hangs on the wall above her bed with its phallic shaped trees and glance back at her partially blue and green canvas. " No, Seth is the one that isn't good at it." I snort.
She rolls her eyes. "I like his dick shaped trees."
"You mean you like his dick." I wiggle my eyebrows at her suggestively.
She smirks but changes the subject. "What are your plans for today? I don't have any classes but Seth does so I'm feeling lonely."
"I have an engagement session in an hour but nothing other than that." I reply, giving a shrug.
"Does that mean I get to keep Brooks?" She asks with a smile.
I laugh lightly. "If you want to. I was just gonna take him with me."
"No, let me keep him." She pleads.
"Of course you can keep him."
The session would be easier to do without him there, as much as I hate to admit it. I prefer taking him with me, I don't like leaving him.
"You should just let me keep him for the day. Seth has class until three and then he has to help Sawyer with something afterward. You could go have some more me time after your session, you deserve it."
"Are you sure?" I can't help but ask, I know Brooks can be a handful.
She nods eagerly. "Yes, I'm sure."
"Okay." I agree.
I'm not sure what I'll do after the session but I guess I'll figure it out when the time comes.
Fifteen minutes later I leave Brooks with Ryan and make the drive to the location where the engagement session will be. I get everything set up and my clients arrive right on time. They're a sweet couple, you can see the love in their eyes as they look at one another. It's going to make the pictures turn out even better than I expected.
Once I'm satisfied with the amount of pictures I've taken of them I pack up my gear and head back into the city. I make a pit stop at the coffee shop near campus and splurge on a large iced coffee and a chocolate chip bagel. I take a seat at an empty table, feeling weird that Brooks isn't with me.
"You know I had never seen you around before until Friday night and now I run into you everywhere." Taylor chuckles, taking a seat on the empty chair across from me.
My eyes widen at the unexpected sight of him.
I blink a few times as I gather my thoughts before I find my voice. "I just moved to an apartment close to campus a few months ago and I don't get out much. I had a photo shoot this morning so I stopped by for some breakfast on my way back home."
I tear a piece of my bagel off and dip it in some cream cheese.
Taylors eyebrows raise in surprise. "A photo shoot as in you're a model?"
I laugh a little louder than I mean to. "No, a photoshoot as in I'm the photographer."
His lips quirk. "A photographer huh? Maybe we should have our own little private session sometime."
My jaw drops at the suggestion. I'd love nothing more than to take him up on that offer, he isn't supposed to be making it harder to stay away from him.
He winces. "I'm sorry, It's like a switch that randomly turns itself back on without me realizing it. Ignore me."
I can't help but laugh at him. "It's okay, I'll let it slide this time." I wink before I can stop myself.
He gives me a big smile. "I swear for a girl with a boyfriend, I never see you together."
I shrug, guilt churning in my stomach. "We're both two independent people. We don't find it necessary to spend every minute of every day together. We trust each other. He's busy right now, we'll see each other later."
He nods and gets a faraway look in his eyes. "That's good. It's good to have trust in a relationship."
"You okay?" I ask, placing my hand on top of his.
Maybe he has trust issues from a past relationship.
His blue eyes drop to my hand before jumping back up and meeting my gaze. He stares at me for a few seconds, scanning the features on my face before giving me a small smile. "Yeah, I'm okay."
Taylor pulls his hand away and rises from the chair. My stomach drops as I realize he must be leaving, he did say he had plans after practice.
"My offer still stands on you coming to hangout."
I hadn't even realized he was wearing a pair of navy basketball shorts and a white tank top. How did I miss that? His arms and shoulders look even bigger bare.
I bite my lip, fighting a smile and give him a nonchalant shrug. "Sure."
I finish off my coffee and my bagel before tossing my trash in the bin and following Taylor out of the coffee shop.
"You wanna ride with me?" He asks, stopping in front of a small car.
"Yeah, no reason to take two cars." I reply.
The car smells surprisingly girly, like coconuts, which isn't something I expected at all. I look over at Taylor as he starts the car and rolls his eyes. "I know, it smells like Ryan in here. I swear she borrowed my car for a couple days when she moved into her apartment and I can't seem to get the smell out."
I laugh lightly. "It's better than smelling like sweaty socks or something gross."
He nods, backing out of the parking space with ease. "Very true." He glances over at me as he drives toward the park,
"So Brynn, do you take classes online or something?"
I shake my head. "No, I'm having some family issues at the moment so I plan on attending next year. Right now I book photography sessions in my spare time."
"You'll have to show me some of your work."
A smile curls my lips. "Definitely." I give my camera bag a pat. "I can take some pictures of you and your friends playing basketball if you want."
"Impromptu photoshoot, I'm down." He chuckles.
The drive to the park is short. Taylor parks between a black muscle car and an SUV. I follow him to the court where five guys are standing, talking amongst each other. A girl with teal blue hair sits on the bleachers with her head tilted back, the sun beaming down on her face.
"Knightley, about time you showed." One of the guys calls out.
Taylor gives them each one of those man hugs guys do and then presses his hand on the bare skin at the small of my back. "Guys, this is Brynn."
His touch sends a shiver up my spine and I want to kick myself for wearing a crop top, but man do his hands feel so good on my skin.
"Brynn, this asshole is Kaleb." He points to the guy with short cropped brown hair that called him Knightley. "You already met Brandon, this is Gage, Connor, and Nolan." He goes down the line, pointing each of them out and then his eyes go to the girl on the bleachers. "And that's Kalebs girlfriend Presley." He cups his hands around his mouth. "Pres, are you going to be social today?"
She doesn't even look at him, just lifts her middle finger in reply.
Taylor chuckles. "Alright." His attention goes back to the group of guys. "Brynn is a photographer so we get the honor of being her subjects today."
Kaleb lifts both arms and flexes. "Should we pose?"
I laugh. "No, just act like I'm not even here."
Taylor grips the back of his tank top and tugs it over his head in one swift move. Hello abs. Alexa play Grind With Me by Pretty Ricky. I sing the lyrics in my head, more than ready for him to strip the rest of this clothes off.
He tosses his top onto the bleachers and approaches me until we're toe to toe. "Might wanna pick that up, Brynn." His voice is smooth and low,
"Huh?" I ask in a daze.
"Your jaw, it's on the ground." He smirks and steps around me.
I swallow hard and mentally shake myself out of the spell of lust he just cast over me. Damn, he's even more dangerous than I originally thought.
"Shirts versus skins." Taylor announces to the guys and I walk to the bleachers to sit my camera bag down.
I take my camera out of the bag and remove the lens cap before powering it on.
"Wow, you're an actual photographer." Presley laughs dryly. "I thought Taylor was fucking around and you were really just here to ogle the guys."
I give her a smile. "No, I have a man. Taylor's sister is my best friend."
Presley nods. "I've heard him talk about Ryan, he worries about her a lot."
"Ryans great."
With my camera on and securely in my hands I focus on the guys. Kaleb and Nolan both have their shirts off so they must be on Taylors team. That leaves Brandon, Connor and Gage as shirts. The balls in Brandons hands, he flashes a taunting smile at Nolan and I raise my camera and snap a picture. It only takes a few minutes to get lost behind the lens and before I know it the game is almost over. I zoom in and get a close up of Taylor doing a victory dance with his tongue out after scoring. The guys are hilarious, teasing each other when they miss a shot.
Nolan misses and Kaleb smirks at him. "Put your shirt on and join Brandon, that was a trash shot."
Nolan gives him the finger. "Suck it, Kaleb."
Kaleb laughs in reply.
I take a seat by Presley on the bleachers and sit my camera on my lap.
"Taylors hot." She admits out of the blue. "I wonder if he's seeing anyone?"
I want to snap at her and ask why she cares when she has a boyfriend but I don't. It's none of my business.
I hold back the glare I want to give her when I meet her jade green eyes. "I don't think he is. His sister said he likes to play the field."
She tilts her head to the side. "You know it's okay to think he's attractive even while having a boyfriend." It's like she sees right through me.
I give a shrug, my eyes going back to the game. "I never said he wasn't."
But that's as far as this can go. He can flirt and I can look but that's it. I almost wish he had a girlfriend so it would cool my attraction to him down a little.