Page 115 of I Knead You Tonight

“I am shocked,” my dad deadpans. “Just shaken to my core.”

I turn when I’m in the doorway. “Is Wren still your favorite now that I’m doing my photography thing for legit income?”

“No, you’re definitely my favorite kid now.”

“What the shit, Dad!” my sister yells, storming past me and into the room.

I leave them there to duke it out.

* * *

“So you’re really doingthis, huh?”

“I mean, I’m here, aren’t I?” I lower my camera to scowl at my best friend, who has insisted on hovering around me during this entire shoot. “You’re in my shot.”

“I am not. I’m standing like a billion feet away from you.”

“Your shadow is.”

“Just Photoshop it out.”

“Foster, I’m doing you a solid right now, and I will stab you. Move.”

“Do you talk to all your clients this way?”

“You’re not paying me,” I remind him. “You’re not my client right now. You’re still just a friend. Murder is totally a viable option.”

He nods. “That sounds fair.”

I take a few more shots of the landscaping he’s done to Wren’s front lawn. It’s nothing over the top, but it’s clean and easy to take care of. People around here will eat this shit up. I’ve been following him around all week taking pictures of the few jobs he’s done so he can add them to his website because my boy has his own business now.

Kids grow up so fast these days.

“So, what’s up?” he asks, offering me a beer after I’ve finished shooting.

I wave him off, grabbing for a bottle of water since I have a shift at Slice I should be running off to. “What do you mean?”

“Why the sudden change of heart about shooting for cash?”

I raise a shoulder. “Just figured it’s time.”

“Right, and none of this has anything to do with a certain someone living with you now? She hasn’t…inspired you to finally get off your ass and do something?”

“By ‘inspired,’ you do mean berated me over and over until I finally gave in?”

“Yes.”

I glare at him. “She’s notnotinspiring me.”

He laughs. “That’s what I thought. I could kiss the girl for getting you to do what you should have been doing for years.”

“Funny coming from you, the guy who bailed across the country to marry a girl he barely knew.”

“Hey, dude, you know I had my reasons.”

“Are you out here talking about kissing other girls?” Wren comes walking up the pathway to her house, eyes locked on us sitting on Foster’s tailgate. “Because that’s grounds for divorce, Foster.”

“You can’t divorce me when we’re not even married yet.”

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