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“Marie,” Danielle said, passing her phone to her, the camera already on. “Take the picture?”
Marie fiddled with the phone, looking at the button. She snapped it once, taking a picture of the floor before aiming it at them.
Danielle put her back to the fireplace. “Come stand behind me,” she said.
Nathan grunted and stepped up behind her, looking over her shoulder at the camera.
Danielle reached around, wrapping an arm backward over her head to hang off of his neck.
Nathan’s skin crawled as she leaned into him. Flashes of memories of when she used to hang out with him, about what happened years ago erupted. He suppressed it all for this photo, trying not to grit his teeth as he barely smiled.
Marie took a couple of pictures to try to get a good one. Danielle turned her face at different angles, some duck kissing faces at the camera, some toward him but not touching. Nathan was pretty much the same for each one.
“Okay,” Danielle said. “So the one for in a few weeks.”
“You already took a few,” Nathan said.
“That’s just to make sure we get a good one,” she said. “I want a second one.”
Nathan groaned. He imagined the guys in the bedroom were laughing about this. “Fine. What’s next?”
“Well,” she said, “we can’t wear the same clothes. Just...take your shirt off.”
Nathan cocked an eyebrow. “For real?”
She motioned to the wide window that looked out into the back porch and the pool. She moved the blinds, changing the light in the room, giving it more sunlight. She reached for her shirt, shoving it up over her head until she was standing in her bra. “You big baby, just take it off. What’s the big deal?”
Nathan’s jaw unhinged and he shook his head. “No fucking way.”
She motioned to the window. “I can’t wear the same clothing for the pic. We’re just making it look like it’s a different day.” She reached up, parting her hair in a different direction and letting it fall back away from her face. “Come on. Take your shirt off.”
“I’m not taking my shirt off so you can say we’re sexing it up,” he said.
She lowered her arms and her hands moved into fists. “Nathan! God. Just take your shirt off and get over here.”
“Why are you pushing this?” he asked. “What’s in it for you?”
She sighed, groaned. “Well, thanks to you and whatever happened last night, you scared off the guy I’d been trying to make jealous and date me. He turned around after the cops showed up. And for your information, he was totally into me. He’s off with someone else now. I’m going to make him see he missed out.”
He grumbled and shook his head. He knew it. It was all about her. This wasn’t to help him. He’d make sure Victor deleted the photos. Or did something horrible to them. Put in a dog on top of his own image or something to teach her to not do this again.
But he needed that name. Desperate not to give Danielle any more reasons to hold back, he held up a finger. “One more,” he said. “And you tell me about what you know and then you both leave.”
“I’ve already said that!” she cried out. “This is the second one. You said you would.” She snapped her fingers and pointed to near where she was standing. “So get over here. I don’t want to be here all day.”
“Shoulders and up,” he said.
“No duh,” she said. “I’m not putting my boobs on the internet. Too many creeps.”
Nathan sighed loudly, not hiding his grumbling displeasure. He took his hoodie off. “Is this enough?”
“No, take the shirt off.”
He glanced once at Marie, who was completely focused on the camera and fiddling with it.
Nathan grit his teeth again and took his shirt off. It’d been a couple of weeks since he’d really worked out, a few weeks where he’d let his physic go a bit. Being so busy, taking care of himself, getting the improvements he’s wanted, it’d been put on the backburner. At first, he thought his hesitation was from that.
Maybe it was how Danielle was just wearing a bra and he was all sorts of uncomfortable.
After last time...
But he removed his shirt. He repeated to himself why he was doing this, and it was one more picture. He wasn’t naked. Victor would delete the photo. This is the only place it’d exist. In this moment.
Danielle motioned to where she was standing. He moved over and stood nearby, his hands in his pockets, pressing his elbows into his sides, masking his body a bit with his arms.
Danielle turned to him, putting a hand on his chest and then her face close to his.
“Whoa,” Nathan said, taking a step back. “You didn’t say you were going to do that.”
Danielle flashed that angry glare at him. “Oh my god. You’re such a baby. This a photo for in a few weeks. I’m just showing some relationship progression. This isn’t personal.”
It totally was. He grumbled. He returned to his position. “Okay.” He’d stand through it. It was probably better to get it over with quickly. “Just watch your hands.”
Danielle came up to him again. “Just tilt your head down a bit,” she said. She moved his head with her palms on his cheeks. She checked with Marie, where she was holding the camera and adjusted him to where she wanted.
She returned to placing one hand on his chest, and another one at his stomach. With the way she was leaning, it was probably the only way she was holding herself up without falling back.
Nathan closed his eyes, resisting the urge to push her away. Why he was so resistant, he wasn’t sure. He’d take a picture for Jessica or Erica in bathing suits. None of this would have bothered him if it was one of them.
The memories returned as she touched him. Of the last summer when she used to hang around.
When they’d been swimming and stopped for the afternoon.
And when she cornered him, nude. And then touched him when he didn’t want to. He didn’t like her in that way. He tried to make her leave, but she said she’d tell other people he’d tried to get her to have sex with him. Who would believe a guy over a girl?
And what was worse was that she was threatening to tell his dad, who would have probably killed him if he found out.
He never told the others. He’d suppressed the memories. After that point, he tried to stay with the guys, afraid she’d come after him again. He didn’t want to tell the guys.
And he was still dealing with his dad at that point. It was just something he wanted to avoid.
He’d even forgotten about it for a very long time. Only when she came around like this, did he remember. Since she didn’t come back after that, he’d let it go. One time. She was being dumb. He should have seen it coming since she was hanging around him so much back then.
He swallowed thickly and tried to ignore all those thoughts as she touched him.
He sensed her leaning in. He flicked his eyes open once, looking down at her as she was still looking at the camera, testing the angle.
“Okay,” she said. “That might be good.” She turned to him again, leaning into him. “Start taking pictures. Nathan, stop looking like you’re about to hit me.”
He closed his eyes and tried to relax his face. He counted, as if doing so would make the moments pass faster. Maybe he didn’t need his eyes open for this. He’d just close this out, ignore it all. It’ll be done.
A door opened somewhere in the house, just as Danielle leaned into him. Part of him was trying to figure out why Victor or Gabriel were coming in. They were almost done.
But Danielle didn’t back away. He sensed her face near his. He breathed slowly out his nose, waiting for Marie to snap enough pictures for this to be done.
Everything in the next few seconds happened all at once.
He was aware that another door had opened, and of footsteps coming closer, multiple.
He sensed Marie snapping photos.
He felt Danielle pressing to his lips. At first, he thought it was her head. Maybe she tilted it to make it look like he was kissing her head?
But then he realized it was lips.
And the hand at his stomach lowered down, landing near his crotch and honing in, and she was gripping, but she grabbed at his thigh instead and squeezed.
The pain radiated through him, stopping him from pulling away from the fake kiss. She’d pressed onto an area he’d been kicked in last night. The sharp sensation ripped through his system, the jolt intensifying by the voices over top of one another. To stop himself from falling on top of Danielle, he reached out, gripping at her biceps strongly to prop himself up.
