Another shake of light laughter. “You got me.”
“Okay, too much smiling.” Jim tuts loudly. “Try to look a bit moodier. People want a broody man modelling their pants, not someone with the giggles.”
“They’re not a man!” I bark at the same time Loncey shouts, “I’m not a man!”
*****
“Fucking hell, love. Try and look like you’re enjoying yourself!” Jim shouts at the young woman who has taken my place. She introduced herself as Milky Mia, a plus-size MyFans creatorfrom Australia whose body reveals exactly why she’s got that name. Even I am struggling to keep my eyes off her huge breasts which are impressively contained inside a bra that matches the design of the one I was wearing. No matter how shitty their choice of photographer, I can’t fault the underwear brand itself for not being inclusive and comfortable. I actually kept on the knickers and bra they gave me and I’m wearing them now under my clothes as I sit and wait for Loncey to get dressed and emerge from the cubicle.
They walk out a few moments later, but not before I hear Milky Mia’s Australian accent belt out, “Who does this cunting dickhead think he is?” after Jim tells her to make her nipples hard.
I stand to greet Loncey. “You’re still here?” they say, seeming surprised.
“I’m still here,” I say because I don’t really have a good explanation for why I waited through their solo shoot and why even after that’s long over, I’m still here.
Actually, that’s a lie.
“I wanted to say thank you,” I say.
They raise an eyebrow.
“For being… so… so supportive,” I stumble over my words. Why is this so hard? Maybe I just shouldn’t bother. I’m about to take it back and just mumble a quick goodbye so I can escape to my hotel room but then Loncey leans closer and I can smell them again. It’s a scent that has the sweetness of whatever products they use on their hair and body, like candy floss and sugar cookies fresh out of the oven, but there’s something else, something woody and homely, like pine and a fire burning in a next-door room.
“Are you talking about my erection?” they say in a low voice.
And I laugh. I open up my mouth, throw my head back and I laugh.
“Shut the fuck up back there!” Jim’s harsh voice snaps my head up and my mouth closed. I look up into Loncey’s eyes and expect to see them giggling with me, but they’re looking right at me. Their brown eyes wide, searching, and their lips slightly parted.
“What?” I ask, putting a hand to my face. “Do I have something in my teeth?”
They shake their head. “No, Maeve. You’re perfect. Just perfect.”
When heat rushes to my neck and face, I look away, down at my bag which I move to pick up.
“Well, I just thought it the decent thing to say thank you, considering how much of a misogynistic prick he was being,” I say in a low voice, but apparently not low enough.
“Seriously, quiet! Or get out!” Jim barks.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Loncey says and they grip my arm. “I don’t know about you but I’ve had enough of that sexist asswad to last me a lifetime.”
“Yeah, that cunt can choke on a cactus, as far as I’m concerned,” I say and that makes Loncey laugh, and then cup a hand over their mouth to stifle the giggles.
Chuckling with them, I grab my bag and go willingly as they lead me out of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Loncey
I’m more than a little relieved when Maeve tells me she wants something to eat. Not because I’m especially hungry, but I’m in serious need of another coffee as last night is starting to catch up with me.
“So where are you going to take me?” she asks as we walk through the hotel lobby.
“Me? Take you?”
“Well, you are from Vegas. Don’t you have a place in mind that only locals know about?”
“Honestly, I don’t eat out much,” I say.
