Sadie follows my gaze, fingering the strap of her camera with a sigh. “The storm light would have made for amazing photos,” she says, then tosses me a crooked smile. “I could shoot you alone if you wanted. I hate to waste all that.” A wave of her hand encompasses me in my carefully curated clothing, the hanging lilac along the porch behind me, and the oncoming storm.
If I wasn’t reeling from rejection and fighting the undertow of all my daddy issues, I might be tempted. She’s talented, and I’m all dressed up. It was never really about the other guy, anyway, because I don’t dopossibility, and I can always find another one-night stand. But the offer feels a bit too pathetic after all the buildup, so I shake my head. “That’s—”
“I’ll do it. I’ll do the shoot with him.”
I whip around to stare at Ollie, my stomach swooping for an entirely different reason, but his gaze is locked on Sadie, a slow flush staining his cheeks.What is he doing?Well, obviously, he’s offering himself up for the session. The real question—the one that shouldn’t matter nearly as much as it does—iswhy?
“Thanks, but I’m good. No straight-boy charity necessary,” I say, trying for airy dismissal but sounding a little too sharp and wounded to pull it off.
Sadie flicks me a reproving glance when his shoulders hunch.
“The application was for queer individuals,” she tells him, her voice carefully neutral—not making assumptions but obligated to clarify.
Ollie shifts his feet, shoving his hands in his pockets, then sucks in a breath and glances my way. “I’m not…notqueer.”
So, notentirelycharity. Maybe more than curiosity. Still no reason for butterflies to be taking off in my stomach, signaling my departure from sanity. I prop a hip against the porch railing so I don’t bounce on mytoes like a kid at the fair.About to climb onto the roller coaster, too giddy to recognize when I should be terrified.
Or it could be the ride of my life.
“Feeling curious?” I cock my head, letting a hint of tease creep into my tone. “Having an awakening?”
“Something like that.”
I huff, fighting a smile, and tilt my chin, unable to resist preening a little as my confidence spills back in to replace my common sense. The click of Sadie’s camera tells me she’s already on board.
“It’s up to you,” she says, crossing the porch to my side. “We can call it off if you want. This isn’t exactly what you signed up for. But…” She tilts the camera, showing me the digital screen. “He’s pretty photogenic.”
She’s right, of course. The green-gold light of the fading sun slants across his cheekbones, calling out the splash of freckles and the glow of perspiration glinting in the dark curls at his temples. His lashes are unnaturally thick behind his glasses, and his eyes…
Fuck. He was looking at me likethat,and I missed it playing coy and posing like a cat?
“Up to you,” she says again, and though her tone is casual, something in the eager set of her shoulders and the way she shifts her weight like nowshe’stwo seconds away from bouncing on her toes reminds me of my mom when she gets her hands on a project she’s excited to score.
Sadie wants me to say yes, and maybe it’s because she feels guilty that the other guy bailed or is trying to salvage an otherwise wasted afternoon. But maybe she wants to shoot me and Ollie together because she sees something there. Something likepotential, and…
“Fuck it.”Maybe it’s time to break the rules.“On one condition.” Turning to Ollie, I offer my most winning smile. “No offense to Princess Donut, but first you gotta lose that shirt.”
CHAPTER 03: OLLIE
I choose a plain white T-shirt—to match Fen’s pants—and worry the whole time I’m gone that Zachary will pull his head out of his ass and show up after all. I leave my navy cargo shorts, because no one told me to change them, and hurry back to the porch. When I return, Fen is perchedon the railing, and even among the floral cacophony, he’s a bright, wicked thing against the darkening sky. Whatever brief panic had him curling in on himself earlier is gone, replaced by fluttering lashes and a sassy pout as Sadie circles him with her camera.
“Where do you want me?” I ask, shaking out the prickle in my palms as Sadie directs me to approach, then positions me between his knees to gaze into his gray eyes. They’re the only soft thing about him, liquid with some hidden vulnerability behind the mischievous sparkle.
“You can touch me,” he says, taking pity on my awkwardness, and bites his lip to hide a smile when I place my tentative hands on his thighs.
“Good. Beautiful.” The telltale click of Sadie’s camera reminds me we’re not alone. “Feel free to talk. Get to know each other. It’s supposed to be fun.”
“Are you having fun, Ollie?” Fen’s voice is burnt sugar, a caramel caress, and my fingers twitch toward his hips.
“This is the strangest first date I’ve ever been on,” I admit, then blush.What am I doing?This isn’t a date, and I’m only a stand-in. But whatever wild impulse led me to offer myself up, I couldn’t let him leave disappointed. Or escape his gravity if I tried.
“Because of the camera? Or because I have a cock?” he asks.
Heat rushes up my neck, and only a supreme force of will stops my eyes from dropping to his crotch, inches from my waist. Half a step, and I’d be flush against him. He could wrap his legs around me and—
“Both. But,” I hurry to explain, “not in a bad way.”
“Glad to hear it,” he murmurs, then tilts his head. “Why’d you volunteer, anyway?”
