Page 20 of Face Off

She stepped out of the shot, and I smiled at the camera. A few clicks later, and George straightened. “Done.”

“Thanks, Mikey.” She smiled as one of the volunteers took Ali from me. “Here’s a candy for not complaining.” She pulled a bright pink wrapper from her back pocket.

“Happy to help.” I took the treat, trying to come up with a reason to stay and talk to her, but someone called her name.

“Is this okay?” Matt, one of the guys on her team, pointed to Erik in his team warm-ups. I shook my head. The multiple emails and texts we got about this photoshoot specified that we wear plain clothes, no logos, and no sweats as if they knew that’s what most of us would show up in.

I could see the struggle on her face. She probably didn’t know how to say no to us yet.

“Dude, the email said plain and casual,” I called to him.

Erik rolled his eyes. “Why can’t I just wear this?”

“We’re not asking you to wear a suit, Schultz.” Taylor shook her head. “Go borrow clothes if you have to.”

“I don't want to wear someone else’s clothes,” he argued.

“Boohoo.” Chloe appeared in the doorway with crossed arms.

Erik’s shoulders slumped. He knew he’d already lost.

“I put an extra outfit in Reese's bag for this specific reason.” She shooed him out and made her way through the room to Holly. “Are things moving okay? Anyone besides my brother giving you problems?”

“Yeah. So far, so good. We’ve finished six so far,” Holly replied.

Chloe eyed me. “Are you done?”

I nodded.

“Brandon and Nikolai, are you ready?” Taylor asked.

Brandon Cullen, one of the oldest guys on the team but also one of the best, walked over holding the leash of a gray Pitbull. “Ready.”

George posed him, and less than a minute later, he was done.

“Nikolai.” Holly waved him over.

The grumpy Russian tugged on the leash of some sort of terrier. “Come,” he said in his low voice.

Holly took a step back, and I almost laughed. He tended to intimidate people, but under the gruff exterior, he was a gentle giant, especially since marrying Elena.

George had him take a knee and pet the dog.

“Try to smile,” I said. “You know how to do that, right?”

He glared back.

I turned to leave just as Mitch walked in, followed by Parker and Lance.

“There you are.” Lance slapped my back. “We were looking for you. No one saw you leave.”

I pointed toward the backdrop. “I knew we had to be up here.”

“Yeah, but you could have waited,” he protested.

“Aw, sad your bestie ditched you?” Mitch teased on his way toward the doors.

“A little bit,” Lance admitted and shifted so we were more secluded. “I feel like I’ve barely seen you outside of practice and games.”