“Ouch!”
“Get your cute butt out of bed.”
“Hey, while I have you two to myself: I want you to be careful around Brian. Something about him gives the creepy vibe.”
“I’ve dealt with worse. If he tries anything, he might be surprised,” Kara said with an evil glint in her eye.
Tracy peeked out from under her pillow.
“What are you worried about?”
“I don’t know if it’s just that I dislike anyone going out with Tami, but I’m picking up a bad feeling about him. He seemed a little too interested in Kara yesterday, and not in a good way. I just would feel awful if I didn’t warn you two and something happened. I don’t think anything will, but just be aware.”
“I’ll just spray him,” Tracy offered.
That’s my girl. Her dad must have picked up more pepper spray after the cops took her last one.
“Tracy is deadly with pepper spray. I just hope I’m nowhere near when she does it again.”
“What happened?” Kara asked.
“David got jumped by four football players. He knocked them down and I finished them off.”
“Hey, you took out a couple more that got frisky, and also a teacher. Don’t sell yourself short. I was glad you were there. It’s just that that kind of stuff causes collateral damage.”
Kara pointed at me.
“Get your butt in the shower. I’m not having your mom mad at me. By the way, she wants to know if you ever plan on going to church again.” I gave her a look. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”
I shook my head and hit the shower. When I came back out, Tracy had gone home to get ready for the trip. Kara was sitting on my bed.
“I missed you,” Kara said.
I took a moment to process that, as I got dressed.
“I thought we agreed that we needed to be friends more than have a relationship.”
She leaned back, causing her breasts to be better displayed. It was no accident; Kara was well aware of how to display her assets in the best light.
“I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t want you. How serious is this thing with you and Tracy? Gina was surprised you two are back together.”
“Tracy and I have just gotten back together. I’m not sure how serious it is yet.”
I was done getting dressed, and Kara stood up. I gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
“I want you too, so don’t think I don’t. Let’s go eat before we get sidetracked.”
Kara kissed me back and smiled.
“I think I’m more scared of your mom than Tracy.”
She grabbed my hand and we made our way to the kitchen.
TOM ARRIVED WITH TAMI and Brian just as we finished breakfast, so we all made it to the photo shoot early. This time Mr. Hill had the makeup gal ready, and the wardrobe was waiting on me. Kim, our photographer, was also early. I introduced Mr. Hill and Kim to everyone.
“Thank you for letting me bring my entourage, I don’t normally do that, but my best friend, Tami, and her boyfriend, Brian, are only in for the weekend. I’m dating the boss’s daughter and I wanted them to see what I do. Finally, this is Kara Tasman. She’s a friend of mine, and we’re doing a photo shoot in December.”
Mr. Hill tried hard not to stare at Tracy and Kara.
“No problem. I’ve been looking forward to today. Janet and my wife will be here around eleven. I think we have enough food coming for a growing boy. Yesterday I tried to starve poor David.”
“He can get grumpy if he isn’t fed. Mom always kept a jar of peanut butter around just for him,” Tami said, as I winked at her.
I WENT AND HAD NICOLE, the gal that does makeup, get me ready. She stripped me down to my boxers because this morning was sleepwear, robes and underwear. I still had bruises, so she needed to cover those. I went out in a robe and found Kim messing with the lights.
“You ready for the test shot?” I asked.
She came over and got a light reading and went back to adjust some lights overhead. She came back down her ladder and took another light reading.
“Okay, lose the robe. I want to get two shots, one head on, then do a 180 and we’ll do your back,” Kim said.
She took her two shots and I put my robe back on. Kara watched everything closely. Mr. Hill, Kim, Kara and I crowded around the monitor.
“Something isn’t quite right,” Kim said.
Kara stepped up and pointed at the monitor.
“You need to use a slightly larger umbrella reflector. You also need to fix his makeup here, here and here. It needs to be just a touch darker.”
Kim looked at Kara and nodded. With that, I was sent back to get my makeup adjusted and Kim made the changes to the lighting. I came back and we did it again. When the photos were brought up, Kara and Kim both looked at them with a critical eye, and then looked at each other and nodded.
“If I could make another suggestion?” Kara asked Kim, who nodded. “I’d suggest that you change the shoot order. Have him do the underwear first. You have the makeup right. If you have him putting on clothes, it’ll be messed up. Plus, when he starts to get hot, the perspiration will affect the look.”
I went back and Nicole had a pair of regular white underwear. I came back and started to pose.
“Sorry, David, but we need to make a slight adjustment,” Kara said.
She walked up in front of me so her body was blocking everyone’s view. She lowered her voice so only I could hear.
“Adjust your package so that you’re not lying off to the side. We want small children to see these photos and not scare them.”
I gave her a shy smile.
“Thanks.”
While I was shooting the first pair of underwear, Kara cleared the room. When Kim was done, Kara came over and handed me the next pair and I changed on set.
“This saves a lot of time, and you can clear the room anytime you want. This is especially nice if you have product reps that are just perving on you.”
Kara proved to be a wealth of knowledge. We got through all the underwear shots and changed to robes. Kara let everyone back in. We were done very quickly. Kim and Mr. Hill were happy with the results. Kara, Tom and I went through each photo. Kara pointed out three photos that she rejected. On close inspection, the outline of the head of my junk was visible. We signed off on the rest of them and made sure Kim deleted those three. Mr. Hill had a check ready for Tom for the first shoot.
We broke for lunch. Janet and Mrs. Hill had shown up while we reviewed the photos. Mr. Hill and Tom went out to fire up the grill. Mrs. Hill and Mary set up the food with the help of Tracy. Kara liked Kim and took her off to talk to her about the Florida shoot. Tami, Janet and Brian were hanging out. They all knew each other from school.
I found a big overstuffed chair, kicked back to relax and closed my eyes. I felt someone sit on my lap and kiss my temple. I knew instantly it was Tami. I wrapped my arms around her and she laid her head against my chest. Tami did this when she needed to think, so I didn’t say a word or even open my eyes.
Tami finally broke the silence.
“Brian is a mistake, isn’t he?”
Nope, I was not answering that one, but just hugged her tighter.
“I knew better than to spring this on you,” she continued. “But you’re going to have to get used to me dating.”
I sighed.
“I know I am. I just don’t think anyone’s ever good enough for you. Be patient with me. You know I love you enough to want to see you happy, but you’re right. Give me a little heads-up next time. I really hate how immature I acted.”
“I know you were embarrassed, and it was my fault. Hell, since you were ten years old I’ve told you what your surprises were ahead of time to keep you from flipping out. I know better.”
I heard a male voice that sounded pissed.
“Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing? Don’t you have enough poon to keep you occupied?”
I felt Tami stiffen. I squeezed her arm to let her know that I was okay. I opened my eyes. Brian was glaring at us. Tami got off my lap and I stood up. Brian was five-ten and maybe weighed 150 pounds. It was also obvious that he didn’t work out. I let my robe fall open so he got a good view of what he was about to tangle with.