Chapter 7 Zane
Zane
I re-adjust the pillow behind my head and tilt my hips upward slightly.
Just enough to accentuate the tightness of the fabric of my boxer briefs.
There’s no point in wearing underwear that fits like second skin, leaving very little to the imagination, if they aren’t going to show off what’s under that thin layer of fabric.
I lean forward a little, opening my legs enough to showcase my bulging thighs and toned quads. The slight shift of weight also curls my abs into a ripple of sculpted muscles that end only where the V below them begins.
I run my hand through my hair, leaving it purposely messy, and flex my jaw with just a hint of a smirk hiding in the corners of my lips.
“Have you gained weight?” Cal asks as he walks past my set.
It’s a shoot day, and while normally I’d toss his bullshit back at him between poses, today I’m not in the mood.
“Fuck off,” I shot back.
“I’m just saying. You look a little…bloated,” he digs again.
“You wish,” I say as the camera goes off in spurts.
“Brooding is a good look, Zane, but I don’t think your fans will be too keen on a full-blown scowl,” Mindy, the camera girl, says.
“She’s right,” Cal says. “Scowling causes crow's feet.”
“I do not have crow's feet,” I tell him.
“Not that you can see,” he says.
“Zane,” Mindy says, and I look back at her again.
“I can’t see them because they’re not there,” I tell him.
“You’re scowling again,” Cal says.
“Because you’re talking again,” I snap.
“You know what?” Mindy says, putting her camera down. “Why don’t we take five?”
“I’m fine. I can keep going,” I say. “As long as he gets going…”
“I’m talking about me,” Mindy says. Then she grabs her phone and walks off.
“Thanks,” I say, peeling myself off the staged bed.
I’m in nothing but briefs as I pad over to grab my water bottle.
As strange as it is, Cal and I have had more conversations than I can count in our underwear.
Well, I’m usually in my underwear. He’s usually in a firefighter uniform… half of it, anyway.
“Is there a reason you interrupted my shoot? I was hoping to be done before lunch,” I say.
“What’s wrong with taking a little break to talk to your best friend?” he asks.
“Well, some people think I’m getting old and fat so I can’t eat lunch until I finish the shoot,” I say, and Cal just laughs.
“Put some pants on. Let’s go for a walk,” he says. I glance over at Mindy, who is eating a candy bar and talking on her phone.
“Yeah, alright,” I sigh.
We make our way outside, and the sun hits us. Honestly, it’s kind of refreshing. I am so used to stage lighting that I sometimes forget about the big ball of light in the sky.
“So how’s things going with the new girl?” he asks, and I knew it was coming. As much as I am over talking about it, I also would like to vent to someone who will really listen. Despite sometimes being an asshole, Caleb is that person.
“Fine,” I say. “We have an arrangement.”
“An arrangement?” he asks. “Okay, so hold up. Because I feel like I don’t know much outside of rumors right now.”
“Well, the rumors are true,” I say.
“You’re in deep with the girl in the photos,” he says, and I nod.
“Yep,” I answer.
“And the girl from the photos…is the camera creep,” he adds.
“She’s not a camera creep,” I lash back.
“Okay. Paparazzi girl. Sorry,” he says.
“Her name is Ashlyn,” I correct him, and Cal grins.
“Yeah. You’re in deep.”
“But Ashlyn isn’t the girl who took the photos…if that makes sense,” I add. “She was in my yard taking pictures, but I destroyed all of them. And she’s the girl in the photos of us, obviously. But she’s not the one who took the ones that are all over the internet.”
“Right,” he nods. We sound like teenage girls. But honestly, this is just the world we unfortunately live in. “So, any idea where those photos came from?”
I shake my head. “Nope.”
“Wild,” he says as he shoves his hands in his pockets. “And now you’re dating her.”
“Allegedly,” I say, and he looks over at me.
“Allegedly?”
I look around before going on. “Nigel says me being in a relationship will give me an edge.”
“An edge against who?” he asks, and like clockwork, Jett Navarro walks up.
“Well, if it isn’t Daddy the Underwear god,” he grins, standing in front of us.
“Well, if it isn’t the captain of the high school football team,” Cal shoots back, but I want to know what he’s talking about.
“You do know that’s what women are calling you now, right?” Jett asks.
“I’m too busy working to read the tabloids,” I shoot back.
“Too busy doing something else from what I hear,” he says. “But listen. I’m not here to judge. Actually, I’m kind of impressed you could pull a girl like that considering your…maturity.”
I want to hit him. If my hands weren’t in the majority of my photos, I probably would. Unfortunately, I don’t think Nigel would be too happy if I came to work with bloody knuckles.
“Did you need something?” I ask.
“Sounds like he needs a few things,” Cal says. Cal has always been a little quicker to fight than me. He’s a bit hot-headed. Ironic, since he does firefighter calendars. I steer the conversation away, less fueling the flame and more dousing the whole thing.
“We have to get back to work,” I say.
“I just wanted to see if the rumors are true, that’s all,” he says.
“Which ones?” I ask. “We live in a world of rumors.”
“That you’re actually in a relationship with that girl and it wasn’t a drunken fling,” he says snarkily. I step forward hard enough and fast enough and with enough teeth showing that Cal actually puts his hand on my shoulder.
“We weren’t drunk,” I say. “And yes. I am dating her. And it’s real.”
A satisfactory smirk crawls across Jett’s lips. “Easy, old man. Just making conversation. She’s a cute little thing. Looks like a good time, too. I’d keep her close if I were you. Wouldn’t want anyone stealing her away.”
Jett saunters off, and it takes everything in me not to go after him. It isn’t until my posture softens a little that Cal’s hand slowly slips from my shoulder.
“That kid is a twat,” he mutters. “He needs to learn his place.”
“Yes, he does,” I agree.
And he better stay the hell away from Ashlyn.