3. Everly
3
Everly
D eep breaths. Deep breaths. I can do this. Nobody has fired me yet, and I can do this.
Dustin is the videographer for the documentary we’re working on, and since we have multiple staged photo shoots that will be published in an article accompanying the documentary, I wanted to check my plans with him before we get started. Behind me Ryder is talking with the team’s publicity manager, and at the door the models are entering.
“Hi Tina, this is Everly. She’s our photographer today.”
I look up to see Dustin presenting the on-site project assistant and shake her hand.
“Tina’s going to make sure the models and athletes are all equipped with the right modesty patches where necessary, and she will also ensure there are barriers in place for physical points of contact,” Dustin continues, and I nod along before Tina starts showing me the modesty socks and patches to be used today. It’s all super standard, nothing I haven’t seen before. But my heart rate skyrockets, and I gulp back a small hiccup as suddenly the awareness that I’m not just photographing naked people today hits me. I’ve done this hundreds of times, just never with someone I know in a personal way.
I don’t know how I managed to talk through this whole project with Ryder’s little sister, get through all the interviews knowing that this is The Dallas Mavericks we’re shooting, and not register that at some point I might have to see Rachel’s brother naked!
This just goes to show how taking a work break for a year can really set a girl back. I groan quietly when I think about how holidays with the Jones family will never be the same again.
I shake my head hard and roll my shoulders as I tune back into Tina’s comments. We spend the next fifteen minutes talking through the planned shots, and then we split to our various stations while I guzzle a bottle of water in the hope that it will help me cool off and remain sane.
Five minutes later, Ed, the director, gives us his welcome and spiel. I try not to glance at Ryder, but my eyes are drawn to him despite my best efforts. The instant I look at him, I regret it. He always had this intense gaze, and when I was younger it used to intimidate me. I’m grown up now, but so is he, and by God it’s unnerving! I can’t tell if I’m turned on or if I want to run and hide, but there’s no denying the impact the man has.
I subtly gulp again and make an effort to turn my attention back to Ed, though I don’t hear a word he says. Okay, this is going to be way more challenging than I thought.
Minutes later, Ryder and the models are in place before the screen, and I’m up. Stepping forward, I gather all the confidence and experience I carry into a tight ball and foist myself into the fray, asking Tina for minor adjustments here or there. Checking lighting, checking lighting, and checking lighting again. Despite earlier lighting checks, we spend another ten minutes checking lighting once more before we get down to taking the shots. When we finally begin, everything is going well with just a few tweaks here and there ...
“Ryder I am going to need you to stop looking at the camera so much,” I say to him. “Save it for the next shot.”
He frowns down at the basketball in his hands, and I snap the pic. Perfect.
“Get me the other back light. I want something in a warmer tone.”
Ryder is front and center, first photographed with the models in various poses, and in the afternoon we dismiss the extras and move to action shots - jumping, dunking, and mid-air leaps - complete with a spray bottle for dampening effect. I’ve worked with a range of models and scenarios, so I don’t think much of it when I see that he’s visibly aroused. The first shots were with mostly naked female models, and he’s in a towel half the time. It’s perfectly normal. Plus, I know for a fact that I interrupted a sexually intense session, so chances are the guy will have blue balls by the end of the morning shoot. My mind stays intent on the task at and, and at some point I feel myself relax into the job because God, I love photography!
The afternoon session is more intimate with fewer people. Although the production still has a lot of people milling in and out, the actual photography shots only require about four of us. and the setting soon becomes more intimate. Tina is in and out as needed while I run the shoot, and two technicians stand off to the side ready to bring in props or adjust lighting. The rest have withdrawn to different corners of the huge room to review materials, clean up, take business calls, and care for a plethora of other things.
“Ryder, go ahead and switch your stance,” I call out. He stares at me for a second but doesn’t move, so I step out from behind the camera and try again. “I want you to open up your frame to the camera. Your right foot forward has you angled toward the wall right now. Let’s put the left in front.”
“I think this way is better.” His flat statement catches me off guard, and my head whips toward him.
“Excuse me?”
“I think this way is better,” he repeats. “You’ll get a twist in the torso and a great profile.”
Wonderful. The man thinks he should be dictating the shoot now. I take a breath and walk directly up to Ryder where I lower my voice for privacy.
“Everything okay here?”
“Yeah, just peachy. Why?”
“You seem a little tense,” I hazard. Some people don’t like being told they don’t have it all together, but honestly, I need him to be more relaxed about this or we’re in for a rough ride.
“I’m not tense. You’re the one who’s being uptight about the pose.”
Okaaay . I decide on a different tactic.
“Let me walk you through what I have in mind,” I offer. I step forward to circle around him when he suddenly turns away from me.
“You know what? This is a waste of time.”
“Look, Ryder. I know we haven’t gotten off to the best start today, but I think the photo shoot has been going pretty well,” I start as I check the time on my phone and glance around the room. “Why don’t we take ten minutes and when you come back, we can start fresh?”
“You got it.”
His response is so quick it’s almost insulting. Swinging away from me, he stalks to the corner near a few privacy screens while I stand there wondering what just happened. Minutes later I locate the nearest exit and step outside of the building to call Rachel. She picks up immediately.
“Hey girl, everything going alright?”
“Yeah, everything’s okay here, it’s just...”
“Just what?” Her bubbly voice is so full of life. Rachel and Ryder both have personalities that exude boundless energy. For Rachel, it’s always been light, happy, curious, and on the move. Ryder comes off more focused and edgy, a bit of the fast and furious, something that no doubt serves him well on the basketball court.
“Remember how I was a little nervous going back into the workforce again?”
“Yeah, absolutely! But now you’re in it, so you can tell me that I was right now and everything’s going fine.”
“Well, I would… but, I kind of barged in on your brother while he was making out with one of the models.”
“What?! Ewww! My brother’s there today? That man whore!”
I just nod my head and roll my eyes, because – exactly! But also, still so hot.
“I know, right? Wish I could wash my eyeballs with bleach.”
I’m one hundred percent going to hell for lying to my bestie, but what else am I going to do? It’s not like I’m going to tell her I literally grabbed his dick, and it was the most shockingly stimulating experience of my life. Instead, I hear her laughter trickling through the line, and somehow, I find myself chuckling in response.
When I step back into the photoshoot, I feel like a new person, perhaps not entirely relaxed, but definitely ready to start fresh. Ryder’s already there, waiting, and I step forward with a smile when he spots me and speaks in a voice that snaps.
“Are we gonna shoot or what?”
Awesome . We’re still dealing with Mr. Cranky. He doesn’t stop there though.
“The break ended five minutes ago.”
I don’t even bother checking my phone, because what the hell?
“Let’s get to work.”
Turning back to my camera to check the angle and lighting again, I stiffen at his next words.
“You sure you’ve done this before?”
“What do you mean by that?” I grit out at his insinuation.
“I just mean, you don’t seem like your head is in it. You seem nervous.”
And that’s all it takes for me. I’ve known this man for more than half of my life, and I may not have seen him much lately, and maybe we’ve never been close, but in this moment I couldn’t care less. I stride up to him, and step right into his space, lowering my voice so only he can hear.
“Ryder Jones, I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you today,” I remark. “Maybe you think that you don’t have to treat people with basic civility because you’re some bigshot, but I’m here to tell you right now, this isn’t going to fly. So, how about you focus on shooting hoops, and I’ll focus on doing my job, okay?”
He glares down at me while I stand rigid as steel daring him to defy me, but his next words hit hard nonetheless.
“I want you off the project.”
My heart sinks in disbelief. He is joking, right? Tell me he is joking.
“What? Because you think I was five minutes late from a break?”
But I know that’s not the issue here. I just can’t bring myself to speak about what happened in the dressing room.
I’ve always thought brown eyes were so warm and welcoming, but his gaze is hard and cold.
“You know, I never realised that you’re such a big dick,” I say in a low tone, but as soon as I say it, I regret the words because a vision springs unbidden to mind, and I know from the look in his eyes he’s thinking the same thing.
“I mean - ! That’s not what –,” I splutter as I try to back pedal, but everything I say seems to make it worse. “I’m not saying you have a big dick! I mean it is, but I’m saying... Argh! I wasn’t thinking about it!“ But I can see in his eyes he knows. He knows I’ve been thinking about it all day long.
“You’re such an ass! Shit!” I can’t stop thinking of sexual body parts, and it’s messing up everything I say. He glances up over my head – not hard for him to do since he’s easily a foot taller than me. Then he purses his lips and lowers his unyielding gaze back to mine.
“I think you should leave.”