Chapter 3 – Reece #2
As if his sisters could read his mind, just days after Reece was mulling over his options, he was swept away for a day of shopping and some unexpected news.
They were having fun and trying on different outfits, modeling for each other as if they owned the dressing rooms. It was a nice change of pace and reminded Reece how much he missed doing stuff like this.
“Aw, look at him. I told you we made the right decision,” Natalie cooed.
“Yeah, well, I can’t help worrying,” Phoebe sighed, but she was smiling and seemed proud for some reason.
“What are you talking about? What decision?” Reece narrowed his eyes on them. He should’ve known they were up to something.
Natalie didn’t hesitate to spill the beans, bouncing excitedly on her feet. “We did a thing! A popular modeling agency is hiring so we sent in an application for you. Surprise!”
“You did what?” Reece blinked, dropping the shirt he was holding.
“It was my idea,” Daphne spoke up. She was the responsible and reliable one, the oldest sibling that they all looked up to and asked for advice.
The fact that this crazy stunt was hers and not Natalie’s was shocking.
“Reece… I know you’re not planning to make a career out of basketball.
You have your own reasons for doing so, but I know most of all that your heart belongs to something else.
Modeling is your passion. We’ve seen plenty of times how much you light up and how good you are at it.
And I mean really good. You’re talented and you love it…
and all of us want you to chase your own dream and be happy. ”
“Why are you being so extra?” Reece scoffed. He wasn’t planning to cry today. “Who says I’m made out for something like modeling just because I like messing around?”
Daphne just looked at him fondly and gently patted his head. Reece wanted to argue, but instead he ended up hugging her and then got tackled by Natalie and Phoebe.
“There’s more,” Natalie gushed and Reece pulled back to brace himself. “They loved your application and want you for an interview. It’s at three.”
“What?!” He couldn’t possibly do something like that on such short notice. He looked a mess! He didn’t even have anything to wear.
“Don’t make that face. Why do you think we’re making a day of it?” Phoebe said reassuringly. “We’re going to the salon when we leave here. You’re overdue for a cut.”
She wasn’t wrong, his hair had grown long. So long he was wearing it up most of the time. Reece didn’t fight them, just wanting to see what happened, and it ended up being the best decision he could’ve made for himself.
The interview was actually a working interview that took an hour and a half.
Reece’s hands trembled for the first ten minutes but then he was laughing his nerves away between the photographer’s enthusiastic guidance and his sisters’ chaotic support from the back of the room where the crafty set up was.
They’d given him a push he didn’t know he needed and Reece was glad.
Before he could leave the building, he was booked for his first official photoshoot.
Reece couldn’t wait to tell his friends all about it.
As soon as Daphne dropped him off at home, he rushed over to Declan’s—through the gate that now connected their yards—and let himself inside.
Declan’s parents were rarely home and Reece knew little about them, but their place had become like a second home to him because he was there often.
Since he wasn’t outside, Reece went in search of Declan in the house, hoping he’d be there with Nick—anticipating the two of them sprawled out napping or either in the middle of a game of 2K.
Instead, he found them on the floor around the low table near the TV, studying.
Declan was highlighting nearly every word on a page while Nick was writing notes, but their attention was drawn to Reece’s entry and both of them closed their books almost immediately.
“And just where have you been, mister?” Declan asked, left brow cocked high while the right was pulled down low.
Quickly joining them at the table, Reece laughed and tucked his hair behind his ear, but it was short enough now that it fell back free.
“Today was crazy,” he began, knowing they’d understand as soon as he mentioned his sisters but it was so much more this time, so he didn’t start with that and before he could say more, Nick’s fingers were in his hair.
“You cut your hair.”
Shorter than he had in a long time, but his sisters kept going on about how fast it would grow.
They assured him countless times that it looked great but Reece couldn’t tell with the way Nick was studying him if he thought the same.
Reece stared back at him, forgetting how to breathe for a moment.
All the people watching him earlier and all the cameras on him made him feel nothing like he felt under Nick’s watchful gaze. If only he would never look away.
“You don’t like it?” His voice was small, soft and quiet but carried a hint of the hope he was clinging to.
“It’s different… but still cute.”
“You think I’m cute?” Reece blurted out, neck and ears burning from the unexpected compliment. He was teasing mostly, laughing it off and expecting Nick to deny it.
“Didn’t you have something to tell us?” Nick scowled at the floor and Reece pressed his hands to his hot cheeks, unable to stop smiling.
He spent the next hour animatedly telling his friends about his day, and then they got back to studying, this time with Reece joining. Finals were days away, graduation was fast approaching, and soon they would be spending their final summer together before college.