Chapter 10
Almost another week has passed, and currently Gene and the rest of the Dusty Brooms are back in Grand Rapids, at the photo studio where their friend Maurice works.
Nicky isn’t with them, opting to stay home at the Brooms’ place back in Lake Orion, which is fine.
He may be Gene’s friend and their touring keyboardist, but he’s not needed for an official shoot.
But Toshiko and Carol are with them, and Carol is actually going to be modeling with the band this time.
Apparently she had told Ray some grand idea of wanting to be featured in their photos for ‘sex appeal’.
Sex appeal! The Brooms already have plenty of sex appeal simply by having Ray as the frontman, Gene thinks. No need to add her into the mix.
Whatever. Gene can deal with it. He’s got Toshiko by his side, supporting him.
At the moment, they’re taking turns doing solo portraits.
Gene is sitting in a folding chair, Toshiko also in one next to him, watching Maurice shoot photos of Ray in the studio space against a dark reddish backdrop.
Ray looks stunning, with his shimmering blond hair, his sleek sense of style—a dark blazer, tight pants, carefree shirt, and a silver necklace accentuating his collar bones—not to mention he just knows how to pose.
With each snap of the camera, Ray stands contrapposto, changing it up—a hand on his hip, a hand in his hair, or even lifting both his arms, raising the bottom hem of his shirt a little to show his tummy.
Just that small sliver of skin riles Gene up, but he must keep his composure.
There’s a time and place for that, and it definitely ain’t fuckin’ now.
But regardless, Gene can’t help but reminisce.
This past month basically flew by for him.
He hasn’t even been doing much, other than hanging out with Toshiko and jamming with the band—not to mention smoking all that hash.
But he misses those nights where he was alone with Ray, the beautiful man posing in front of him.
He knows he should just forget these thoughts.
Why wish for something that he knows can never be?
Ray had made it abundantly clear that Gene’s wishes won’t come true when he flat out told him he won’t break up with Carol.
And so, Gene’s been having fun with Toshiko instead.
She’s musical just like him, she has a phenomenal singing voice, she’s great in bed, and she joins him whenever he wants a smoke.
It’s been nice. She’s already been with him for a whole month now.
He’s never been with a woman this long in any sort of ‘relationship’, if you could call this that.
The longest was… with Toshiko herself, when they first met in LA.
Perhaps that’s a sign? It could set Gene on the ‘right’ path, as his own mother would suggest. He hasn’t told his mom about Toshiko yet, but he knows she’d be ecstatic to know he’s got a female companion.
But time is running out, and Toshiko will have to head back to California to be there for the release of her new album. Gene’s not quite sure what he’ll do then. He’ll figure it out later. Right now, he just wants to watch Ray pose for the camera.
After Ray is done, the rest of the band take turns doing solo portraits.
Though when they’re finished, Maurice rounds them all up for a group pose—minus Carol, at first. The photographer brings out a bench for them to sit on, and they find their places.
Somehow, Gene always gravitates to sit next to Ray.
“Good, very good,” Maurice says, nodding while walking around the scene. “Get comfortable! I always like that you guys are so friendly with each other. That’s what makes your photos so good.”
“Oh, sure,” Ray says, and he leans closer to Gene, putting his hand around Gene’s arm.
It sends a flutter through Gene’s chest—they’re so close—they haven’t gotten this close to each other since their vacation up north.
But he can’t really savor that closeness as Santiago, sitting on Gene’s other side, also leans in toward him.
Santi keeps his hands to himself, but Gene throws an arm around Santi to hold him steady.
There, at least like this with both of them on him, it comes off more friendly than anything.
Especially when Toshiko and Carol are watching them from their seats behind Maurice.
He hopes his red cheeks don’t show up on film.
“That’s great! Keep it like that for a sec,” Maurice says, pulling the camera over his eye and snapping the shutter.
The photographer walks around them all, getting photos from various angles. Up, down, left, right, snap, snap, snap. “You can change up your pose a bit, if you want. But stay right there,” Maurice says.
“Okay,” Ray replies for everyone, as he usually does as the de facto leader.
Pat and Stefan are on Ray’s other side, and they shuffle a bit while Santiago sits up more by Gene.
Though Ray doesn’t honestly move much, aside from leaning even further onto Gene, his lips dangerously close to Gene’s ear.
He can feel Ray’s warm breath, and it sends another flutter through his chest.
“Perfect,” Maurice says, snapping the shutter again.
Usually when they take photos like this, somehow, Ray and Gene are always by each other one way or another.
It reflects how they are in reality, each other’s closest friend.
Not just friends, Gene thinks, there’s something more, too.
Even during this whole past month where they haven’t been hanging out as much, Gene can still feel that connection just by Ray’s proximity now.
It’s like there’s this magic link holding them together—he can’t think of another way to describe it.
“Let’s change things up again,” Maurice says once he’s done. “I want just Ray and Gene in the frame this time, if you all wanna step away for a bit.”
“Oh, really?” Gene’s eyes widen.
“Yes, of course! You know I’ve done it before.” Maurice chuckles. “I love seeing your chemistry and getting to capture that in a photo. The way you two light up a room when you’re together… it’s like a ray of light.”
“A ray of light?” Ray laughs, the sound in Gene’s ear giving him butterflies.
“How about a flare of light instead?” Santiago offers, getting up from his seat along with the other band members.
“Yeah, that works.” Maurice nods. “A flare, shining brightly with sudden intensity, just like how you guys are on stage. Wait, what if we called you two the ‘Flare Twins’?”
“The Flare Twins?” Gene repeats, his heart thrumming in his chest.
“Yeah! What do you think?”
“I like the idea,” Ray says. “Would give us our own catchy name, like for crediting our song writing, rather than just being Roderick-Hillard. How ’bout it, Gene?”
Gene’s heart beats even harder gazing at Ray’s lovely smile so close to his own face. How can he say no? “Yeah, I like it too. Maybe we could even be credited like that on our next album.”
“Give me credit too, for giving you the name!” Santi says from the sidelines.
“Hey, I’m the one that actually made the name. You just gave me the word ‘flare’,” Maurice says to Santi.
“Everyone’s going to be credited one way or another,” Ray reassures. “But anyway, let’s get to shootin’!”
That makes Gene laugh, and in the blink of an eye—he hears the snap of the shutter. Damn, he’s quick. Maurice caught a genuine smile on Gene’s face, caused by none other than his darling Ray.
Maurice steps closer, getting a different angle, as Ray and Gene lean into each other, sitting and posing for the camera.
After a few snaps, Gene’s gaze wanders toward the other side of the room again, back to where Toshiko and Carol are sitting.
The two women have been getting along for the most part, even if they don’t really spend a lot of time together.
But Gene notices Carol whisper something to Toshiko, too quiet and far away to be heard.
What are they talking about? Are they gossiping about us?
Apparently it’s nothing to worry about, as Toshiko giggles at whatever Carol just said.
Gene has talked to Toshiko a lot about Ray, though obviously omitting anything romantic about their relationship.
She knows he and Ray are close, so their proximity on the bench shouldn’t surprise her.
If anything, with how she gazes at them, and with that twinkle in her eye, she seems to be getting a kick out of it.
He wonders if she’d have that same sort of enjoyment if she knew the truth about his feelings for Ray, though.
Maurice snaps one more photo, trying to advance the reel on his camera, when it stops. “Sorry, I gotta get a new roll. But I got some real good ones just now.”
“That’s great,” Ray says, sitting up straighter and, unfortunately, taking his hand off Gene.
“Is it time for me to finally join in?” Carol speaks up.
“Yeah, I guess that’s fine,” Maurice says, pulling his lips to one side. It’s funny, with Maurice’s casual body language, ignoring her to focus on his camera, it’s like he’s not too enthused about her addition. Same here, man.
“How about we get rid of this bench?” Pat says, stepping back into the scene area.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Maurice agrees.
And so, after Ray and Gene stand up, Pat and Stefan grab either side of the bench, pulling it out of the way and to the side.
Once that’s done, Maurice changes the background sheet too, switching it from dark red to plain white.
“There, if it’s like this, with so many people in frame, I should get better contrast,” Maurice reasons.
“Alright, let’s get settled, now. Maybe have Carol in the middle?
And you all standing or sitting around her. ”
“Sounds good to me!” Carol exclaims. She gets up from her seat and walks over, standing in the middle of the backdrop.
The rest follow suit, with Gene sticking more toward the back behind Carol, and Ray does the same.
Maurice grabs a wooden chair—unlike the metal folding one Toshiko is still sitting on—and brings it to the scene.
Pat takes a seat on it, Stefan stands next to Pat, Santi sits on the floor, and they all form somewhat of a circle around Carol.
“I got this,” Carol says, looking over to Ray with a smirk, then to Maurice. “I’m the center piece, and everyone is all here admiring me. So you all look at me, and I’ll reach out and put my hands on some of you.”
Maurice shrugs, and he almost looks… uninterested. “Yeah, I guess that works. You’re already a model, aren’t you? So you’ve done this stuff before.”
“Yup.” She nods. “Usually I’m posing by myself or with a couple other girls, but never with guys like this.”
“Don’t forget me, now,” Pat says.
“Okay, yeah. Well, I mean there’s still a majority of guys here,” Carol chuckles.
She reaches out, putting one hand on Santi’s face sitting down next to her legs, and the other one around Pat’s shoulders.
Carol stands proud, confident, obvious that she knows what she’s doing.
However, Gene isn’t feeling the same. He still looks at Carol, as instructed, but is otherwise indifferent.
At least he still gets to be next to Ray.
“Alright, hold it for a sec,” Maurice says, before snapping the shutter of his camera.
Being close to Carol like this reminds Gene that…
he hasn’t been this physically close to her for quite some time.
It’s honestly hard for him to believe that he had sex with her once.
He can’t deny that she’s gorgeous, enough to make him want to do that in the first place, but thinking about it now makes his gut twist. So much has changed since then.
Namely how his feelings for Ray have become bolder, but also how now, Toshiko has entered his life.
The shutter of Maurice’s camera snaps again. “Alright, that’s good. Carol, how about you move your hands a bit? Get a slightly different pose.”
“Alright.” She keeps one hand on Pat, but then leans closer to Ray, snatching his hand in her own. Gene is quick to notice, his stomach churning even more. Of course Ray plays into it. He looks at Carol sensually—though Gene shouldn’t be surprised. Carol is Ray’s fucking girlfriend after all.
Snap! The camera’s shutter goes again. Gene takes a deep breath. Shit, the jealousy is probably written all over my face. On film now, too.
He chances a glance at Toshiko to keep himself steady. She gives him a warm smile, along with a thumbs up. At least she doesn’t seem to think he’s acting weird.
He looks back at Carol before the shutter snaps again. Maurice moves closer to Ray and Carol for a different angle. There’s another snap. “There, that’s good. I think I got enough,” Maurice says.
“Enough?” Carol pouts. “I feel like you barely took any with me!”
“I don’t need to take a ton to know I got some good shots,” Maurice counters, stepping back and pulling his camera away from his face. “What do you think, Gene? I got quite a few.”
The fact that Maurice specifically asks Gene doesn’t go unnoticed by him. “Yeah, I think you got plenty. Most of what we need is just of the band members themselves, anyway,” Gene says.
“I want to change positions, at the very least,” Santiago says, standing up abruptly.
“Yeah, I’m done with this for now,” Stefan says, stretching his arms. I think that’s the most he’s said the entire day.
“Well, whatever. Fine!” Carol sighs. “As long as you use at least one of these photos with me for your advertising, I guess that’s all that matters.”
“We’ll definitely use some, Carrie,” Ray says, his hand still unfortunately holding onto hers. “But yeah, I think we’ve already been here for a while. What do you guys say? Wrap up? Or shoot some more with the band?”
“I feel like we could keep going. We’ve still got some time booked, don’t we?” Gene asks Maurice.
“Actually, I don’t have any other appointments for the rest of the day,” Maurice says. “So you have me however long you want.”
“What if we took photos outside?” Gene proposes. “We could go downtown by the river, or maybe we could even head to the outskirts of the city and take photos by the woods? That could be a neat backdrop.”
Gene almost misses it—so subtly, he sees Maurice’s shoulders shiver with a chill. “Um, yeah! Whatever you guys wanna do,” Maurice says with a sheepish smile.
“I think that sounds fun,” Ray says, finally dropping Carol’s hand.
“Good thinkin’, Gene.” The smile Ray gives him sends a pleasant warmth throughout his body.
Oh, if only he could reach out and caress him, any way would be fine.
But he can’t. Not right here. These thoughts keep popping out of nowhere, at the most inconvenient times.
“Yeah, no problem, man.” Gene smiles sweetly back at Ray. “Alright then, how ’bout we get ready and head out?”