“You
gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really
stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot
do.” Eleanor Roosevelt
Chapter 2
I awoke to the sound of my cell ringing annoyingly on the bedside table. I
groan loudly and fish around for it not opening my eyes.
“Mmmfh?” I mumble into the phone when I
finally get it open. I refuse to open my eyes.
“Don’t
tell me you’re STILL in bed, Sunshine.” Brian’s voice is chipper. I don’t
understand how he can be such a morning person.
“Leave me
alone.” I grumble.
“I did
leave you alone this morning. I let you sleep and I took Gus to school.”
“I was up
late, Brian. You know that.” The past few nights had been spent pouring over my
textbooks for my final paper for my Fundamentals of Education class. Last night
Brian even had to carry me to bed when he found me fast asleep on top of the
keyboard in the office.
“I do
know.” His voice is soft now. Ok now I feel bad.
I sigh
and finally open my eyes to look at the clock. 10:39. Shit. I really should get
out of bed.
“Listen,
get up, get some coffee, work some more on your project since you don’t have
any classes today and then get your sexy ass over here and have lunch with me.”
I can tell he’s smiling. It makes me smile too.
“Ok.” I
yawn and sit up in bed.
“Be here
by 1:30. I should just be finishing up with Madison Surf wear then.”
“Did you
find a model?” I climb out of bed and pad barefoot downstairs to the kitchen.
He
groans. “No. All the pictures I emailed to him of the best models we have he
didn’t like. So he’s coming in at 11 to look at some more portfolios.”
“Mmmkay.” I pour myself some already made
coffee into my mug. Brian is so good to me. He always makes sure the coffee is
made for me on days like this. I’m honestly not sure how I got so lucky.
“Do you
want to go out to lunch or do you want me to bring something?”
“Just
bring something. We can eat here and then I can have you for desert.” I can
tell he has a wide grin across his face.
“Mmm. Sounds awesome. I’ll see you
soon.” Two beats. “I love you.”
Pause.
“Bye Sunshine.”
I flip my
cell shut and drop it on the counter. I bring my coffee into the office and
turn on the computer. I was almost done with my paper, which made me happy
because tomorrow was my birthday and there was no way in HELL I was working on
my birthday.
I bury my
face in my hands and sigh. 33. 33 Fucking years old. Now I know how Brian must
have felt all those years. Even though I really don’t hear
him complain much about his age anymore. Or the fact that speckles of
gray were starting to come through his brown locks. I smile to myself. He was
still beautiful.
Not that
we had anything planned for my birthday. This was my first birthday being back
together, so it was special to me, but I’m sure he didn’t have anything
planned. If he remembered at all. I don’t get worked
up about those kinds of things anymore with Brian. He has shown me in better
ways how much he loves me. I don’t need a cake or a fancy dinner or flowers
like I used to think I did years ago. All I needed was him.
I put the
last finishing touches on my paper, shower quickly and head toward Kinnetik, my cock already twitching at the thought of Brian
fucking me on the couch in his office.
I’m not
sure how I got so lucky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I stroll
into Kinnetik, brown paper bag full of Thai in hand.
I head to Brian’s office and wave at Cynthia as I pass.
“Madison
Swimwear is still in there with him.” She says with a nervous smile.
“Are you
kidding me?”
She
shakes her head. “They still haven’t found the ‘perfect’ model.” She
uses quotation marks with her fingers and rolls her eyes as she says perfect. I
laugh and walk around the corner. Brian’s office door is open and I see an
older gentleman dressed in jeans and a button down Hawaiian shirt sitting
across from Brian at his desk.
“Mr.
Madison, I’m really not sure what it is you’re looking for.” I hear Brian say.
“I’ve shown you every model we have and then some.”
“Mr.
Kinney the image I am trying to have set in this campaign is of a hot and sexy
male who doesn’t KNOW he is hot and sexy. I don’t want cockiness. I don’t want
some chiseled, buff, conceited model. I want a boy next door, an average every
day male.” Mr. Madison leans back in his chair and gives Brian a challenging
look.
“Well
then with all do respect Mr. Madison, we might as well go stand out on the
street to find what you are looking for.”
I
silently walk in and raise an eyebrow at Brian. He smiles when he sees me and
mouths ‘sorry’ to me as I head toward the couch. I see Mr. Madison’s head whip
to look at me. I sit on the couch and begin to flip through the latest issue of
‘Heat’. I see out of the corner of my eye Mr. Madison get up from his chair and
slowly walk to me. He is staring. I look up.
“You.”
He says.
“Huh?”
“You.
I want you.”
I give
him a confused look. “Excuse me?” I mean he wasn’t bad looking but he was
older. Older than Brian. He turns to look at Brian and
points to me.
“This is
the model.”
Brian
chuckles and walks around his desk over to us.
“Mr.
Madison, he isn’t one of our models. This is my partner, Justin Taylor.”
“I don’t
care who he is, HE’S the model. He’s the one I want.”
My mouth
is hanging open at this point. Me? A model?
“Justin
is an artist, Mr. Madison. He’s never modeled in his life.” Brian is looking at
him like he is crazy.
“Like I said. I don’t care. He is the image I have been looking for.” He folds his
arms and gives Brian a LOOK. “It’s him or no one.”
Now it’s
Brian’s turn for HIS mouth to hang open. He looks between Mr. Madison and myself.
“I…I…I’m
not a model. I’m sure they are WAY better looking models….”
“No. This
is exactly what I was talking about. You have no idea how good looking you are. You’re perfect for this ad.” Mr. Madison interrupts.
All I can do is stare.
“I’ll
make sure you are paid the exact same amount any other model is paid. Right,
Mr. Kinney?” Mr. Madison raises an eyebrow at Brian.
Brian
swallows and nods. He is in just as much shock as I am.
“So?” I
am asked.
“Um, sure
I guess. If you’re sure.” What the FUCK?
“Good.”
Mr. Madison walks to the chair he was sitting in and gathers his brief case.
“We have a 6pm deadline tomorrow to get the proofs to Heat and Surf
“I…well
tomorrow is my birthday…” I begin to say.
Mr. Madison smiles. “It wont take long. You’ll be
done in time to go home and celebrate with your partner here.” He looks at
Brian. “I’ll see you tomorrow Mr. Kinney.” With that he is out the door before
Brian and I can get another word in edge wise.
Brian and
I stay silent for what seems like an eternity.
“Well,
I’ve always told you you were hot, Sunshine.” He
sits next to me on the couch and places a hand on my knee.
“So, I’d
be in like magazines? And billboards? In just swimwear?”
I ask him, my voice shaky.
He pales.
“Yup.”
“And
you’re ok with this?”
He raises
an eyebrow at me. “Why the fuck wouldn’t I be?”
“Well,
for one, millions of men and woman are going to see me everyday.”
“Men and
woman see you everyday NOW, Justin.” He tells me.
“I-I
know. But, this is different. And what the fuck do I know about modeling?”
“Justin,
you can get up in front of an entire club filled with horny men and dance in
your underwear but you can have pictures taken of you in swim shorts?” He is
smirking at me. I relax slightly.
“I know,
but… this is different. I’m different.”
He wraps
his arms around me and nuzzles his face into my hair. “You need to have more
confidence, Justin. You’re hot. I’ve been telling you that since the first day
I met you. You were hot then and you’re still hot now.” He kisses my head. I
close my eyes and smile.
“Ok.”
“You’re gonna be fine. And I’ll be there in case you get nervous.”
I giggle.
“Or in case someone tries to grope me.”
He laughs
and buries his nose in the crook of my neck. “If they’re hot, I may join in on
the groping.” I climb onto his lap and kiss him deeply. His tongue massages
mine and I moan into him. This whole idea of me modeling is turning him on. How
do I know? The enormous hard on pressing against my leg.
He tugs on my hair as we kiss and I shiver.
“Did you
bring lunch?” He asks against my swollen lips.
“Mmm hmmm. But I was thinking we could do
desert first.” I lick his lower lip. His eyes glaze over with lust and before I
know if I am flipped onto my back on the soft leather couch.
“I think
that can be arranged, Mr. Taylor.”
I’m not
sure how I got so lucky.
***