Page 23 of Show Me 1
“I’ll get right on that,” I deadpanned. “Of course I’ve thought about it, but I can’t just go out and ask a random person. It’s not even something I could ask Mark or Nate to do because they have no idea, and they both have boyfriends anyway, who probably wouldn’t be cool with that. Maybe I’ll look harder sometime. Find someone local that would sign an NDA and wants a percentage of the profits or something. In the meantime, I’ve got a selfie stick coming, so I’ll just carry on.” I flicked the screen. “So about this one…keep it or toss it?”
“What? Oh, yeah. I think you can keep it.” Jesse passed the phone back, then raked his teeth over his lower lip, exhaling noisily as he met my eyes again. They were so big, a delicately lashed imperfect blue mottled with bits of brown. I wasn’t even sure what the color was called. Hazel?
“I could do the camera stuff for you. If you wanted.”
“Really? But I thought it made you feel weird.” It wasn’t as if it hadn’t occurred to me, but I sure as shit wasn’t about to ask.
He chuckled, and it was a private sound, like an inside joke only he knew the punchline to. “No, jerking off to videos alone in my room and knowing they’re you makes me feel like a perv. Being a helping hand…errr,cameraman, is a little different. What’s weird is imagining you letting somebody you hardly know help you.” He shook his head, setting his jaw. “No, I can definitely do it.”
I squinted, looking him over and trying to determine whether he was bullshitting me or not. He looked serious. Sounded serious, too.
Only one way to tell.
“All right, let’s do it.”
Jesse stared at me. “Really? Just like that?”
“Sure.” Shit, had that been a trick question or something, and I’d failed? I liked the idea of Jesse helping me with my videos. My stomach dipped, and I honestly wasn’t sure whether it was due to nerves, relief at having found the solution to my predicament, or the weird satisfaction I got out of feeling like I’d finally somehow connected with Jesse. “Good. I’m gonna take my ad off Craigslist, then.”
“What?” Jesse’s eyes got huge. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Totally joking.”
“Oh my god, you’re not.Sam.”Jesse smacked my arm. “There are crazy people out there.”
“Hey, I got some normal-sounding messages. One guy said I could film in his basement apartment anytime and that he had lots of cameras. And also a St. Andrew’s Cross, which I’m not sure what that is, but it sounds pretty high-tech.”
Jesse’s concerned expression broke on a grin. “You’re such an idiot.” I had no defense. “How do you even know what a St. Andrew’s Cross is?”
“Same way you do, I imagine.” I winked at him and slid from the bed. “So, want to try the first one tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” He cleared his throat. “Tomorrow is great. Sorry. That wasn’t a squeak. My vocal cords do this weird thing sometimes.”
“Mine do, too.” I nodded in mock understanding. “I always thought we just called those words and sentences.”
“Yep. Okay, smartass. You can leave now.” He gave me a sarcastic wave. “Bye.”
It wasn’t until I’d gotten back into my room that I pinned down the funny swooping sensation in my stomach.
It was excitement.
8
Sam
“This is it?”
“This is it,” Jesse said lightly, stepping around me to close his bedroom door.
I searched the corners of his room, made another visual sweep from the stuffed bookshelves to the artsy black and white photos on his walls, trying to figure out if I was missing something. When he’d saidsuper-erotic idea, I was expecting…I don’t know. Furry cuffs, or whipped cream, or…some kind of sensual scenery. A sex swing? Yeah, probably not. I’d spent my AM practice and all my classes thinking about it. I’d had a semi through most of my kinesiology class.
But this was just a slightly messy college guy’s room.
“Okay.”
Jesse chuckled at the disappointment in my voice and thwapped me on the bicep in passing. “Strip and I’ll break it down for you. You’re just gonna have to trust me on this for second. Let’s go! We’ve got a solid hour, and I don’t want to waste any of it just in case.”
“Just in case what?”