Page 18 of Best Year Ever
“Eye contact, you two. Fierce competitors, pushing each other to succeed. And let’s go with the music too, team.”
The music comes on, and I feel like I’m in a vacuum of sensation except for Landon.
Landon’s eyes. Landon’s hands. Landon’s skin. Landon’s muscles. Landon’s male scent. Landon’s gentle breathing sounds.
Hormones, one set to love.
“Fiercer, Rori!” orders John.
In theory, I should visualize an opponent to nail the facial expression John wants.
Well, it’s not going to be possible to imagine Landon as Hanna or any other of my normal competitors, so I trick my mind in a different way.
I pretend that I’m going to play tennis with Landon himself. As I picture getting ready on court for the first point, my innatecompetitive juices start to flow. In my mind, I absolutely want to beat this sexy beast of a man, if he’s ever game to challenge me in tennis.
That mental imagery seems to work because John shouts out, “Perfect, keep that up,” and takes fifteen minutes more worth of pictures from different angles.
At that point, John comes closer to us, while the music is turned down by one of his assistants.
“Okay, I do want to do one more pose together that takes a different approach, though with similar themes. Landon, stand here, and then Rori, I want you to back up, flush against his front.”
For the first time in our careful public interactions today, Landon and I spontaneously look at each other, both with undeniable looks of surprise on our faces. I assume he is thinking the same thing I am. His front and my back are about to be separated only by tiny pieces of spandex.
“And then, Rori, hold your arms out wide, palms up. Landon, I want you to rest your arms out palm down on hers, pressing down while she presses up. No eye contact to start, just stare fiercely at the camera.”
I pause for a split second and then walk up to Landon. Once I’m close enough to rest against him, I turn so my back is facing his front and softly push flush against him.
I hear him involuntarily make a soft gasp. In turn, I’m swallowing my own catch of air, as I feel all of his hard muscles against my shoulders and mid-back and then…something else…against my lower back and the top of my butt.
“Let’s get the arms in place, you two,” John says. I stick mine out wide, palms up, and Landon stretches his arms out, resting his palms on top of mine.
“Wonderful, competition faces!” And the camera starts to click.
My mind has nowhere to go except to the feel of this man behind me. On top of everything else, he is invitingly warm, and Iwant to sink into him. His hands touching mine, together with all this other contact, are inspiring tingles in my lower stomach. Even more noticeable, the first feeling of true physical hunger since our night together rises up through my body.
Game, second set, match—hormones.
You still would take advantage of another night with him, don’t lie to yourself, a voice inside my head acknowledges.
John snaps more shots, and after a couple of minutes, gives new instructions.
“Next—I want you to stay in that position but now make eye contact. Rori, you look up and Landon, you look down, while keeping your bodies and arms in this pose.”
In what feels like slow motion, I lift my head up while still pressing against his body. When I move my eyes in place to meet his, his gaze is already on me.
The expression in his eyes probably looks like “game time” mode to the photography crew. But I see something different in the intensity of it. Longing? Need?
Oh my god, I’m starting to get truly turned on.
A beat after our eyes meet, I feel another change, showing he is fighting the same thing. He starts getting undeniably harder behind my lower back. Now it’s time for me to let out a small gasp. I swallow it again and try to relax so he doesn’t feel self-conscious.
Maybe he isn’t embarrassed, but I don’t want to make it worse if he is. I’ve heard that the man getting noticeably turned on is normal for scantily clad photo shoots, and I try to think of it as a compliment.
“Sorry,” he whispers in a sheepish tone with a half-grin. It’s the first time we’ve spoken during the actual photo shoot. He snaps back into his game face, while I give a small smile to show that I heard him and then do the same.
The moment breaks the ice a bit. I try to relax into the role that I’m supposed to be playing instead of focusing on Landon’s overwhelming presence and touch.
Five minutes later, John jumps in. “That’s it for this shot. Wow, so much to work with today, thank you both! You may not know this, but you have tremendous chemistry together in front of the camera!”
