Senior Year Box Set

I next called Paul and explained what Alex had told me. Paul was on a ferry to the Statue of Liberty with the rest of my gang. He said he would be on the first one back. I told him my next call was to Fritz, and I wouldn’t tell him that Paul wasn’t with me. Paul and I had played it a little loose with security on this trip.

This incident made me realize that I needed to take all this more seriously. Just when I finally was certain nothing would happen, something did. My mom would have said that I should have known better. It seemed that’s what moms were for, to remind us of everything we did wrong. I didn’t plan to tell Fritz what I’d been up to … or my mom, for that matter.

I called Fritz.

“Funny you should call. I just happened to be watching some interesting video. I take it you’re aware your place in Greece was broken into last night.”

“Yeah. It was tied to the attempted kidnapping of Umberto Sandoval. Part of his security team turned on him. I just got off the phone with his son, Alex. He said they planned to take me too. I want to make sure my family’s safe. Let Manaia and Cassidy know. It might be a good idea to send Chuck back for a while,” I suggested.

“I’ll call Paul and tell him to get his butt to your photo shoot,” Fritz said.

Then the light bulb turned on. Social media had sunk Paul. Fritz’s comment was his subtle way of telling me that I couldn’t pull one over on him.

“I take full responsibility,” I tried.

“Let me run my business, and I promise to stay out of yours. Even if your dad expects me to give him weekly updates.”

That put the fear of God into me. My security team wore bodycams everywhere they traveled. If anyone had dirt on me, it was them. I knew Fritz kept all that backed up, and he’d assured me no one had access to those records. I would have my dad check into how secure they really were.

What relieved some of my worry about my dad getting reports was that he tended to keep stuff close to the vest. My mom would have lowered the boom on me as soon as she found anything out. And like any teenager, I’d done stuff that would have drawn her ire. I suspected Fritz shared more than I wanted, but I trusted my dad would only step in if I did something truly heinous. For example, like having Fritz help me dispose of a dead hooker in the trunk of my car.

Adrienne found me and told me they were ready.

◊◊◊

Mrs. Lacier decided to spend the afternoon shopping, which helped Jill relax. It wasn’t like we were about to film porn, but Jade’s print ads seemed to mirror Abercrombie in that they were racier than the typical clothing ad. They put me into khaki-colored cargo shorts and a light-blue long-sleeved oxford-style dress shirt that they had me roll up to expose the lower half of my forearm. Jill was outfitted in a cream-colored cropped V-neck cardigan paired with a faux-suede hunter-green miniskirt.

Jackie had been my photographer when I’d done work for both Abercrombie & Fitch and their sister brand, Hollister. I expected that was part of the reason Michael Reese had hired her for this shoot. She had a handle on what he wanted.

After a rather quiet start, things heated up when my shirt started to get undone.

“Jill, unbutton his top two buttons and put your hand on his bare chest,” Jackie directed.

Jill did as she was told.

“David, give me that smoldering look that says you plan to have your way with her,” Jackie encouraged.

I did, which caused a giggle to escape Jill’s lips.

“Focus,” Adrienne barked.

Jill tried to keep from laughing at me but couldn’t help herself. I’d seen other new models get nervous and laugh during a shoot. If you stepped back and looked at what we were doing, it was funny. I was pretending to be in lust with Jill, who knew I didn’t mean it.

Without thinking, I goosed her. Jill’s eyes got big, and she slugged me. I waggled my eyebrows, and Jill figured out what I was up to. She leaned forward and kissed my nose. I heard the camera firing off shots.

Jill had needed the distraction to get back on track. When you were modeling like this, it was easy to zone out. Pinching her had brought her focus back. It was like Duke when he fixated on a squirrel. Sometimes I had to tap him on his butt to get him to mind.

From there, I slowly had more buttons undone until my shirt was fully open and pulled out of my waistband so my chest and stomach were exposed.

Jill enjoyed teasing me as she ran her hands over my exposed skin. At one point, Jackie had her push my shirt off one shoulder, and then Jill stepped behind me so only her forearms and hands were shown reaching around me. The best shot was of me doing my best sexy look with one of Jill’s hands, with her fingers spread wide, on my stomach. She had her other hand stuffed into my front pocket.

By the time we were almost done, Jill had nailed the cute, flirty girl look.

“We should do a few with her in only my shirt and me with my shorts unbuttoned,” I suggested.

“Is that pushing it too far?” Jackie asked Michael.

“Let’s try it and see.”