Page 15 of Rebel

“Don’t be, it’s a lot, and he’s being an ass,” Chase scoffs behind me. I peer up to see his back to me as he glares at anyone who dares to approach. A quick smile graces my lips, and I hear a click of the camera, which startles me.

“Stop it,” Kolton barks loudly.

“Hey, Beck, look at me, okay? Only at me.” I focus back on Trav’s kind eyes. “Ignore them. They aren’t here. Picture the camera as someone you love, someone you are trying to seduce, or even someone you hate, whatever works for you, but remember, they are here for you, not the other way around. This is your time, not theirs. Fuck what they think, and fuck the overthinking happening in your head. You don’t need to be perfect, you just need to be you, and if you can’t do it today, then we can leave and try again later.”

“Really?” I whisper, knowing that would get them in trouble and cost millions.

“Really,” he promises.

I look into his kind face and shake my head. “No, I’m okay. I want to try. It’s just . . . a lot.”

“I have an idea.” Standing, he squeezes my hand. “Wait here.”

Unable to do anything else, I drop my head back, and it hits the backs behind me. I jump, ready to move. “You’re fine,” Chase says, surprising me, so I relax back, just breathing as I lean on them. I hear Trav whooping, but I can’t see what’s happening.

“Okay, turn around, Beck.” I do, and when I tap Kolton and Chase, they move aside. I blink in shock. The entire team of bustling people, all staring or on their phones, is gone. All that’s left are the guys, me, and the photographer, who smiles at me.

“Shall we try again?” he asks kindly.

Whatever Trav said to him clearly got through, so I relax as I look around, realizing there is no one to laugh or judge. When they move behind me again, I nod confidently.

“Let’s try again.”

Trav hurries back as we get into position, and this time I feel calmer.

“Focus on the lens,” Trav murmurs behind me. “Look through it and pretend.”

Someone I love. Someone I want. Someone I hate.

That’s not hard.

I focus on the lens, not the photographer, and let my expression transform. “Great! Good! So good, Beck, keep that!” The camera clicks as he moves around. “Okay, another pose.”

And so it goes. With each picture, I relax more, until a genuine smile covers my lips. I have to look stern, sexy, and aloof. We try it all. The guys work the camera, owning it, and when I glance at them, my mouth goes dry.

Trav’s head is tilted back with a smile flirting on his lips, looking every inch the nice guy but still unattainable.

Chase wears a smug smirk as he looks up at the camera.

Kolton has one hand on his lip, pulling it down slightly.

Jesus fucking Christ, they look like sex incarnate, but when Trav grins at me when he catches me staring, I realize they might act like it, but they are still human. Behind the carefully posed photos is the truth—Trav’s kindness, Kolton’s insecurity, and Chase’s addiction.

They are people, and that relaxes me even further, knowing I am as well.

We have our flaws, but here, we can be the perfection people crave but isn’t real.

Hands hit my shoulders as I tilt my head and smirk like they instruct. We do so many different poses, my body aches.

I even start to enjoy it a little, laughing when they pick me up and lay me across their arms or when they lie down and I put my heeled foot against them—not that I would tell them that. Glancing down my leg to my heel, I meet Kolton’s eyes. They are hot with desire. He blinks and it’s gone, but for a moment, I saw it, and when he turns his head, his hand sliding up my ankle to grip my thigh, and places his lips on my foot, I know it’s for me and not the camera.

This seems to call off all bets because Chase sits up and rests his head against my side, his hand sliding up to grip my neck. Trav slides closer, sitting at my feet and arching his back to look at me like a puppy, but there’s a wicked grin on his lips I didn’t expect, and when he grabs my hand and slides it down his shoulder to his chest, I swallow hard.

They are taking advantage, but I can’t seem to care.

“Relax, pretty girl.” Chase smirks up at me, his whisper low. “It’s just for the photos.”

Right, the photos. I had almost forgotten.

---