Page 90 of Overexposed

“Hopefully that didn’t suck for you,” Seven whispered against my ear before he stood. The audience was applauding as Seven was introduced. He stood in front of the packed auditorium and told stories about his time on that set.

Then he took questions. At the end of that, he rejoined me and they put on his next movie. Leaning toward him, I had to know: “How long is this marathon?”

“Five more movies, Stray. Don’t worry. I’ll cover the overtime.”

Rolling my eyes, I leaned back in the chair. This was one of their first truly teen movies. A pair of brothers and their best friend pitted against vampires in a beach town. It was absolutely terrible.

I loved every minute but only because of Gem being in it.

By the time we left, Seven had taken pictures with lots of the fans, answered questions, and played the good sport about everything. It was—enlightening. It also gave me some ideas.

Sunday afternoon found Seven driving, despite my objections, in a fancy hybrid SUV. I had to take my camera equipment out of the safe, but I had a bag to bring it all with me.

Everything else I’d need would be at the studio. Seven had asked me what to wear—now there was a question I didn’t get every day. I’d told him to dress like he had for theNotorietyshoot and to bring a couple of other outfits with him, something more casual and relaxed, along with something we could make dressier.

I really didn’t see me dressing him up more. He was too uptight as it was; we needed to loosen him up. Excitement threaded through me. This wasn’t about catching some scandal or documenting bad decisions to be sold later.

After entering the code for the lock, I opened the door to get us inside. “Make yourself comfortable,” I told him as I began my sweep. I’d used this studio before. I just wanted to see what my best options were going to be.

“What time are you expecting the makeup artist?” Seven asked, hanging his garment bags on the clothing rack at theside of the room, where some Chinese screens were set up for changing.

I grinned to myself, shaking my head as I turned on the lights and set down my equipment. “You like wearing makeup for photo shoots, Spawn?”

“What?” he replied, looking confused. “No, but it’s… That’s just normal for all editorial shoots.”

I raised my brows, meeting his eyes across the small studio. “Do you think youneedmakeup, Spawn? I’ve got some concealer and blush in my purse if you wanna borrow it.”

His eyes narrowed in a glare, and I tried really hard not to laugh at him. He was making it impossible to remain straight-faced though.

“I’m teasing, Spawn. Chill the fuck out. You’re handsome enough just as you are. You don’t need makeup. In fact, I daresay that was contributing to the whole wax-mannequin vibes you were giving under Janice’s lens.”

Seven grunted, like my statement shocked him. “You think I’m handsome?”

Okay, now I had to laugh. “Oh, that’s news to you? I’m literally fucking your identical twin on a daily basis, Seven, Of course I thinkyou’re bothhandsome. You’re not on good terms with logic are you, hot stuff?” I snickered, rolling my eyes. “Let’s start with jeans and a T-shirt, no shoes. Give me a few minutes to test lighting.”

Not waiting for his response, I turned back to my task of ensuring the studio was set exactly as I wanted it and then set about tweaking my camera settings to align with the light. This was very different from my usual long-range telephoto snaps, and if I was being honest, I was terrified of fucking it up.

I’d talked a big game about Janice’s photos and had no actual confidence that my images would be better, but I had to try. I couldn’t let Seven approve those lifeless, stiffly posed imagesin a magazine as big asNotoriety. After seeing her touch him inappropriately, I wanted even more to rob her of that payday too.

“Is this good for you?” Seven asked from right behind me, making me jump a little as he shocked me out of my internal musings. I spun around to find him right there in my personal space, making me retreat a step.

He’d dressed as I asked, but the T-shirt hugged him in all the right ways to highlight the muscles he worked so hard to maintain. If not for the permanent scowl set on his face, I could have been fooled that he was Gem, dressed so casually.

I nodded, my head whirling with ideas for posing. “Yep. Stand over there on the tape mark, so I can check lighting against you.”

He did as he was told, not making things difficult at all, which was…unexpected. I slid into professional mode, acting like I carried out studio shoots with major celebrities every damn day, while internally I was sweating buckets that I couldn’t make it work.

Five frames in, I relaxed. Ialreadyhad gold. Why the hell had I been so worried?

Letting the anxiousness slip away, I confidently guided Seven through the poses I had been researching all week from my favorite editorial shoots over the years. He nailed them all. Every damn one. It blew me away, considering how stiff and awkward he’d been in front of Janice’s lens, which made me think that likely wasn’t the first inappropriate interaction they’d had.

Gross.

We stopped after a couple of hours, and Seven ordered us food and drinks delivered so we could refuel. As we ate, he told me more about the current project that Gem was working with him on. It sounded downright dangerous, and when I sent Sevento change into the next outfit, I popped off a quick text to Gem. Just checking on him.

“Okay, how do you want me?” Seven asked, reappearing out from behind the changing screen, and I nearly dropped my phone. His hair had become messed up while he changed, and he was back in the same outfit he’d worn for Janice: white button-down unbuttoned and a pair of Calvin Kleins that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Fucking hell. This identical-twin thing was starting to mess with my head because my pulse was racing just from looking at Seven.

I needed to swallow hard before finding my voice. “Um, just give me a sex. I mean a sec.”Fuck!“Give me asecondwhile I drag that couch over.” Hiding my flaming face with my hair, I hurried across to the side of the studio where an assortment of props and furniture was stored. I wanted Seven on the brown leather Chesterfield, but it took more effort than anticipated to make it move.

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