Page 11 of Hot Route
“Why the fuck would I be wearing underwear with swim trunks?” I ask. “Do you wear underwear when you swim?”
She shakes her head, hands still covering her eyes. “No.”
“Then why would you assume I did?” I say, pulling my shorts back up while she continues to hide.
She huffs a frustrated breath. “I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking.”
I walk over to her, still chuckling as I try to pry her fingers from where they’re smooshing her nose and eyes. “You can look now. The big bad monster is back in his cage.”
She opens her fingers just enough to peek at me. When she sees that I’m clothed, she drops her hands and smacks me on the arm.
“Ow!” I say, even though she definitely didn’t hurt me. “What was that for?”
“Next time you decide to free Willy, give me a heads up first.” She’s totally flustered, and I can’t say I hate the blush that’s now covering her face and neck. I know she didn’t see my dick, but she had to have gotten an eyeful of my ass before she realized what was going on.
“My bad, Baby Doll.” I’m not exactly apologizing because,sorry, not sorry.But I do her a favor by not teasing her about her reaction. “Seriously, let’s finish this.”
“Fine,” she relents. “Forget the shorter shorts. Just get in the pool. I’ll start rolling and you can pull yourself out from the side. Dry off and then put on the shirt.”
I follow her directions, jumping into the deep end before popping up and swimming to the side wall. When she gives me the signal that she’s recording, I flatten my hands on the pavement and lift myself from the water. Once I’m out, I make a show of bending over for my towel before slowly rubbing the soft fabric over my chest and abs. When I’m dry enough, I grab the shirt from my newest fall release and pull it on. I finish by looking into the camera and giving a charming wink.
“That should do it,” she says. I don’t miss the breathy tone to her voice.
I busy myself by drying my legs as she works her magic, choosing the right song and filters for the video. She’s in the zone as she concentrates on turning the fifteen-second recording into something that’ll hopefully gain exposure for my brand. Mac will probably shit a brick when he sees it, but I don’t give a fuck. Mads is a female football fan and I trust her. She knows what sells a lot better than any of us do.
“Done!” she says, excitedly. “Want to see it?”
I walk over to her, looking over her shoulder as she presses play on her phone. It doesn’t even look like the same video we just shot. It begins with me lifting out of the pool. Everything is in slow motion, rivulets of water languidly making their way from my chest to the waistband of my shorts. Snooze by SZA plays in the background and I have to admit, the video is hot as fuck. As I smooth the shirt over my chest, the camera zooms in on my logo before cutting back up to my face, just in time to catch my wink before the screen fades to black.
“Wow,” I say, amazed at how she took a random video of me in my back yard and turned it intothat. “You’re fucking amazing.”
Her big eyes sparkle as she smiles brightly.
Fuck, she’s pretty.
“Thanks,” she replies. She looks proud. And she should be. I know my way around social media, but certainly not enough to be able to edit videos like she just did. I can tell bringing her on as my assistant is already turning out to be a good choice. Could be life changing if she agrees to continue sharing her knowledge and skills with me. It’s not exactly part of her job description to do this, so I’m lucky she didn’t tell me to go fuck a cactus when I asked her to help me post a thirst trap video.
“Holy shit!” she says, startling me.
“What?”
“It’s been up for three minutes and look how many views and likes it already has!” She turns the phone to show me the video, which she posted to my TikTok account. I watch as hearts continue to rise up the screen, the comments section moving so fast I can’t even read it. I’ve posted here before, but I’ve definitely never seen this kind of engagement.
She turns, looking over her shoulder at me with a smile. “I told you this would work. I’d bet my paycheck that your web sales will increase considerably within the next day or two.”
“You’d better be careful, Baby Doll,” I chide. “Keep this up and I’ll tell Jacob he can’t have you for that permanent position.” I’m half joking, but I’m also not ruling out doubling whatever Tailgate Media offers her to work for me full-time.
She sighs. “That would mean they’d have to choose me for it first.”
“Why do you think they won’t?” I can’t imagine, with her talent and hard-working attitude, that she wouldn’t be a shoe in.
“It’s—It’s not a big deal,” she says, softly. “Don’t worry about it.”
I don’t want to pry, but I also can’t stand the thought of her thinking negatively of herself. She’s been an incredible help tome since she’s been here, and I know she’s pouring every ounce of herself into her internship. “Tell me,” I say, gently so she doesn’t think I’m pushing.
“There’s one other girl, but between you and me, I don’t think she’s ready to be a sports journalist yet. We work primarily with hockey and football teams, and she doesn’t quite have an understanding of either game yet. And she always seems so nervous and timid. She’ll get there, but she needs time.”
I stay quiet while she pauses, thinking.
