Page 30 of Meet You Half Way
“I don’t think it will be that much of a hardship for you. I’ve seen the visuals for the shoot today and I think you’ll enjoy being on set.”
“Why, will you be naked?”
“You’ll just have to come pick me up and find out for yourself.”
And that right there was an offer I was not even close to being man enough to refuse. Just the very idea of a naked Mateo on a photoshoot had me drooling and yes, agreeing to drive him the nearly seven hour round trip to the big city.
“I tell you what, Mateo,” I said instead, trying to keep it cool and settle my racing pulse. “I’ll drive you up to Sydney today, watch you do your little photoshoot, hopefully in the nude unless you’re just a tease. And then you’ll agree to come out on a date with me to a nice restaurant of my choosing.”
“You want a date with me?” he asked, almost like the idea was repellent to him.
“That’s my final offer,” I said while also knowing how quickly I would fold if he didn’t agree.
But he just sighed and then I heard the words “Okay,” and I think I felt my heart chime a happy note in my chest.
“There, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” I grinned.
“Just come and get me, Jamie. I’m going to be pushing for time so can you come right away?”
“Yes, Mateo, I’m on my way,” I said in a tone which made it sound like he was putting me out. But I was a little too eager for today, a little too happy that he had reached out to me even if it was only to ask me for something.
I threw on a pair of blue jeans and a black polo top and then headed for the basement where I kept my car. I was on the road in no time, the twenty minute drive between Sorrento and Esperance enough to put me in a happy mood as I drove towards the boy who I was done fighting to dislodge from my head. He wasn’t going anywhere.
So. This was interesting. I was currently hovering around on the set of Mateo’s photoshoot, feeling a little out of place. We’d arrived not long ago, a little over twenty minutes late but we’d made it at least. The shoot was in a heavily industrial part of Sydney down near the docks that I had no working knowledge of. I hadn’t quite believed Alexa when she told us we had made it to our destination, just a shabby old warehouse with rusted shipping containers scattered around. But there was a streamof important looking people bustling around the site and Mateo seemed confident we were in the right place.
Turned out Mateo had been right about another thing because he was currently being laid out on one of those old fashioned, gilded chaise lounges which looked completely out of place in the dusty old warehouse. But I had eyes only for Mateo’s immaculate body which was on full display with just a tiny flesh coloured pouch covering his manhood. He looked, well, he looked really rather nice.
I’d already had a full preview of his outfit having been ushered backstage with him the minute we arrived – ‘backstage’being a section of the warehouse partitioned off with boards. I’d had to just stand there and bite my fist as Mateo had casually stripped down to nothing before robing up for hair and makeup. A stylist had brushed him down with some kind of powder that made his skin glisten in a way which was just completely unfair. As if the guy didn’t have enough of his own natural advantages over the rest of the populous. Now he looked like some kind of golden sex nymph and I was having a hard time concentrating.
The shoot was for some watch company, likely a famous one given the high quality of everything going on around me, not to mention the trestle table covered in food and the coffee cart that I had already visited. The team running the show were busy hovering around Mateo, trying out different watches with various face colours until they found the one they wanted in racing car green that looked sensational against Mateo’s gold-dusted, olive skin tone.
And then the other model came out from her side of the partitions and I felt another thump of surprise. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t expected it but the female model was utterly gorgeous, dark skin glowing with that same glittery stuff Mateo was wearing while her long, dark hair was plaited in braids downher back with highlights the same colour as Mateo’s blonde tips. They looked amazing together.
She was also completely naked other than her own flesh coloured undies things and I wasn’t quite sure where to look. No one else seemed at all bothered by the nudity, least of all Mateo and the model herself and within ten minutes I was just as desensitised to the nudity as everyone else in the room.
I’d never given a moment’s thought to the time and effort that went into a photoshoot like this but I could see there was an artistry to it that was actually kind of beautiful. The female model was positioned to straddle Mateo’s hips and I guessed that would be one situation where being gay was an added advantage. Mateo’s watch bearing arm was then strategically positioned to hide her breasts from the camera while still looking sexy as all hell.
Mateo caught my eye and I imagined I must have been half agape because he sent me the most sinful smirk before focusing back on the instructions. They spent so much time tweaking the two of them that the sexy aspect of it had long since fled the building but I could still fully appreciate the man candy on display before me.
“A friend of Mateo’s?” I heard as I felt a guy sidle up beside me. He looked like he belonged here in this environment, way more than I did, a sort of suaveness and sophistication to him that I could never match.
“Yeah. He’s a friend,” I nodded. I never knew who knew what about Mateo but I wasn’t about to out him on his film set.
“Ah,” the guy nodded sagely which that put that idea to rest. “A friend or afriend?”
“You’ll have to ask Mateo about that,” I returned with half a smile.
“Oh I will but he’s a cagey bugger,” the guy grinned, smiling at Mateo in a proprietary way. “I’m Glen Akers by the way, Mateo’s agent and owner of Elite Model Management.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jamie.” We shook hands and then stood side by side as the film crew seemed to finally be happy with the exact placement of Mateo’s hand and the way the girl was leaning seductively across his chest.
“Look at him. So damn pretty,” Glen sighed. “I have clients coming out of my wazoo desperate to work with Mateo but he’s still adamant about keeping modelling as a side hustle. He could be huge, you know. Huge.”
“Is that so?” I asked, my interested piqued by Glen’s words. Because I knew why Mateo kept modelling as a side hustle but I wondered if Glen did. “Don’t give up on him. You never know.”
“Do you know something I don’t?” Glen asked, suddenly more interested in me and my role with his star client.
“Not really. But I know he loves modelling so you shouldn’t give up on him.”
