Page 82 of Dev Girl

“Costume call.” While the outfits in the photo weren’t complicated for the most part, Aubrey had done a fantastic job finding near-likenesses of every single one of them. Including the flesh-colored thong she held up now. “Where’s our naked guy?”

I nodded in Maddox’s direction. “One guess.”

Maddox grinned and snagged the underwear from her.

Adam’s pout was ridiculous. “I wanted to be Naked Guy.”

“God, I can’t believe there are two of you.” Aubrey didn’t look anywhere near as annoyed as she sounded.

Maddox’s smile grew. “Right? Isn’t it brilliant?”

Aubrey sighed and shook her head. “Bowler hat guy?” She held up a suit on a hanger, and a hat.

“They have names.” I wasn’t sure I could handle an entire day of Naked Guy and Bowler Hat Guy. “They’re each from individual Rush album covers, if nothing else.”

“Do they?” The look Aubrey gave me was more fake than Adam’s pout had been.

“She knows,” Evie said. “This is her way of torturing you for lying to Alys.”

Deacon stepped forward to grab two red jumpsuits from the rack behind Aubrey, and she nudged him away.

“You can’t be mad at the entire male population forever,” Deacon said.

Aubrey handed me the suit and hat, then grabbed the clothing Deacon had tried to extract. She handed one to him. “I can be, but I don’t have a problem with Gage.” Who got the other jumpsuit.

“It’s because of the meat, isn’t it.” Pink spread across Brooke’s face the moment the words left her mouth. “I— That’s not what I meant. Just, the hamburgers. Gage’s Grub…”

“You said my meat was a good size.” Somehow Adam had managed to sneak past Aubrey to grab the jester hat, and it was balanced precariously on his head.

Brooke blushed harder. “It is. I didn’t— Damn it.” She ducked her head, but couldn’t hide her smile.

As Gage stepped off the ladder, Evie moved up two rungs, and draped herself over his back, arms hanging down his chest. “Aubrey has a point. It’s impossible to be mad at you and your incredible meat.”

“Because Evie has learned the best meat is ground meat,” Alys said.

I wasn’t the only man in the room who cringed.

Maddox kissed her on the cheek. “You hurt me so good.”

This was ludicrous and a blast. I was going to miss it so much.

We all changed into our outfits. Maddox should’ve looked ridiculous passing out stage directions in nothing but a beige thong, but he worked with such efficiency no one questioned it.

I didn’t know which of us looked the silliest—though my fake mustache had tight competition with Deacon’s skull cap.

Maddox put Aubrey in his spot while he positioned the camera, and shouted out a few last minute changes. Then he swapped places with her, and had her take the pictures, while we all shifted in tiny increments, according to Maddox’s directions.

We spent a while going back and forth with lighting, position changes, and all sorts of other tweaks, until Maddox was convinced he had enough shots to pick one good one.

As I changed out of my costume, there was a message waiting for me from Helen, so I pulled up the voicemail.

“Call me when you have a chance. The buyer came back with their stipulations—they want you to put twenty thousand into escrow, to cover just in case expenses associated with that new wiring you had done in the building.”

What the fuck?

I should think my response through, but I wasn’t interested in being professional at this point. I sent her a quick text. Absolutely not. Fuck that guy.

“You okay?” Alys’s question came from the other side of the curtain I’d changed behind. “You’re growling back here.”

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