He gestured for Scott to get on the bed.
Scott crawled to the middle and propped his head up with one hand, gazing at Thomas with his most seductive look.
“No,” Thomas said.
Scott frowned. “What do you mean, no?”
“On your back.”
Scott lay down and stared up at the ceiling. There was no face, but for a moment, for the smallest of nanoseconds, he imagined it there.
Thomas snapped the clapperboard, and Scott jumped.
“That’s better,” Thomas said. “Much more natural.”
“What?”
“Your face won’t be in shot,” Thomas told him, taking the biggest camera off the tripod. He got on the bed and stood over Scott. “You’re going to brush your hand down your abs and into your boxers. When the waistband slips over the back of your hand, I want you to arch your back off the bed, stretch your abs, make your teeny-tiny belly button yawn.”
“Yawn?”
“Just do it,” Thomas ordered, checking the camera. “Trust me.”
Scott huffed and did as Thomas told him.
Thomas grumbled, unimpressed. “Slower this time…”
Scott gritted his teeth, going for take number two.
Thomas sprang off the bed and put the camera to the side. “Keep practising.”
“It’s not exactly hard.”
“You’re sure making it look hard.”
Scott turned to face him. “What are you doing?”
“Swapping the bulb in the lamp for something a little brighter. The right side of your body is looking a bit orange.”
Thomas grabbed the camera and returned to the bed. He took his position above Scott and told him to try again.
Scott did. Again, and again.
But Thomas never smiled, he sighed in frustration.
“Do you like your body?” Thomas asked after the twentieth attempt. He lowered the camera to look at Scott, seemingly interested in the answer.
“Of course I like my body.”
“Then touch it like you do.”
Scott drew his eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”
“Try closing your eyes.”
“Why? You said they’re not even in shot.”
“They’re not, now close them.”
