Page 168
Jake folds his arms. “First rule: don’t have your fucking toilet in frame.”
Logan nods. “No laundry pile, either. If she’s asked to see your dick, don’t make her inspect your housekeeping.”
Camden looks offended. “My apartment is clean.”
“That’s good. Keep it that way.”
Logan shifts against his stall. “And don’t take it from underneath.”
Camden frowns. “Why?”
“Because your dick will look like a haunted mushroom.”
I picture this horror despite myself, and shake my head—which catches Chase’s attention.
“Karlsson. You’ve been suspiciously quiet. What do you think?”
“About Camden’s dick?”
He huffs a laugh. “About photography.”
“I think this conversation should have ended several minutes ago.” But my eyes cut to Camden, thinking of what might be manageable. “Do not use ceiling light.”
Chase’s eyebrows rise. “I fucking knew it.”
“What?” I ask. “I understand lighting.”
Jake starts laughing but Camden, unlike the others, considers this seriously. “What’s wrong with ceiling light?”
“It creates shadows where you do not want them.”
Logan nods. “That’s solid advice.”
“Okay.” Chase has moved fully into consultant mode now. “So, natural light.”
Reid shakes his head. “Don’t tell him that. He’ll stand naked in front of a window.”
“I’m not an idiot, Hutchy.”
“You’re crowdsourcing dick-pic opinions from your teammates.”
“And getting excellent advice.” Camden looks back at me. “Okay, good light. Clean background. What else?”
My phone is still beside me, Heidi’s photograph sitting behind the dark screen. I think of her hand over her face and my grandmother’s ring sitting on her finger. The care she puts into everything even when she thinks nobody will notice.
“Did she send you a picture first?”
Camden nods. “Yeah.”
“Was it good?”
A grin pulls briefly at his mouth. “Very.”
“Then match the effort. If she took time over hers, take time over yours. Do not answer with a badly lit pciture that you took in ten seconds beside a toilet.”
Camden’s expression shifts with understanding. “Yeah. Okay, yeah. That makes sense.”
Chase gestures dramatically at me. “Viktor Karlsson. Romance lives.”
