Page 31 of Elite Player
“Because we’re going to get married.”
That earns me a sound of amusement, and I dig into her work. Clearly, some of them are from when she was a kid, the old Polaroids and blurry 4x6s. There are indeed pictures of “nature” like weeds in the sun or a piece of trash on the ground among random blades of grass. But then there are ones that she must have taken as she grew older, ones with a new, more mature perspective. I don’t know anything about photography, but I can appreciate how she started being able toseesomething in her subjects, in the shadows and light, in the stories she told.
After I’m done with those, I ask her for her social media handle and promptly follow the Instagram page that is only photos of nature or things in her daily life. Her website has a much wider portfolio, with information on how to contact her for sessions that might include anything from weddings and birthdays to baptisms and graduation photos.
“You ever do animal photos?” I ask, finally putting my phone away after I’ve seen every possible picture.
“Animal photos?”
“Yeah, like portraits of animals.”
“Oh.” She purses her lips. “I haven’t, but I guess I could.”
“I have a cat and I think it would be really funny if you did a photo session for us. I could send out prints like people do Christmas cards. Oh! Wait.” I snap my fingers with an idea. “You know how they used to do those backgrounds for school photos. I remember Sheffy had, like, lasers and stuff in all his school pictures. I never got school pictures, but his parents had them everywhere in their house. I want that…of me and Gus.”
“You and your cat with the neon line background?”
I nod solemnly. “Yes.”
She tosses her head back and laughs. Hard. Her teeth out with the cute gap, her throat exposed, hair hanging halfway down her back.
I love it.
I want to make her laugh more, make her smile so big that she forgets to hide.
When she finally rights herself, she still can’t bite back her grin, and I stand to tuck a few strands of her dark hair behind her ear. “You’re beautiful when you smile. You should do it more often.”
But it was the wrong thing to say because she immediately shuts down, pulling away from me.
“Jo—”
“I can do that. I can do a photo session for you and your cat.”
I try on a flirtatious smile. “You’re going to fall in love when you see my boy.”
She stares at me placidly. A practiced emotionless mask. “I’m sure.”
I open my mouth to apologize, but she crosses to the door, stopping my words. “Thanks for taking me out tonight. I had fun.”
And I suppose that’s all I can hope for. I don’t dare touch heror mention how I’d like to take her out again, how I’d like to take her out tomorrow night. And the night after that. And every free night I have.
Instead, I jut my chin at her then step into the hall. “Night, Jojo.”
CHAPTER 10
JO
Two daysafter Nico took me out to meet his friends, I’m knocking on his door with my camera bags over my shoulder. I didn’t truly believe Nico was serious about the session with him and his cat, but as soon as he arrived home the other night, he started texting me examples of school photos from the ’80s and ’90s. Kid after kid with bowl cuts and worse backgrounds.
But as usual, his silly excitement was contagious, and soon, I found myself researching editing tips. Because if Nico Tremblay wanted a family portrait to hang over his mantel, I would take a good family portrait.
When he opens his door to me, I’m momentarily stunned. He’s still tugging on a shirt, his hair wet from a shower, and his shorts short enough to show off a thigh tattoo—a butterfly with a dagger as the body, inked in all black. It’s darkly beautiful and something I didn’t know he had. Not that I’d have a reason to know, but I can’t stop staring all the same.
Until Nico purposefully clears his throat.
I flick my gaze up to his grinning face, and he steps toward me with his arm extended for a hug. I go to him, if nothing else than because I’m a bit stunned, and he rubs his hand up and down my back. “How’s my fiancée today?’
“I’m not your fiancée.”
