Matt ran a hand over his face. She was right. This wasn’t anything new. But that didn’t stop him from feeling kinda sick of it. “Fine. I’ll eat.” He pointed at Chris, “But seriously, dude, keep your hands to yourself until you guys are alone, got it?”
Holding up his hands, Chris pasted a “who me?” look on his face. “Whatever you say, man. No need to get your panties in a twist.”
Matt flipped him off, and Chris laughed.
Silence descended as they settled in their seats, passed around the food, and started eating. Their schedules were much more erratic than they had been during the fall semester, so they were rarely all three home at the same time anyway. He had a lot more time to himself these days, which probably contributed to why he got so annoyed with Chris’s constant displays of affection when they were around.
It didn’t help that he’d graduated and had a full-time job now, while they were still living the carefree student life. At least that’s how it seemed to him. Yeah, Megan, the art major, was working on getting more of her paintings in local shows, and Chris had his work cut out for him at the Regional Combines, trying to get into the NFL, but no one else had to work the same schedule every single day like he did. He wouldn’t say it to them, but he felt like the serious one of the three of them, working a boring job while they pursued their pie-in-the-sky dreams.
It irritated him, how they got to do whatever they wanted. And made him a little jealous. He tried to suppress that, but failed miserably most of the time. He’d love to be able to pursue his dreams. But his passion, his first love—surfing—didn’t lend itself to financial stability or any kind of career prospects. Not for him. He knew he wasn’t good enough to go pro. He’d accepted that a long time ago. Even if he did spend time daydreaming of business ideas that would get him back in the water. No, the best he could hope for was a good job with a good company where he could take surfing vacations once or twice a year.
Matt forced his thoughts back to their dinner and whatever Megan wanted. He waited until she’d taken a few bites before he asked again, “So, what favor are you needing?” He sat back, taking a drink of his water to give her time to answer. Chris turned his head in her direction as well, but didn’t stop eating.
She sat up straighter, set her fork down, and finished chewing before she spoke. “Well, you know how I’m trying to set up a show for later this year, right?”
He and Chris both nodded, encouraging her to continue.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself. “I want to do a study in skin tone contrasts. So, I need a bunch of models with varying skin colors. And I want to pose people in groups and pairs to show the variations in comparison to one another.”
Matt glanced at Chris, who’d stopped mid-chew to study his girlfriend. Chris swallowed and took a drink of water. “So you want us to pose naked for you or something?”
“Not us together, though, right?” Matt couldn’t help interjecting. No way did he want to pose naked with another dude, even if the dude was one of his closest friends. Not gonna happen.
Megan laughed. “No and no. I mean, yes, I’d love to have you guys model for me if you will, but you won’t have to be completely naked, just shirtless, or maybe in a speedo.” Matt’s eyes widened, but Megan kept going before he could say anything. “But not you two together. While your skin is different colors, you don’t contrast enough for what I’m wanting.”
Chris relaxed, and Matt’s initial negative reaction softened, too. “So what are you wanting from us?”
She shrugged, pushing the food around on her plate. “I was hoping you might be willing to get some of the guys from the football team to help me out.”
Matt sat stunned for a second. Chris’s loud bark of laughter broke the silence. “Babe. You want Matt and me to ask the guys if they’ll come pose together in speedos so you can paint them? I know you haven’t spent a lot of time around the team, but you have to know that that’s not likely to go over real well.”
Megan kept her eyes on her plate, and her hair mostly hid her face from view, but Matt thought he could make out her cheeks pinking just a little. Shit. Now he felt bad. “Dude. Don’t be a dick to your girlfriend.” Chris glanced at him but kept chuckling.
Lifting her head, she speared Chris with her gaze. “You don’t have to ask for me. Just give me the numbers of the guys you think might go for it. But they can’t be white guys if you two are going to help.”
Chris just shook his head as he shoveled more food in his mouth. Matt sighed. “Yeah, sure. I can think of a few guys that might agree to help.” He pointed his fork at her. “You’ll have to promise them they’ll only pose alone or with a chick, though. None of them are going to agree to be all up close and personal with another guy.”
Megan smirked at him. “Don’t you guys all shower together and slap each other’s asses when you’re playing football? What’s the big deal? I’m not asking anyone to get naked and rub up against each other. It’ll be tasteful. But I need live models to get what I need. If I can get a few pieces in the series done, my painting professor is going to show them to her friend who owns a gallery downtown. If he likes it, I could get my
