Through the Lens (Click Duet #1) (Bay Area Duet Series) Persephone Autumn (black authors fiction TXT) 📖

“Jonas is a friend. He helped me try to fix my old car years ago. It had so many problems and I was a frequent shopper at the mechanic shop he works at and we just became friends. He’s a nice guy. I think you’ll like him.”

A furnace boils in my veins as I try tapering my emotions before I say something harsh. It is not my place to play the jealous anything. I lost that privilege years before she met this Jonas person. And I know absolutely nothing about him.

But that doesn’t stop my truths from surfacing.

Am I still in love with Cora? Absolutely. There is not a day of my future I foresee not loving her.

Does that give me the right to dictate who she hangs around? Nope, not one bit. If she tells me she and this Jonas character are just friends, I believe her.

So, I suck it up like a trooper and put on the smile I have been trained to use. “If you think so, I’m sure it’s true.” I relax my forced expression, only because she is looking at me as if she can see right through it. “Will you give me your number?”

She shakes her head for a few beats. “Why? Don’t misunderstand me,” she says as she jerks her head toward Alyson. Her teeth tug on her lip as she regards Alyson’s eyes on us. But I don’t give a fuck. Alyson can take her sinister stares and fly them back to California.

“So I can text you after I talk with Micah.” That’s a perfectly sufficient reason to need her number, seeing as she asked me to join them.

“Okay.” She nods and I pull out my phone.

I open up a new text and she prattles off her cell to me. When she finishes, I type a message and send it to her. Her phone chimes in her back pocket and a smile dons my face as my heart beats a little faster.

I glance up and see Alyson drilling holes through me with her eyes. Her irritation is raking my nerves. “I should head out,” I tell Cora, although it’s the last thing I want to do. If anything, I would love to spend the rest of the day wandering downtown, holding her hand and chatting more.

“Me, too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.” I lean into her, wrap my arms around her midsection and inhale her scent. She smells so much better than I remember. The perfect blend of frankincense and gardenia. Against every fibrous desire in my body, I release her and head to the car, giving her a small wave after I get in.

Once we are out of the lot and driving back toward the hotel, Alyson decides it is time to give me her two cents. “I get that you think you know what you’re doing, but please be careful. There are only two days left for the shoot. All I’m saying is to be mindful.”

I opt to not respond, and the drive back to Clearwater Beach takes twice as long. But during the entire ride, Alyson’s words repeat in my head.

Be mindful.

Chapter Thirteen

Cora

The fifth day of the shoot comes and goes and remains uneventful. Which boggles my mind.

The shoot was on the beachside of the hotel, this time in the water. Normally, a shoot like this would be classified as simple, easy. The model is out in the water, playing amongst the waves, posing on occasion and I snap the shot. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

But, of course, with Gavin it is the complete opposite.

The shots weren’t difficult to capture. My breath, on the other hand, seemed to get lost in the breeze. My racing heart chasing on its heels.

Sitting cross-legged on my bed, I pick up my camera and remove the SD card. After inserting it in the card reader, I plug it into my laptop and download the photos. A few minutes later, my eyes are inundated with thousands of photos of Gavin in the surf. I scroll through the tiled photos, clicking on this one and that one. Some appear the same with maybe a slight angle change with his chin or eyes. Others are noticeably different.

My finger taps the trackpad and the next photo fills the screen, corner to corner. I suck in a breath at the sight before me, my eyes glued to the screen and glazing over. I can’t look away. Can’t stop the category five hurricane wreaking havoc on my insides.

Today’s shoot started earlier than the previous days. We needed to have Gavin in the water with no one nearby. In order to do that, he was in the water as soon as the sun started rising behind us in the east. The lighting was just enough to see him and the shorts hanging low on his hips.

The photo in front of me left me speechless.

Gavin stood in the water, the surface a few inches below the waistband of the shorts. His torso slightly twisted, palms resting on top of the water outstretched, his profile staring south into the distance. The dim morning light just enough to outline his silhouette. The length of his hair hiding parts of his profile. His contours defined with glimpses of curves and valleys and sinew, and droplets of water beaded on his skin. And the sharp edge of his stubble-covered jawline.

“Wow,” I whisper-gasp to myself.

This photo… consider me stunned.

Stunned by his gorgeous features, the relaxed muscles peaking and dipping and contouring in all the right places. Breathless by his form and posture in the light. Shocked by the way my chest heats and thumps vigorously at the sight of him like this. In his element and one-hundred-percent himself.

Flashes of his love for the beach wake from my memory. Not for the fine, white sands or the warm, salty water. But for the serenity it provides him. The occasional stillness mixing with absolute chaos.