“Yeah.” Sean’s lips curved. “Keeping it all nice and snug.”
Max lifted a brow before he could stop himself. “Good. For now. Next class, not so much.”
Sean nodded. “Cool.” But he didn’t move. Just stood there looking at Max. So Max looked at him back. Fuck it. Why not. If Sean could stare then so the fuck could he. Wasn’t like the guy was a hardship on the eyes. In fact, he’s was downright beautiful. He had the face of a… well… of a model. Perfect features; straight nose, strong jaw. Full lips, white teeth, flawless skin. With the biggest, deepest, darkest, cerulean blue eyes that Max had ever seen. No joke, he could stare at those babies all day, then dream about the things all damn night. Calming. Soothing. Yet somehow invigorating. Like a sedative and a stimulant all at once.
Of course, Max only noticed because he was an artist at heart, studying details through his trained artist’s eye.
Yup, that was the reason. The only reason whatsoever.
Sean shifted his weight and glanced away, a subtle pink staining his cheeks. “Ah. Okay.” He pointed at the platform. “So you want me over there.”
No. Max wanted him on all fours.
“Yeah,” Max murmured. “But let me introduce you first.” He turned. “Yo, class. This is Sean. Say hello.”
Guys and girls alike gave smiles and heys, their eyes already assessing Sean as a whole. As an object. Which, in this case, was totally reasonable. He was their subject of creation, after all.
Sean smiled in return, looking surprisingly pretty comfortable. Max supposed that made sense, since Sean claimed he did this often. Took modeling gigs regularly for extra cash.
Max gestured to a chair in the back of the room. “Go ahead and dress down and I’ll meet you at the platform.”
Sean ambled off to do his thing, returning with a whole lot less clothes. Fuck, did he wear next-to-nothing well.
Max forced himself not to stare with his whole class looking on, and motioned for Sean to climb aboard. “Alright, bud. We’re ready when you are. Let’s get this crazy train rolling.”
* *
Sean drew in a breath and gave another nod, feeling oddly anxious. Not a ton, but enough to notice his heart rate accelerating. And his palms getting kind of clammy, too. What the hell. He never got nervous during these things. He wasn’t a modest guy. Was proud of his body. Had no issues revealing it for the greater good.
He blew into his fists. Rolled his shoulders. Then mounted the platform and turned around. “Okay, teach. How you want me?”
Max, the ridiculously hot and surprisingly young instructor, pointed to the ground at Sean’s feet. “First, I’m going to need you to sit on your heels.”
Sean complied with a nod and settled into position.
“Now spread your knees about a foot apart and rest your hands on top of your head.”
Again, Sean obeyed, intrigued by the pose.
“Okay, now I need you to arch your back, and subtly suck in your abs.”
Sean did as instructed.
“Yeah, that’s perfect. Now tilt your face toward the ceiling.”
Sean looked to the fluorescent bulbs encased above, spine curved, chest out, knees spread. “Like this?” he asked.
“Exactly like that. Now do me a favor and close your eyes.”
Sean’s lids slid down. He exhaled slightly. Then envisioned what he looked like to the others.
“Beautiful. Just beautiful.” Max’s voice sounded lower. But a second later, it rose to commanding. “Okay, guys. Get a good look at his base proportions. This stage in the game is critical to getting it right. Get it wrong and it’s gonna end up looking off. Analyze everything in relation to everything else. The size and shape of space between each body part.”
Suddenly, Sean could feel each and every set of eyes. Examining him, studying him closely. He actually loved this aspect of modeling. Loved when people memorized his every curve.
A particularly heavy stare descended on him next. The instructor’s. Max’s. Somehow Sean just knew. Did Sean mind? Hell no. Did he like it? Fuck yes. The man was gorgeous. Fucking off-the-charts hot. Of course Sean didn’t mind him looking.
He breathed shallow breaths to keep his abs tight, and tried to relax everything else. The position itself wasn’t particularly straining, but he wanted to maintain it for as long as possible.
Things stayed quiet for quite some time, minus all the sounds of focused working. And that one set of footfalls circling ever so slowly. Undoubtedly, the yummy instructor making his rounds, checking his students’ progress. Sean found himself focusing on that one set of footsteps, which in turn, had him contemplating their owner.
Max was younger than most of the school’s teaching staff. Maybe late twenties, early thirties. He dressed a bit differently than the rest of them, too. Because his field of expertise was so messy? A sage green button-down atop a darker green tee, worn with a casual pair of khakis. Sean loved casual khakis, or at least, he did now. And damn, Max filled his out nicely. He filled his shirts out pretty nicely also. Was definitely packing some muscle. He must work out. Sean wondered where and how. Most likely not the same way that Sean did.