Declan is behind me leaning in the doorway, his body shaking with laughter. “Coop, quit being a pussy. It’ll be over in a second. You’ve had a needle piercing your skin for hours at a time. This should be a piece of cake.”
“You’re right. And Raven said she gets this done so it can’t be that bad.” He winks at me, and I roll my eyes.
Andrea applies the wax and then the cloth strips. She rubs the area a few times and then rips the strip. The shrill cry of Cooper fills the whole studio.
“What the fuck! Do you know what the hell you’re doing?” he yells at Andrea.
“Yep, do this all the time. We do a lot of model shoots out of here every week. You’d be surprised at what I can do with this wax.”
“No fucking way. You’re done.”
He starts to sit up, and she pushes him back and slaps more wax on him. When she puts the strip on, he grips the side of the table and stares at the ceiling. He doesn’t scream when she rips it off this time, but there’s a loud hiss. She rubs a soothing ointment and pats his stomach to let him know he’s done.
“Can I get some ice or something?”
“Yeah, give me a sec, I have a feeling your bandmate may need some too.” She points to Declan as he lies down on the table.
She follows the same steps with him, adjusting his pants and putting on clean gloves.
“Dec, man you may want to have Raven hold your hand for this. I’m still feeling the sting.”
“I got my dick pierced, I think I can handle a little warm wax.”
I roll my eyes at Andrea, and we grin at each other. She applies the wax and the strips and when she rips, Declan’ whole body jerks off the table.
“MOTHERFUCKER!” he screams.
I lose it, laughing until there are tears running down my face. He looks at me like I’m the devil while Andrea finishes him up. She hands me the soothing balm and goes to get two small bags of ice for the redness.
“Just imagine, baby, I do that almost everywhere.” I tell him as I massage the cream onto his skin. For good measure, I lean down and give him a kiss on his pelvis.
“Can I get one of those? It may make this all worth it.” Cooper asks throwing his hips forward.
“Douche, I will kill you. Step back.” Declan hisses.
When Andrea returns with the ice, both guys hold it to their skin until Jewel comes to get us and instructs Nate and Blake to take off their shirts because it’s their turn. I start to ask Declan if I can stay behind and watch them, but he tugs my hands, and pulls me with them.
The next hour is a mixture of pictures poses and candid shots. I’m pretty sure between Jewel and her assistant, she has thousands of pictures. During the shoot, we hear screaming from the back room and recognize each voice. I giggle each time, but Declan and Cooper give each other sympathetic looks.
When the time comes to shoot the group without their shirts, Jewel has her assistant take the shots and comes to talk to me. She tells me her idea, and I love it. I have no doubt Declan is going to go ape shit, but the vision is so awesome, I agree and follow Andrea for hair and make-up.
I take off my shirt, and she hands me a short robe to put on while she curls and fluffs my hair. She applies sultry eye makeup and a nude gloss on my lips. I look at myself in the mirror and think about Declan’s reaction.
Jewel yells for me to come to the back studio. When I walk in, everyone stares at me.
“Jesus!” – Cooper.
“For the love of God!” – Nate.
“Unfucking Real!”– Blake.
“Not fucking happening!”– Declan.
“Sweetheart, we have a plan. Listen to Jewel.” I say calmly. His eyes are blazing with anger.
She feels the tension and steps in. “I’ve been told Raven is a big part of this band and this album. I’ve also been told we need to dispel some negative publicity out there. So I thought we could shoot a few shots with all of you together. Is that a problem?”
Everyone but Declan shakes their head. He looks at the ceiling and mutters ‘Fuckin A’.