Page 29 of Tumbling Hearts

“I like the idea,” Ray says. “Would give us our own catchy name, like for crediting our song writing, rather than just being Roderick-Hillard. How ’bout it, Gene?”

Gene’s heart beats even harder gazing at Ray’s lovely smile so close to his own face. How can he say no? “Yeah, I like it too. Maybe we could even be credited like that on our next album.”

“Give me credit too, for giving you the name!” Santi says from the sidelines.

“Hey, I’m the one that actually made the name. You just gave me the word ‘flare’,” Maurice says to Santi.

“Everyone’s going to be credited one way or another,” Ray reassures. “But anyway, let’s get to shootin’!”

That makes Gene laugh, and in the blink of an eye—he hears the snap of the shutter. Damn, he’s quick. Maurice caught a genuine smile on Gene’s face, caused by none other than his darling Ray.

Maurice steps closer, getting a different angle, as Ray and Gene lean into each other, sitting and posing for the camera. After a few snaps, Gene’s gaze wanders toward the other side of the room again, back to where Toshiko and Carol are sitting. The two women have been getting along for the most part, even if they don’t really spend a lot of time together. But Gene notices Carol whisper something to Toshiko, too quiet and far away to be heard. What are they talking about? Are they gossiping about us? Apparently it’s nothing to worry about, as Toshiko giggles at whatever Carol just said.

Gene has talked to Toshiko a lot about Ray, though obviously omitting anything romantic about their relationship. She knows he and Ray are close, so their proximity on the bench shouldn’t surprise her. If anything, with how she gazes at them, and with that twinkle in her eye, she seems to be getting a kick out of it.

He wonders if she’d have that same sort of enjoyment if she knew the truth about his feelings for Ray, though.

Maurice snaps one more photo, trying to advance the reel on his camera, when it stops. “Sorry, I gotta get a new roll. But I got some real good ones just now.”

“That’s great,” Ray says, sitting up straighter and, unfortunately, taking his hand off Gene.

“Is it time for me to finally join in?” Carol speaks up.

“Yeah, I guess that’s fine,” Maurice says, pulling his lips to one side. It’s funny, with Maurice’s casual body language, ignoring her to focus on his camera, it’s like he’s not too enthused about her addition. Same here, man.

“How about we get rid of this bench?” Pat says, stepping back into the scene area.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Maurice agrees.

And so, after Ray and Gene stand up, Pat and Stefan grab either side of the bench, pulling it out of the way and to the side. Once that’s done, Maurice changes the background sheet too, switching it from dark red to plain white. “There, if it’s like this, with so many people in frame, I should get better contrast,” Maurice reasons. “Alright, let’s get settled, now. Maybe have Carol in the middle? And you all standing or sitting around her.”

“Sounds good to me!” Carol exclaims. She gets up from her seat and walks over, standing in the middle of the backdrop. The rest follow suit, with Gene sticking more toward the back behind Carol, and Ray does the same. Maurice grabs a wooden chair—unlike the metal folding one Toshiko is still sitting on—and brings it to the scene. Pat takes a seat on it, Stefan stands next to Pat, Santi sits on the floor, and they all form somewhat of a circle around Carol.

“I got this,” Carol says, looking over to Ray with a smirk, then to Maurice. “I’m the center piece, and everyone is all here admiring me. So you all look at me, and I’ll reach out and put my hands on some of you.”

Maurice shrugs, and he almost looks… uninterested. “Yeah, I guess that works. You’re already a model, aren’t you? So you’ve done this stuff before.”

“Yup.” She nods. “Usually I’m posing by myself or with a couple other girls, but never with guys like this.”

“Don’t forget me, now,” Pat says.

“Okay, yeah. Well, I mean there’s still a majority of guys here,” Carol chuckles.

She reaches out, putting one hand on Santi’s face sitting down next to her legs, and the other one around Pat’s shoulders. Carol stands proud, confident, obvious that she knows what she’s doing. However, Gene isn’t feeling the same. He still looks at Carol, as instructed, but is otherwise indifferent. At least he still gets to be next to Ray.

“Alright, hold it for a sec,” Maurice says, before snapping the shutter of his camera.

Being close to Carol like this reminds Gene that… he hasn’t been this physically close to her for quite some time. It’s honestly hard for him to believe that he had sex with her once. He can’t deny that she’s gorgeous, enough to make him want to do that in the first place, but thinking about it now makes his gut twist. So much has changed since then. Namely how his feelings for Ray have become bolder, but also how now, Toshiko has entered his life.

The shutter of Maurice’s camera snaps again. “Alright, that’s good. Carol, how about you move your hands a bit? Get a slightly different pose.”

“Alright.” She keeps one hand on Pat, but then leans closer to Ray, snatching his hand in her own. Gene is quick to notice, his stomach churning even more. Of course Ray plays into it. He looks at Carol sensually—though Gene shouldn’t be surprised. Carol is Ray’s fucking girlfriend after all.

Snap! The camera’s shutter goes again. Gene takes a deep breath. Shit, the jealousy is probably written all over my face. On film now, too.

He chances a glance at Toshiko to keep himself steady. She gives him a warm smile, along with a thumbs up. At least she doesn’t seem to think he’s acting weird.

He looks back at Carol before the shutter snaps again. Maurice moves closer to Ray and Carol for a different angle. There’s another snap. “There, that’s good. I think I got enough,” Maurice says.