Shut Up and Model for Me Read Free Page A

Delilah’s never stressed.”
    Delilah swings from the bottom end of the banister, her curtain of auburn hair waving back and forth. Delilah—EPE’s Jessica Rabbit. Full hips and boobs, tiny little waist. Huge lips and eyes. She doesn’t just play a vixen on television either.
    “I’ve told Evan this a million and a half times,” she says, sauntering over to us. “You get used to the cat calls. The free drinks make up for it. Plus the sex any time you want it.”
    Delilah isn’t like me—she doesn’t have a pseudonym for her first name.
    “And if I did that then I’d never get any work done.”
    “You’d be too busy fucking.”
    “Well… no—”
    But she cuts me off. “Who. Is. That ?” She leans in toward the computer. “I want to lick every inch of him.”
    “You might get to.” Britain zooms in on Dallas’s picture.
    “He’s one of our new boys?” Delilah bites her bottom lip.
    “No… No .” I put my hands on my hips. Nothing says serious business like hands on the hips.
    “Think about it, Evan. You’d have someone in your own department who understands you. You guys could be buddies.” Britain bats her eyelashes. “While Delilah climbs him like a tree for our benefit.”
    I roll my eyes. “Whatever.”
    As I trudge up to my room, Britain yells, “So you’ll be around tomorrow to meet him, right?”
    I don’t answer.
    “Hey Evan, want to have a How I Met Your Mother marathon this weekend?” Delilah asks.
    “Can’t. Homework. Always homework.” I watch as she pouts from below. “Try after graduation.”
     
    ^^^^
     
    As I lie in bed, I clutch my stomach, wondering why it’s twisting so much. I’m not jealous of Delilah. I’m not. I’m making money. I’m getting great grades. I’m going to get into grad school. The last thing I need is to be distracted by a bunch of male models. Bringing them in to work alongside us is a bad idea in the first place.
    When Britain sees that having them work with us will just turn off male readers, then they’ll leave and things will return to normal.
    I just have to wait.
     
    ^^^^
     
    When I hang around shoots that aren’t mine, waiting for my own turn in front of the camera, I usually wear something comfortable, but much trendier than what Evan would wear to school. Sexy Rylan comfy. Today, it’s a black romper and gladiator sandals while Nora does my makeup and hair.
    I guess Nora would be another one I’d consider to know both of my identities. But I don’t really care that she knows—she graduated from a cosmetic school on the other side of town, is not-so-secretly super goth, and wants nothing to do with us college skanks.
    I kind of like her.
    We don’t pay her much. I’m sure she only comes in to doll us up for the credit in the mag. She’s actually had quite a few of our subscribers (or subscribers girlfriends, I guess) wanting to set up an appointment with her because of what they saw in EPE.
    I close my eyes as she sprays on my makeup. I get the usual Rylan look today—soft, curly hair cascading over my shoulders, a shadow palette in quiet browns, and cheeks an innocent pink hue. My favorite thing, oddly enough, is the pair of fake eyelashes glued on every day. There’s something about eyelashes that totally changes a girl’s appearance. They make me look like an entirely different person.
    When Nora is done, I examine myself in the mirror. Hello, Rylan.
    I curl my fingers around one of my locks and head out toward today’s set. There’s only one bedroom in the studio side of the house. We use it for most of our inside shoots, the bed, furniture, and walls covered to rematch our theme. I haven’t really been paying attention lately to the mag lineup so I’m not sure what is planned for Delilah’s shoot—which is why, when I step foot into the bedroom, I’m not expecting to be handed a bottle of chocolate syrup and have a very, very naked Adam in front of me.
    “Help smear this on Adam,” Britain instructs,