about the food covering a typical awkward Elliot moment. Still, his face burned, and it was a struggle to stop himself from squirming in his seat. Jesus, man. Chill out.
Under the table, a hand settled on his knee and squeezed gently.
“You’re going to be okay,” Danny whispered near his ear. “They’re going to love you.”
Elliot shot him a grateful smile and reached down to cover Danny’s hand with his own. Danny’s skin was soft and warm beneath his fingertips. For a second, Elliot wished he could lace their fingers together and hang on for dear life. But somehow it helped just to have Danny’s solid presence at his side.
And Danny was right. He would be okay. Because he had his new best friends. Because he had Danny. There wasn’t any need to be scared.
“Thanks,” he whispered back.
T HE first day of filming wasn’t anything like Danny expected. Mostly the camera crew hovered in the background while everyone in the house settled in. The Band Campers were instructed to set up promotional Twitter accounts and spent a while doing that. Twitter was another way they could entertain the fans they would supposedly have, and they were told to “Keep it fun,” whatever that meant.
After lunch, they were instructed to go out to the pool and “act natural” so the camera crew could get some candid shots for the show’s opening credits. Danny stood next to Chris at the edge of the pool for a while, watching as the OCD guys tossed a couple of the girls from The Pixies into the water. It looked like fun and everyone was laughing, but the only reason Danny had focused on them was so he wouldn’t stare too hard at Elliot. Elliot with his damp, dark curls and wet, clingy board shorts, his smooth bare chest, and all his pale, creamy skin dripping wet and perfect. Shit. Danny wanted to touch. Badly. Really badly. So he carefully avoided looking… save for the few times he couldn’t help it.
Still, he considered that a success. How could it not be when everything in him was demanding that he just give in and admire the view? From the very beginning, no matter where Elliot was or what they were doing, Danny’s gaze instinctively sought him out. It was like everything else was boring shades of gray, and Elliot was a solar flare, bright and burning. Danny never wanted to stop looking. And, honestly, that freaked him out a little.
He couldn’t believe Elliot was so worried about the cameras and the people watching. His sweetness and shy charm were bound to win everybody over. In Danny’s opinion, Elliot really didn’t have a clue how very beautiful he was, how his smiles made Danny, everyone , want to smile back and give him whatever he wanted.
Danny had already seen some of the girls in the house sneaking glances whenever Elliot was distracted. Elliot hadn’t appeared to notice any of the looks, though, too caught up in laughing and roughhousing and generally being his perfect dorky self with the other guys. Danny liked that. It made him feel strangely gratified that Elliot didn’t pay much attention to the girls.
Oh, he was friendly enough—he grinned and talked and joked with them. But never once had Elliot given any of them that one smile that seemed to be reserved for Danny—small, sexy, with a little crook at the corner. He was pretty sure Elliot didn’t realize he was doing it, but it drove Danny nuts. He was just so innocent and open, and, damn, even his mop-top of curls was beautiful, and Danny just wanted to—
The shove at his back cut off that thought. One second Danny was beside Chris and the next he was underwater. He surfaced to find Reece nearly doubled over laughing.
“S-sorry,” Reece choked out. “You were just spacing out. I couldn’t help myself.”
Danny fake growled and lunged toward the edge of the pool, grabbing for Reece’s ankle, but Reece was too fast. He dodged and took off toward the house. Almost made it all the way inside too, when suddenly Tate appeared
Under the table, a hand settled on his knee and squeezed gently.
“You’re going to be okay,” Danny whispered near his ear. “They’re going to love you.”
Elliot shot him a grateful smile and reached down to cover Danny’s hand with his own. Danny’s skin was soft and warm beneath his fingertips. For a second, Elliot wished he could lace their fingers together and hang on for dear life. But somehow it helped just to have Danny’s solid presence at his side.
And Danny was right. He would be okay. Because he had his new best friends. Because he had Danny. There wasn’t any need to be scared.
“Thanks,” he whispered back.
T HE first day of filming wasn’t anything like Danny expected. Mostly the camera crew hovered in the background while everyone in the house settled in. The Band Campers were instructed to set up promotional Twitter accounts and spent a while doing that. Twitter was another way they could entertain the fans they would supposedly have, and they were told to “Keep it fun,” whatever that meant.
After lunch, they were instructed to go out to the pool and “act natural” so the camera crew could get some candid shots for the show’s opening credits. Danny stood next to Chris at the edge of the pool for a while, watching as the OCD guys tossed a couple of the girls from The Pixies into the water. It looked like fun and everyone was laughing, but the only reason Danny had focused on them was so he wouldn’t stare too hard at Elliot. Elliot with his damp, dark curls and wet, clingy board shorts, his smooth bare chest, and all his pale, creamy skin dripping wet and perfect. Shit. Danny wanted to touch. Badly. Really badly. So he carefully avoided looking… save for the few times he couldn’t help it.
Still, he considered that a success. How could it not be when everything in him was demanding that he just give in and admire the view? From the very beginning, no matter where Elliot was or what they were doing, Danny’s gaze instinctively sought him out. It was like everything else was boring shades of gray, and Elliot was a solar flare, bright and burning. Danny never wanted to stop looking. And, honestly, that freaked him out a little.
He couldn’t believe Elliot was so worried about the cameras and the people watching. His sweetness and shy charm were bound to win everybody over. In Danny’s opinion, Elliot really didn’t have a clue how very beautiful he was, how his smiles made Danny, everyone , want to smile back and give him whatever he wanted.
Danny had already seen some of the girls in the house sneaking glances whenever Elliot was distracted. Elliot hadn’t appeared to notice any of the looks, though, too caught up in laughing and roughhousing and generally being his perfect dorky self with the other guys. Danny liked that. It made him feel strangely gratified that Elliot didn’t pay much attention to the girls.
Oh, he was friendly enough—he grinned and talked and joked with them. But never once had Elliot given any of them that one smile that seemed to be reserved for Danny—small, sexy, with a little crook at the corner. He was pretty sure Elliot didn’t realize he was doing it, but it drove Danny nuts. He was just so innocent and open, and, damn, even his mop-top of curls was beautiful, and Danny just wanted to—
The shove at his back cut off that thought. One second Danny was beside Chris and the next he was underwater. He surfaced to find Reece nearly doubled over laughing.
“S-sorry,” Reece choked out. “You were just spacing out. I couldn’t help myself.”
Danny fake growled and lunged toward the edge of the pool, grabbing for Reece’s ankle, but Reece was too fast. He dodged and took off toward the house. Almost made it all the way inside too, when suddenly Tate appeared
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