I wasn’t used to a dude doing that, but he was professional about it. Ryan was getting the same treatment. I glanced over and did a double-take. I usually don’t check out other guys, but damn! Ryan was six-two, with brown hair and green eyes. He was fit, but on the skinny side, and compared to me, had little muscle definition. What made me look twice was he was hung like a horse.
I’d never understood that phrase before, but that was all I could think of. Ryan’s little head was the size of a lemon, and the shaft had to be at least two-and-a-half to three inches across. I’d never seen anyone that big in person.
I noticed Tyler standing off to the side with her mouth hanging open. She noticed that I caught her looking, and she turned bright red and fled the room. Believe me, I wanted to do the same. I’d never felt inferior to anyone in that department before. I might not have the biggest equipment, but Ryan was in a class all his own. He saw me looking. Then we began a conversation that reminded me of my very own version of
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” he said.
“What?” I asked startled.
“This package,” he said, motioning towards it.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Have you ever been deep-throated?” Ryan asked.
“Sure,” I admitted.
“I’ve never had anyone that can get the head in their throat. A girl’s throat doesn’t stretch. Some have a hard time even giving me head, and you can just forget about anal.”
I just blinked at him. What do you say to another guy when he admits that to you?
“I loved your movie,” Ryan said, changing the subject.
I snapped out of it and began talking to him while we got our junk shaved. Ryan turned out to be a great guy. He was twenty and had moved to New York from a small town in Georgia. His grandparents grew onions, of all things, so we traded farm stories. He’d also played high school baseball.
I discovered something I never knew before: Abercrombie & Fitch did sell shirts. They also carried about twelve different styles of jeans. I was put into a heather-gray long-sleeve t-shirt with their logo on the chest, and then I modeled each type of jeans. They needed front and back views of each for the website. While I did that, Ryan was modeling different styles of shorts. Then we switched, and I did shorts for Hollister while Ryan did their jeans.
I liked how Jackie did the shoot. She was fast enough that I never lost focus. For her, it was a lot of work. She would run back and forth between us. Jackie’s assistants had a different camera at each setup. Between shots, they would download the pictures so that Tyler, the lead assistant, and marketing people from both companies could approve shots right after they were taken. This was much better than finding out later after we’d already changed clothes. When that happened, we’d have to redo those photos at the end of the shoot. We’d have to change back into the outfits that had problems and reshoot them. This way, we fixed them immediately while we were still wearing the clothing.
I was impressed with how professional they all were. Something that became apparent as the morning went on was the light had changed as the sun moved. Jackie stopped the shoot and ordered blackout curtains be brought in to cover the windows, and she added more studio lights.
After that, we began to change into outfits that represented the different lines that each company carried. I found that liked their clothes. I hoped I got to keep some of them from today.
We started with what they called ‘the Lookbook.’ It was meant to give buyers ideas for putting outfits together. For a guy, the concept was brilliant, even though we’d never admit it. They offered a variety of casual, layered looks.
The next series of photos was labeled ‘Stylist Series’ on the shoot sheet. The description said, “The best photographers, models, and clothes are only part of the formula for creating our iconic images. Another crucial collaborator is the stylist. In this ongoing feature, we talk with these tastemakers and discover how they bring the A&F look to life.” When we began, they brought in a woman who was responsible for the way the clothes looked in that section of the website. She was a lot of fun and obviously creative. While I’m not a big sweater guy, she had me willing to wear several different ones.
For Hollister, they had me put on what they called ‘Match Backs.’ It was a fancy way of saying sweats and either sweatshirts or hoodies. I’ll admit they were very comfortable, and I liked the logos and graphics. It was something you’d wear watching a ball game or goofing around the house. There was no way I’d wear them out in public. I’m not big on matching sweats and sweatshirts unless it’s part of my warmup gear for sports. I had visions of Brook making me wear them to school, and we’d match. My guys would make sure I never heard the end of it.
