You can’t hold so tight to people. The ones you love—hell, even the ones you hate.
Maybe I didn’t hate Lorhaven after all. Maybe I just intensely disliked him. Besides, I had a feeling he was going to be an ally for Drew on the track in the coming months.
The GearShark team was already here and setting up. Drew parked the Fastback beside Arrow’s Camaro, and we both got out.
It looked a lot like the shoot we did with Drew. The photographer had a white backdrop set up for photos, some lighting already in place. Beyond that, I saw his assistant scouting for other locations for more organic shots.
There was definitely plenty to pick from out here. The sky was blue and the temps were finally warm. It was a good day to be outside. I was hoping we did a couple shots with some of the older planes in the background. That would be kinda cool.
Even though they had a wardrobe person here, Ivy insisted on dressing me anyway. I didn’t argue like Drew had. I just put on the clothes she handed me so we could leave.
She picked a dark pair of jeans, a black fitted T-shirt, and a white collarless leather jacket. Usually, Drew was the one to wear the leather, but this one was preppier and had less street style.
I was keeping it because it was obvious Drew liked it. His eyes lingered on me just a little bit more, and when I first stepped out in it, his tongue ran across the front of his teeth.
There was a big table with coffee, pastries, and fruit where Arrow, Lorhaven, and some of the crew were gathered around. I waved at them on my way to Emily.
“Let’s get him into makeup,” she said the second I was within earshot. I was gestured toward a director-looking chair, so I slid the jacket off my arms and sat down.
“Oh my,” the makeup artist said, staring. Then she glanced at Emily. “Less is more with this one.”
Emily turned thoughtful and smiled.
Drew made a rude noise. “You didn’t say that about me.”
“Someone’s jealous,” I told the girl.
She giggled.
From behind her, Drew glowered, so I gave him a wink. It only made him glower harder.
“What happened to your eye?” she asked as she started dabbing my face with a sponge. “You have some discoloration.” Her finger ran over the part that was still slightly bruised.
“I got in a fight,” I told her.
She drew back and looked at me. “Really?”
I nodded.
“Did you win?” she asked. Why was it women always thought it was hot when guys seemed dangerous?
Drew rolled his eyes. He was totally pissed this girl was flirting with me. I settled back a little more in the chair and enjoyed it. Maybe I liked it when he got all possessive.
“Did I win?” I mused, smiling at the memory of Con in his tightie whities with his hands tied behind his back. “Oh yeah, I won.”
“Guess all those muscles came in handy.”
“Oh, for shit’s sake,” Drew muttered.
Emily announced the photographer was going to do the photos first and then we’d do the interview. “Drew, would you mind taking a minute to talk to me while Trent’s doing the photos?” she asked.
“Sure thing.” He agreed. Even though technically, it was me doing the interview, he was still a part of it. This was our story.
“What about a cover shot of him without his shirt?” the makeup girl called over her shoulder to Emily.
“A cover shot?” I said.
Emily nodded. “We’re considering putting you on the cover.”
“Why does he need to be half naked?” Drew asked.
“Muscle cars, muscles on men… It sells magazines,” the makeup girl mused, still dabbing that sponge around my eye.
Drew appeared silently at my side, crossing his arms over his chest. “He’s with me.”
The girl straightened, and her surprised expression bounced between us. “You’re together?”
“Yeah, so forget about it,” he quipped.
I burst out laughing. “Go get some coffee, Forrester. You’re cranky.”
“I’m not bringing you any,” he said as he walked away.
“Thanks!” I called after him.
“I can still admire your muscles,” the girl told me.
“I heard that!” Drew yelled.
Everyone within earshot laughed.
The photographer came over and looked at me. “Mess his hair up. Lose the shirt.”
“Told ya,” the makeup girl sang. She set aside her tools and reached for some hair crap.
“Maybe we should ask him how he feels about being shirtless on the cover of a magazine,” Emily told the photographer.
“How do you feel?” The photographer looked at me with a raised brow.
I smothered a smile and thought about how testy it was going to make Drew. “I’m cool with it. But I have some bruising around my ribs.”
I pulled up my shirt to show them.
“Body makeup!” the photographer yelled. “Hurry, I’m losing the lighting.”
“Can you take off your shirt?”
I lost the shirt. From across the pavement, I heard Drew sputtering and Lorhaven laughing.
She applied some makeup to cover the bruising, and when I glanced at it in the mirror, I was impressed. It was all totally covered, though I admit most of it was faded so it probably wasn’t hard to hide.
As I was being led off by the photographer, Drew intercepted my path. He had two cups of coffee in his hand.
“I thought you said you weren’t making me one?” I teased.
“You looked cold with half your clothes missing,” he slurred.
I smiled widely. “You don’t like the view?”
“Oh, I like it. But I don’t like that everyone else likes it, too.”
I grabbed the coffee out of his hand and leaned in. “No one else will get to touch it tonight.”
“Just hurry up,” he demanded, but then he smiled.
The photo shoot went pretty fast. It seemed like the second I stepped in front of the backdrop, the photographer was snapping pictures. I actually wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought I would be, despite the people standing around watching.
Once we finished with the backdrop, I put on my T-shirt and jacket to follow the photographer over to the side of the steel hangar for some more “rugged” shots.
Drew hung back so he could talk to Emily, but I felt his eyes every now and then, so I knew he was making sure I wasn’t stripping down to my boxers.
“Have you ever thought about modeling?” the photographer asked as he snapped away.
“Uh, no,” I replied.
“You should. I do a lot of shoots for different companies. You have a pretty universal look and a good body for clothes… and no clothes.”
“Modeling isn’t really my thing.” I’d rather close deals and stay behind the camera.
When we were done, the photographer handed me a card out of the inside of his jacket. “If you ever want to pick up some jobs, give me a call.”
I thanked him and pocketed the card. If anything, this would be good to get a reaction out of Drew. Maybe I’d tell him I agreed to an underwear shoot…
“That took a long time,” Drew complained when I approached.
I smothered a smile. “How was it with Emily?”
“Fine. She’s all thrilled we called to give her the story.” He batted his eyes and made his voice sound higher than normal. “She just knew I was gay.”
“Hey,” I said, thinking maybe he wasn’t in such a zesty mood just because of my photo shoot attire. “You still wanna do this?”
He reached out and grasped my hand. It made my stomach flip because it wasn’t often he touched me in public. “Absolutely.”
“Hey, so where’s the pro?” Lorhaven asked, butting into our moment.
I gave him a look. “Who?”
“I think he means Joey,” Drew replied.
“What do you care?” I asked. He got along with her almost as good as
he got along with me.
“I don’t.” He sniffed.
I gave Drew a look. Suuurre he didn’t.
“She’s home,” Drew said. “She has her own racing to do. I’ll be going there to do some driving with her soon.”
Lorhaven nodded. “I’ve got some drive time coming up, too.”
“Congrats on your sponsorship,” Drew said. “I knew it wouldn’t take long to get one.”
“Yeah, well, my father offered, but I don’t let Daddy buy my way.”
“Joey’s a damn good driver,” Drew snapped.
I gave his hand a squeeze and then took a moment to be surprised we were still standing there holding hands.
Like a couple.
“Right, ‘cause Daddy didn’t pay for this airport and your hangars. And the Corvette you’re driving,” I retorted.
Lorhaven gave me a sour look. “I paid for my car. Arrow’s, too.”
“Trust fund?” I asked.
“Fuck you.”
“You two are worse than a flea on a dog’s ass.” Drew interrupted. Then he turned to Lorhaven. “Thanks for letting us use the place this morning. Appreciate it.”
“Thanks for inviting Arrow to the football game,” he said. “Sorry I couldn’t come. I was working.”
“You have a job?” I asked, shocked.
Lorhaven gave me the finger.
“I like your brother,” Drew said.
“Yeah, me, too,” I added.
“He likes you guys, too,” Lorhaven admitted. I could tell it pained him to say so. “He, uh,” he said, glancing in his brother’s direction. “He doesn’t have a lot of friends.”
“He does now,” Drew replied.
Lorhaven nodded. “Yeah, well, I’ll let you get back to your article.” He started to walk away but then came back and looked at me. “And if I haven’t said it, I think it’s really cool what you’re doing. It’s gonna make a difference for people.”
I didn’t make a sarcastic comment because he was being real, and I knew he was thinking of his brother and the fact that he had two guys in his life who were making their relationship work despite the reasons not to.
I held out my fist. “Thanks.” We pounded it out, and then he walked off.
Drew gave me a look. “Was that so hard?”
“What?” I scoffed.
“Being nice.”
“Did I tell you that photographer offered me a modelling gig? For boxers?”
“Fuck you, frat boy,” Drew said fondly.
I laughed.
“C’mon. Emily’s waiting.” He tugged my hand, and we walked across the pavement, our hands still stuck together. I liked being with him like this.
“By the way, you aren’t doing that shit,” Drew said nonchalantly.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I promised, still reveling in the feel of his fingers tangled with mine.
The interview with Emily went well. We talked for what felt like a long time. She asked questions; I answered them.
Sometimes Drew butted in, but mostly he just listened. Every now and then, I’d say something and look at him to make sure he agreed or that what I said was okay.
He never once looked like the interview was difficult for him. If anything, he looked proud of me.
I’d be lying if I said that didn’t mean something.
We were breaking down walls, Drew and I. Not necessarily out in the world (but maybe we would), but with each other. We’d come a long way, and through it all, we still stayed friends. Best friends.
“Hey, so, Trent,” Emily said, approaching after we wrapped everything.
“Yeah?”
“It’s a little unorthodox, but I was wondering…” I nodded, so she went on. “I usually write like an intro into my interviews… You know, like the one I wrote when I interviewed Drew?”
Again, I nodded. I read the article. Hell, I bought about twenty copies of the magazine.
“I was wondering if you wanted to write the intro this time? Like, you know, as another way of saying everything you want to. The interview will be great regardless, but I feel like having you start it off would have more of an impact for the readers.”
“What do you want me to write?” I asked.
“Whatever you want to say.”
I nodded. “Sure, I’ll give it a go. If you don’t like it, you can scrap it and write the intro.”
She laughed. “Awesome. Thanks.” She reached in her bag and pulled out a card. “Here’s my email. Just send the copy over when you have it done. I’ll have it edited for errors and add it to my interview and then send the final draft to you.”
I added her card to the one already in my pocket.
Once the GearShark crew packed up and headed out, we shot the shit with Arrow and Lorhaven for a while and did a little friendly racing around the strip. It was good times.
We hadn’t spent enough time just fucking around (not the sexual kind of fucking) lately, so after we left the airstrip, we worked on the cars, then watched a movie.
Finally, it seemed like shit was settling down. We weren’t weighed down with the worry of telling people or hiding. We weren’t stressed and looking over our shoulders. We were back to being what we always were: best friends.
Except now it was better.
Drew
Emily emailed the draft of the GearShark article. She also sent the cover. Trent was on it.
Without a shirt.
Frankly, I was equal parts turned on and appalled.
The article itself turned out pretty good. Better than good because Trent was the majority of it.
I didn’t know if it was going to make a difference in someone’s life, but looking at it now…
It made a difference in mine.
It wasn’t that long ago when I sat down with Drew Forrester for his first official interview and the first official announcement of the brand new racing division spotlighting indie drivers on a track where there are no rules.
That article and cover has been the most read and searched issue GearShark has released this year. I didn’t think anything could top that issue… until now.
It seems only appropriate the magazine is essentially topping itself. I guess the only way Drew Forrester gets knocked out of the top spot is when he does it to himself. I’d say that bodes for some interesting driving during the fast-approaching debut season of the yet-to-be-officially-named indie division.
But Drew isn’t here by himself today. In fact, Drew isn’t the feature of today’s article. The person who loves him is here with him.
You might be surprised to know that person is another man.
Trent Mask was here with Drew the last time we met. Not only are Trent and Drew friends, but Trent is Drew’s manager. I picked up on the dynamic and somewhat multifaceted relationship between these two almost instantly.
When I asked about it (off the record), I was met with something that couldn’t quite be defined as hostility. It was more shock, denial, and a high degree of protectiveness for one another.
Looking back, I can understand why I got the reaction I did. Which is also why today’s article is even more special.
To say I was surprised when I got a phone call from Drew would be an understatement. When he asked if I was interested in an article that maybe focused more behind the scenes of the new division, along with a personal touch, I was intrigued.
Then I sat down and spoke to Trent. I have to say he certainly knows how to grace a magazine cover, but more than that, he just might be Drew’s better half.
What resulted was nothing short of eye opening and in many ways revolutionary. I think once you read the introduction I asked Trent to write (in lieu of my introduction, which I still managed to sneak in here—What can I say? I’m a writer with a need to write), it will be perfectly clear to you why I think what I do.
Not only does this developing division have indie drivers and no rules, but it also has a lot of heart. I’m thinking that line between the pros and the
indies is a line people are going to be stepping over on their way to sit in the stands.
And now, readers and drivers, allow me to hand this article over to the man who puts the rev in REVolution.
Trent Mask for GEARSHARK
I’m not what anyone would consider a profound guy. I’m not a journalist for a magazine or a professional writer. Maybe that’s why Emily asked me to write an intro, because my words are those of just a man. A man who finds himself in a unique position, being able to speak to a lot of people who I consider to be a lot like me.
Truth be told, I’m not here, though, to speak to the masses. I’m here for one man. I’m here to be a spark, a single source of heat to possibly ignite a fire and change the way we treat one other. It’s a selfish cause, really, because it’s Drew I think of. It’s Drew I’m really asking you to treat kindly. But maybe if you discover giving one man who deserves acceptance easy, it will be easy to give across the board.
It isn’t an easy thing to look in the mirror and see a face you essentially hide behind. It’s not easy to want to be liked—even loved—for who you really are. Have you ever felt like an outcast in the center of a room? Have you ever felt alone but been in a crowd of people?
I have. I don’t want that for Drew. For anyone.
Don’t judge others because they sin differently than you. If you haven’t walked in someone else’s shoes, don’t pretend to understand.
Racing is a sport, but it brings people together. Let it. Let it be the thing that binds us. Let it be the thing that represents something greater.
All I’m really asking is that you keep an open mind as you read ahead. I’m asking that you let people live the way their heart asks them to.
Be part of the revolution.
GS: You have to know you aren’t our usual interview here at GearShark.
TM: Sometimes it’s nice to take the more scenic route.
GS: Does that mean you don’t like speed?
TM: There are people who don’t like speed?
#Rev (GearShark #2) Page 27
