days.”
Jesse clapped his hands together and said, “Then do it. I want you to pretend that
we’re not here.”
“Won’t that be boring?” Dexter asked.
“He wants to get into your pants,” Captain Lang said. “The swine can’t wait for
you to take them off.”
Dexter made believe Lang wasn’t there. But he smiled at the hint of jealousy in
Lang’s voice.
Jesse took a shallow breath and put his hands on Dexter’s shoulders. “Don’t
worry about what’s boring. I’ll take care of that. I know what I’m doing, seriously.” Then
he grabbed Dexter’s shoulders and said, “Now let’s all go upstairs and start shooting.”
They turned the camera on and followed Dexter up to his bedroom. Jesse
remained in the background, behind Kellan and Paige, watching everything. One arm
held up his elbow, the other held his chin.
Dexter went into what he’d always called his performing state of mind. He
ignored the camera and the people, and became a character in his own home. He put up
an invisible fourth wall and concentrated on his actions. He’d been trained well; it wasn’t
hard to do. He went to his dresser and opened the middle drawer. He pulled out a pair of
white swim trunks and a black T-shirt. Captain Lang walked out of the fireplace and said. “I do hope you’re not going to
change your clothes in front of these strangers.”
Dexter ignored him. He pulled off his shoes and socks, then unzipped his jeans
and pulled them down to his ankles. Then he stepped out of his pants and picked them up
off the floor. He was wearing a loose, white polo shirt and tight, white boxer briefs that
hugged his private parts. The shirt was long and the bottom covered the bulge in his
underwear for a moment. But when he rested his jeans over the arm of a wing chair he
purposely made sure the back of the shirt went up so the camera could get a good shot of
his round butt in tight underwear.
Dexter knew what he was doing. He was baiting and teasing the camera. This was
part of his daily routine and it was within the context of reality television. He’d worked
hard to keep his body in good shape and he was proud of it. But more than that, he had
watched enough reality television to know that the male body was never exposed as much
as the female body. Time and again he’d watched shots of women showing off huge fake
breasts on reality TV. The people who created these TV shows thought nothing of
showing off all parts of the female body. But when it came time to show off the male
bodies they always fell short. The men only showed off their arm muscles and chest
muscles. The bottom half of their bodies was always ignored. With this reality show,
Dexter wanted to turn things around. He didn’t want to disappoint the female viewers or
the gay male viewers—the very people he knew would be watching the show when it
aired. When his jeans were neatly folded and resting on the arm of the chair, Dexter
went back to the end of the bed where he’d left his swim trunks. He wasn’t going to
remove his underwear. But he did lift up his shirt and pull it over his head.
Captain Lang slammed his hand on the table. His eye bulged and his lips pursed.
Then he kicked the heavy table and shouted, “This is an outrage. I’m leaving.” When he
turned toward the fireplace and walked through the wall, a strong breeze passed through
the bedroom window and blew Dexter’s swim trunks right off the bed.
Jesse and the crew stared at the rocking table with wide eyes. The camera focused
on the way it was tilting back and forth. Jesse pressed his palm to his mouth and shouted,
“Cut.”
Dexter frowned. He should have warned Captain Lang about the possibility of
showing off his body in a few of the scenes. He looked at Jesse and shrugged his
shoulders. He had to say something about the rocking table. So he shrugged his naked
shoulders and said, “There goes another one of those unexpected ocean breezes.” He
smiled, but he had a feeling there were more ocean breezes to come.
Jesse grabbed Kellan’s arm. “Did you get that? Did you get a shot of the table
moving and the shorts blowing off the bed?” His eyes were wide and his voice was high.
Kellan nodded. “I got it all.” He didn’t seem to get excited about much. It was all
part of the job.
Dexter stood there watching them. With the camera off, he felt awkward standing
there in his skimpy boxer briefs. For the first time since he’d dropped his pants, he felt
naked. “Is everything okay?” Jesse turned to him and smiled. He looked at Dexter’s body and said, “Everything
is perfect. Just keep doing what you’re doing, man.”
When the camera was on again, Dexter relaxed. The invisible fourth wall went
back up, and he took his time putting on his swim trunks. He yawned and stretched his
arms, then turned around slowly so the camera would get every angle of his naked body.
While he posed, he thought about Captain Lang. He knew he was going to have to
explain all this to him later, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.
When Dexter was dressed for the beach, the crew followed him to Herring Cove
and got plenty of great shots of the Provincetown beach. Elliot was there, so when Dexter
sat down next to him, the camera followed their conversation about how the president of
the Chamber of Commerce was going to cancel the fundraiser for AIDS. There was an
important meeting in town that night with the Provincetown Board of Selectmen. The
board was going to listen to the arguments for and against canceling the fundraiser so the
Chamber of Commerce could do the art festival instead. Dexter was now a member of the
Provincetown Retail Business Association, and he was speaking to the Board of
Selectmen that night on behalf of the association in support of the annual AIDS
fundraiser.
When Jesse heard this for the first time, he stopped the camera from rolling and
said, “Are you really speaking tonight, seriously?”
Dexter shrugged. He patted Elliot’s shoulder and said, “My new friend here kind
of got me into this and I can’t back out. I hope this is okay for the TV show. It’s a very
good cause. If the town cancels this fundraiser, a lot of people will be disappointed.”
When he’d joined the association and he’d learned just how important the AIDS fundraiser was to so many people, he’d become passionate about the cause, and he was
going to do anything in his power to convince the Board of Selectmen not to cancel it for
a frivolous art festival.
Jesse smiled. “It’s absolutely wonderful, Dexter. You just keep doing what you
normally do and make believe we’re not even here.”
They went back to the house and Dexter introduced Jesse and the crew to Marion
and Brighton. Brighton was home from school by then and she was smiling so wide you
could see her gums. Marion smiled, but she wouldn’t look anyone in the eye. She just
nodded at them and pulled Dexter aside. “I’m making chicken stew tonight. I’ll make
extra. It wouldn’t be right to have them watching us while we eat without offering them
something.”
He told her that was a good idea and listened to her grumble all the way back to
the kitchen. Then he told Jesse he was going upstairs to review his speech, shower, and
take a short nap. He said it was part of his normal routine and he wasn’t going to change
it. So Jesse and the others followed him upstairs, watched him study his speech, and got a
few good shots of him removing his swim trunks so he could take a quick shower. They
didn’t follow him into the shower. But the final shot before they left him alone in his
room was of Dexter going face down in the middle of his bed. He wasn’t wearing
underwear—just a short, skimpy towel wrapped around his waist like a loincloth.
Then they left him alone and went downstairs to get a few shots of Marion and
Brighton. Jesse said he wanted to focus as much on family as he did on other things.
Dexter smiled and shook his head. He knew Brighton would give them wonderful material to work with, but he also knew Marion probably wouldn’t look up from her
stove the entire time.
A few minutes after they left, Captain Lang appeared in front of the window.
Dexter hadn’t fallen asleep yet. He’d been waiting for Lang to appear. Lang was fully
clothed and his arms were folded across his chest. He pointed at Dexter. “I shouldn’t
have been so upset this afternoon. I shouldn’t have left the way I did.” His voice was low,
apologetic.
Dexter sat up on the bed. The towel fell from his hips and exposed his naked body.
“I’m sorry I didn’t explain everything to you. I should have let you know ahead of time
that there have to be a few sexy scenes. It makes a difference with shows like this. If I
didn’t need the money, I wouldn’t be doing it.”
Captain Lang took a deep breath and frowned. “I wish you didn’t need the money.
But I’m a very pragmatic man and I understand. I won’t get in your way.” He rubbed his
jaw a few times and sat down on the edge of the bed. He placed his large palm on
Dexter’s naked thigh and asked, “How far will you go? Will they follow you around
totally
naked?”
Dexter laughed. Lang clearly didn’t understand reality television. “Of course not,”
he said. “This is for TV. I’d never do anything that would compromise my reputation that
way. As it is I’m taking chances by stripping down to my underwear.”
Lang raised an eyebrow. “What about his Jesse fellow? I think he wants to take
you to bed. I know that look in his eyes.”
Dexter got up from the bed and sat down on Captain Lang’s lap. He put his arms
around Lang’s wide shoulders and said. “You don’t have to worry about that. I have no intention of taking Jesse, or anyone else, to bed with me. You’re the only one I want.”
Then he kissed him on the cheek. “So please try not to get jealous. This is work. It’s all
about money. When it’s finished I’m never doing anything like it again.
Dexter sighed. “But I have to be honest about one thing. I kind of like being in
front of the camera again. I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed it. And I’m looking
forward to helping the retail association tonight. It’s strange. I’ve lost all my money, my
life partner left me for a nineteen-year-old, and I couldn’t care less. Since I moved here,
everything has been an adventure.” Then he turned and wrapped his naked legs around
Captain Lang’s waist, pressing his body against Lang’s heavy sea captain’s uniform.
“And the best part of it all is you. I’ve never met a man like you.”
Captain Lang reached down and rested his large hands on Dexter’s ass. He pushed
Dexter higher and sighed so loud his chest heaved. “I’ve never met anyone like you either,
Dexter.”
Chapter Eight
The meeting in town that night was considered a “Special Town Meeting.” The
Board of Selectmen had voted during one of their earlier board meetings to hold this
Special Town Meeting at the Veterans Memorial Elementary School. They did this for all
special issues. It was big doings in a town so small.
Dexter drove to Elliot’s house first so they could arrive together. Jesse and the
crew followed in a black SUV. Kellan was using a smaller, less conspicuous camera that
night so he wouldn’t disrupt the meeting. Jesse told Dexter he wanted the footage to look
as if it had been filmed by an amateur on a simple point-and-shoot camera. He added he
didn’t want anyone to know they were filming the meeting.
Jesse also said that while Dexter had been napping, he had phoned the town clerk
to get permission to film the meeting. The town clerk told him that as long as he didn’t
cause any disruptions, it was fine. Jesse said he might have to block out a few faces for
legal reasons, but he was mainly interested in getting shots of Dexter fighting for a cause
in which he believed.
When Dexter pulled his BMW into a parking space at the school on Mayflower
Lane, Elliot moaned and rolled his eyes. “What’s wrong?” Dexter asked. He’d parked
next to a white SUV with Pennsylvania license plates. It was the only space left. The
entire lot was filled with cars and there were bicycles lined in front of the entrance.
“You just parked next to the enemy,” Elliot said. “Fred Collette and Steve White.
Fred is the president of the chamber, the one who wants to cancel the fundraiser. Steve is his partner. They’ve been together for a long time. They like being thought of as a power
couple.” He spoke too fast, as if he were trying to get a lot of information in with a