Taylor should have known his newfound hobby would bite him in the ass someday. He just couldn’t get the hang of his newest purchase. The camera was an impulse buy at a flea market a few days before in Nashville.
He’d be the first to admit that he didn’t really know a thing about the cameras he liked to play with. But he just could not get this one to take a picture at all.
Zac sidled up to Taylor and peered at the camera for a minute, obviously noticing Taylor’s frustration.
“You know you’ve left the lens cap on?”
Isaac couldn’t help suspecting.
It was in the little touches and furtive glances Taylor and Zac shared when they thought he wasn’t looking. It was in the way they shook their heads and laughed at their inside jokes.
He ignored it for ages and told himself he was crazy. But the way they stood just that extra inch too close made the suspicion bubble up again. When the two of them shared a secret smile and a blush crept across Zac’s face, Isaac knew.
The worst part of all, he decided, was not knowing if he was disgusted or jealous.
Lily shook her head as she watched her boyfriend rambling on television. Hearing his footsteps, she scrambled for the remote but could not find it.
“What are you watching?” Zac asked. “And what’s that grin for?”
“Oh, nothing,” she replied as VH1 continued to light up the screen. “Just wondering what you were thinking when you checked me out for the first time?”
“Don’t remember. Why?”
“Just thought it might have been something like ‘mmmbopawow,'” Lily said, motioning toward Zac’s face on the television screen.
“It’s a secret no one knows,” Zac replied as he plopped down onto the couch.
“Oh no, not that song!” Zac exclaimed.
Taylor looked up from his keyboard. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t Stop Believing is winning,” Zac said, folding his arms over his chest. “I told you guys I don’t want to sing it!”
“Come on, you sound like a toddler,” Isaac said, tuning his guitar. “Now let’s shoot this new FUTY already. And evidently, we have to rehearse some Journey.”
“Fine,” Zac said with a huff. “But I’m going to show all those fans that I’m not Steve Perry.”
Isaac and Taylor shot each other worried looks as Zac grabbed a microphone and grinned evilly.
Zac stared intently at his computer, his shoulders hunched. A few feet away Taylor sat at his desk, his face equally as focused.
“Yes! I finally got it!” Zac cried out.
“You finished the album artwork?” Taylor asked, jumping up and leaving his laptop sitting in his desk chair.
Zac froze. “Umm… no. I finally got the Sword of Destiny.”
“You were supposed to be working on the album,” Taylor said with a frown.
Zac glanced past Taylor at his open laptop screen, which revealed a game of Bejeweled.
“Well, if that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black.”
As he steered the shopping cart around the store, Zac noticed girls staring and giggling. He didn’t realize they had so many fans in Austin. He rolled on down the aisle to catch up with Taylor.
“Whole wheat or veggie crackers?” Taylor asked, holding up the two choices.
Another pair of girls walked by giggling. Taylor flashed them a cheesy smile.
“– such a cute couple!” Zac heard one girl whisper as they walked away.
“Who knew we had so many fans here?” Taylor asked, tossing both boxes in the cart.
“I’m not sure they’re fans,” Zac replied, blushing self-consciously.