Chapter 20

Becca and Ami had set up folding tables and rearranged the chairs on the top decks of both boats while most of the women (and JC) were having fun cooling off in the lake. When she shouted down that lunch was ready there was a stampede for the ladders and stairs and the food table was ravaged in a matter of minutes.

Seeing as I’d helped cook, I was one of the first people to get a plate of food and find a seat, and Becca joined me in the chair next to me. Cassidy also happened to be one of the earliest to the table - likely because she’d been keeping an eye on me from the lake and had gotten out first - and she came and sat on my lap again with her own plate of food as we made small talk with Becca.

The woman was smart and business savvy, and I quickly realized that if Cassidy ever wanted a mentor figure in the social media model game, Becca was the woman to ask. She was only a year and a half older than both of us, but had been doing cosplay and modelling since high school and also did some variety streaming on the side, and she never compromised her values in terms of what sort of content she did.

Then came the ask out of nowhere.

“Speaking of content,” Becca said. “Cass, if you don’t mind, do you think I could borrow Robbie tomorrow for a quick photoshoot? I had this whole thing lined up with Brodi, Wanda’s husband, where he was going to be Spider-Man and I was going to dress up as Mary Jane. I bought this really nice spiderman suit for him and everything, and I’d hate for it to go to waste.”

Cassidy looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. “Well,” she said, and I knew what was going through her mind. “I think there’s probably a deal that could be made here, because I happen to know that my fiance has a bit of a thing for the Mary Jane character and would be happy to pose with you.”

“Really?” Becca grinned, her interest obviously piqued. She hummed a little giggle, touching the tip of her tongue to her upper lip.

“What can I say,” I shrugged. “Ever since she dressed up as MJ for Halloween I’ve thought it was a sexy character.”

“So,” Cassidy continued, “I might also have brought a Mary Jane cosplay with me. How would you like to do the photoshoot together? Two MJ’s, one Spider-Man, I think we could get some spicy meme material out of it.”

“Oooh, that sounds like fun,” Becca nodded. “But fair is fair, then we need to figure out another shoot to trade for.”

“Girl, your platform is so much bigger than mine,” Cassidy said. “Just being in your shoot would-”

“No, no,” Becca shook her head. “I’m not paying you in exposure. That’s the kind of shit we have to fight in the real world all the time. We’re trading photo shoots.”

“Well, some of the other girls on our boat are putting together a sort of miniseries with Robbie giving them massages, and are going to release them at the same time and try to make him trend as ‘The Massage Guy.’”

“Is that seriously happening?” I asked.

“Yes, it is. Get over it,” Cassidy grinned.

“OK, I’m definitely in on that too,” Becca agreed, “Even if it’s just to see his face when he becomes internet famous. But that’s still not a fair trade, you should walk away with specific content too.”

“I don’t know,” Cassidy shrugged. “Honestly, I know some girls are planning to work like crazy this week, but I only brought plans for like 5 quick shoots over the week because Robbie and I need some vacation time, too.”

Becca chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment. “Have you ever done a Stormtrooper shoot before?”

“Like the dudes from Star Wars?” Cassidy asked.