Jay opened the door wide. The hotel room had been altered. The sitting area was no more. The couches were pushed aside, the table nowhere in sight, and large white panels had been erected in their place. There were bright lights set up and cords running everywhere.

“Lewis has created a small staging area. It’s nothing like the studio where we’ll be working, but it will do for a trial run.”

Lewis ignored us as he fiddled with a large camera, and Charlotte crossed the room the minute she saw us, arms extended, smile wide.

“Good to see you again.”

A lot of handshakes were exchanged.

Jay rubbed his hands together and bounced on his toes as he spied Lewis. “How’s it looking, Lew? Are we ready?”

“Five minutes,” he mumbled, not looking up.

“Are you ready for this?” Charlotte asked, eagerness in her tone.

“Yeah. We’ve got this,” Asher said, eyeing me. “No big deal.”

“We’re ready,” I added.

“Perfect.” Jay touched my shoulder, rubbing once, and gestured to the bathroom. “Go on ahead and strip down to your underwear. Lewis is going to direct you through a few shots once he’s ready. Nothing too hard.”

“Naked,” Lewis barked from over his camera.

Asher and I both froze midstep.

“Naked? You said underwear earlier.” Jay glared across the room.

“Changed my mind. Parts of the trailer will have to be filmed nude. They need to show me they’re capable. Problem?” Lewis looked up for the first time and sneered in our direction, daring us to take issue. It was a test.

“Not at all,” Asher said with more gusto than I anticipated.

Charlotte looked between Jay, Lewis, and us before tipping her head to the side and addressing Asher and me. “Will you be okay if I’m in the room? I was hoping to assess the connection and emotions between you. Offer some input if I can.”

“No problem. I’m not ashamed of my naked body,” Asher said with a shrug.

Um, I am! “Speak for yourself,” I mumbled.

“Can we give them socks?” Jay asked Lewis. “For some element of dignity? You’re kinda asking a lot, Lew.”

“I’m not. It’s part of the job. They do it, or they leave now and stop wasting my time.”

“It’s fine.” Asher grabbed the sleeve of my jacket and dragged me into the bathroom, slamming the door.

In the background came a muffled, “Corpses, I’m telling you. This is pointless. Those two can’t act for shit. We came all the way here for nothing.”

“We are gonna show that fucker up,” Asher said as he shed his clothes, underwear and all.

I averted my eyes as heat blistered my skin. “I didn’t think he’d make us get naked.”

“Well, we knew it would happen eventually. So fuck it. No time like the present. Strip. What are you waiting for?”