Home Movies

Joshua brings Nikki home to meet his folks and he can’t stop fidgeting like it’s the world’s weirdest job interview. Dick looms in the doorway, arms crossed, making that nice-guy smile look a little too sharp. The tour rolls on until they hit the media room. Dick pops his chest out and points at a shelf packed with plastic cases. Every spine has a date scribbled in marker like he’s filing away trophies. “We’re serious about home movies,” he says, proud as hell. Nikki mutters a soft “holy crap” and keeps counting. After dinner they file back in, but a tripod and blinking red light stops Nikki cold. Joshua shoves his hands in his pockets and blurts out that tonight’s the night they shoot a new one. Her face blanks for a second. She tells them she’s done the phone-pic thing before, sure, but an actual scene with an audience? Totally different story. Syren slides an arm around her shoulders, soft-voiced and calm. Turns out it’s just the girls first—Dick’s thing for lesbian scenes—so Nikki only has to worry about one body at a time. The idea still spins her head, yet Syren’s voice works like slow whiskey. She nods. Camera rolls. Nikki peels off her sweater, heart hammering. Syren’s mouth lands on hers with a teasing bite and every nerve Nikki owns snaps awake. They sink onto the sheets while Joshua adjusts the focus and Dick settles in his chair, chuckling low. When Joshua finally steps into frame, shirt already open, Nikki pulls him down between her and Syren. Three bodies tangle, breaths catch, skin sticks. Dick nods in approval like the director who just got exactly the shot he wanted. Somewhere in the mix someone jokes that this one’s definitely getting the sharpie treatment on the spine, and the red light keeps winking.