Into the Wild...Boyz

“Argentina!” proclaimed Johnny, his arms stretched wide in front of the camera. Darcie looked on behind the camera as Steve-O and Johnny proceeded to interact with authentic cowboys, also known as gauchos. While they acted and hammed it up for the camera, Jeff approached Darcie’s side. He silently counted the onscreen talent in front of him.

“Um, where’s Chris?” he asked to anyone within earshot.

“You told him to go lay down since he was ‘being a pile’ as you put it”, said Darcie.

“Oh I did, didn’t I?” Jeff stood there thinking, tapping his chin then his eyes went wide. “Oh my god! Cut!” He exclaimed. “Knox! Are you okay?”

“Yeah”, Johnny laughed and limped away from the horse that just bucked him off.

“I think that deserves a break”, said Jeff.

“Wow. It takes being bucked off of a horse to get a break? You’re such a slave driver, Jeff.”

“Well I have an idea. You know, since you and Steve-O are getting all this great footage and poor Pontius hasn’t got a single scrap of film yet.”

“What’s your idea?” asked Steve-O.

“Well come closer and I’ll tell you.” Jeff motioned for them all to come closer. “You too, new girl. In fact, we’re going to introduce you to a Wildboyz tradition. But before we do, Rick, lemme see your camera.”

Rick Kosick, one of the company’s veteran cameramen, handed the piece of equipment over to Jeff. “You know how to work one of these, Darcie?”

“Yeah. I’ve handled one or two in my time”, she replied.

“Good answer”, said Jeff. “Well you’re going to be main camera for this little prank. Follow me.”

The whole production team followed Jeff into the little room where Chris was snoring soundly. While Jeff gave Darcie some camera direction and helped her up onto a chair near the bed, JP, the company’s shady prop guy, was handing out black socks to everyone else.

“What’s with the socks?” asked Darcie.

“They’re not socks”, said Dimitry. “They’re Black Mambas.” A hush fell over the group. They had circled Chris’s bed and as he slept they all struck at once, smacking him.

Darcie was just a spectator for this particular joke but she couldn’t wait to fully participate next time and she was assured there would definitely be a next time. Dimitry even advised her not to fall asleep unprotected because everyone was game, regardless of gender.

“The Black Mamba does not discriminate”, Dimitry told her as he waved his sock covered hand at her and smiled for the camera.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With the first day of filming under their belts, they headed back to the hotel and Darcie ran up to
her room for a much needed shower. She had overheard some of the guys talking about hitting the hotel bar but she really didn’t feel like going out. The flight and filming definitely made her tired and she could use some rest. She was towel drying her hair when there was a knock on her door. Tossing the towel on the bed she answered the persistent knocking. Dimitry stood in front of her.

“You’re almost ready, right?”

“I thought we were done for the day.”

“As far as work goes, yeah. We’re all down at the hotel bar and we realized you weren’t there so I came up here to drag you downstairs.”

“And if I say ‘no’?”

“What part of drag you downstairs do you not understand?”

“Fine. Let me at least change my clothes.”

“Why bother? The Smurf pajamas are kinda hot.” Darcie gave him a look. “I’m kidding, of course. Hurry up.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Darcie figured out why Dimitry came upstairs to get her. There wasn’t a soul in the hotel bar except for their group let alone any women either. She was the only one as her and Dimitry approached the bar. Jeff and Johnny were immersed in conversation and didn’t even notice them at all. Chris saw Darcie and grinned big at her.

“Finally some estrogen!” he exclaimed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You’re going to be so popular tonight.”

“That’s if we stay here”, Steve-O added. “This place is dead.” He finished his drink and pushed it toward the edge of the bar so the bartender could refill it. He wouldn’t admit it outright but his heart jumped a little when he saw Darcie approach. It had been about a week since she caught him leaving the broom closet with that random chick from MTV2 and for some weird reason he actually felt guilty about the whole situation. It was because of that simple sentence Darcie had said to him in the hall. “She must’ve been your type”. He’d forgotten that Darcie’s desk sat in the one room of the offices where everybody congregated aside from Jeff’s space and like everybody else when he sat around the little hang out spot, he talked as if no one was inside the little cubicle that shared the area.

“So what are you drinking, Darcie?” asked Chris. “I’m having some fruity thing. You want one of those?”

“Uh, sure. Why not? I’m only going to stay for a couple though.”

Chris nodded to the bartender for another drink when Steve-O told her, “You can’t tease us like that. You’re staying as long as we stay.” He flashed her a flirty smile.

“We’ll see”, she smiled back at him.

“Here”, said Chris as he handed her a drink. “You sit over here.” He gently nudged her into the seat next to Steve-O. “Steve-O’s getting grabby anyway and I’m sick of fending off his advances. If he’s not too careful I might take him up on his offer but I’m married so I can’t afford to be tempted.” Chris laughed.

Darcie just gave him a small smile and sipped her drink as she settled into the seat next to Steve-O. She would’ve been just as content with a body between her and him but she didn’t dare show it. Darcie just didn’t want the temptation and with alcohol being freely thrown into the mix, she was afraid she might get caught up in another make out session with Steve-O and this time, Savannah wasn’t there to separate the two of them. Truthfully, she had no allies so it was good to limit herself to just two drinks this particular evening. After all, she wasn’t Steve-O’s type anyway at least that’s what she kept reminding herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sadly, the two drink limit she gave herself was stretched into, well, she had lost count. They were all having so much fun and if she would’ve gone back to her room early she would’ve missed Chris pulling a “Naked Native” run all around the bar and Steve-O doing a back flip off of the second floor balcony right into the pool. Needless to say, hotel management was not impressed with their particular shenanigans and they were all asked politely to return to their rooms. She was sad to see their fun end like it did and had a rough time maintaining her balance as she got up from her barstool. Two arms had slipped around her waist at that moment to steady her and she was thankful for it and giggly too.

“Ma’am, I’m afraid you’ve had too much to drink”, said Steve-O as he laughed with her.

“Hey, I only had two”, Darcie slurred and giggled some more. “And where is everybody?”

“They already went upstairs. Come on, I’ll take you back to your room.” His clothes were still a little damp from his back flip into the pool but Darcie didn’t care. His body felt nice and cool to her as she leaned into him and he walked her out of the bar and towards the elevators.

“Oh not the elevator”, Darcie moaned. “This is gonna suck so bad”, she said as they headed inside it.

“You’ll be okay”, Steve-O patted her shoulder and watched her turn a little pale. “You’re not gonna get sick are you?”

Darcie just hiccupped and shook her head for an answer as the elevator took them to the floor that the whole production had acquired. Good thing they kept everyone in one spot.

“Still awake over there?” asked Steve-O as he looked down at her. He couldn’t help but notice that she had her arm around him pretty tightly and she was nestled into his side. It felt pretty natural.
Darcie hiccupped again, “I’m fine. Thanks for being a gentleman and taking care of me.”

“Nothing to it”, he replied, almost shyly which surprised him. “Kinda makes up for last time because I don’t think I was such a gentleman.”

“Oh please. You didn’t do nothing I didn’t allow. Plus we were drunk.”

Steve-O laughed, “Like we are now?”

“Yeah.” Darcie sort of teetered on her feet. “What’s a little kissing between two consenting adults, right? But I think we should just keep it friendly between us.”

“Oh yeah, dude, absolutely. Why wouldn’t we right? We can totally be friends. You seem like a pretty cool chick.”

“And you seem like a pretty cool dude.”

“We’re pretty cool people.” Darcie nodded her head in agreement and gave him a goofy, drunken smile. It was the cutest thing to him but he resisted the urge to lean down and kiss her. After all, they were supposed to be just friends but then again, they were also two consenting adults. Darcie said it herself. Unfortunately, his alcohol fuelled brain took too long to react and before he knew it the elevator doors opened to their floor.

“Is this our floor?” asked Darcie.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah it is”, replied Steve-O. They walked together out of the elevator. Darcie’s arm was still securely around Steve-O’s waist as he walked her down the hall and to her room. She pulled her keycard out of her back pocket and fumbled with the door but finally got it open.

“So, um, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Right, tomorrow. You sure you don’t need any more help?”

“No, I’m good. Thanks again for helping me out, friend.” Darcie smiled at him and patted his shoulder then disappeared into her room, closing the door quietly behind her.

“You’re welcome”, Steve-O said to the closed door then let out a sigh and headed for his own room.

On the other side of the door, Darcie leaned her back against it and let out a sigh of her own. Despite being drunk, she had a feeling this “friends” thing was going to be hard—for the both of them whether if she was Steve-O’s type or not.