Warm Glow

Roxy Mendez crouches in a narrow doorway like a cat about to pounce, her white ruched lace-up crop top pulled taut across her chest while black Adidas leggings stretch over her thighs as she balances barefoot on the stone floor. A cluster of silver rings decorates her fingers, bracelets stack at her wrist, and the tattoo sleeve on her left arm disappears into the warm amber light spilling from the hallway behind her. A linen curtain hangs to one side, a polished wooden door frame borders the other, and the bulb overhead throws a circle of gold across her dark, pin-straight hair. Warm Glow captures the feeling of a stolen moment at the end of a long, lazy evening.

Roxy rises and tugs the white top upward, the drawstring ties dangling loose as the ruched fabric bunches above her chest, which spills free with an almost casual ease. The black leggings slide next, peeled down and kicked aside, and she plants herself in the centre of the doorway with nothing on but the warm light at her back and a belly piercing that winks with each shift of her weight. One hand rakes through her dark hair while the hallway's amber halo outlines her shoulders, the dip of her waist, and the outward flare of her hips. She looks like the last thing you see before the lights go out, and the expression on her face says she knows it.