“Offer him a blow job?” I ask, wide-eyed with fake innocence.
“That idea is not without merit, but… let’s not. How about you try to avoid him?”
I balk. He should at least get a look at my James Bond swim trunks. They’reyummy. “The boat’s not that big, Evie.”
“It’s a double-decker pontoon boat. It’s big enough.”
I mean, probably. “So, I shouldn’t even try to—”
“Nope.”
“But you didn’t even let me—”
“Nope.”
“Not even if I—”
“Especially then.”
Y’all think she’s nice, but Evie can be mean when she wants to be.
I sigh, defeated. “Fine.”
She pats my arm. “Good boy.”
“Okay, now that you’ve plied me with pizza, I need to help out two more clients, and then I’ll see you tonight.”
“All right, sweetie. Take it easy, y’hear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say, hugging her tight and looking forward to tomorrow, even if I have to ignore the bear-shaped problem on the boat.
Chapter Seven
Heath
We’re out on Lake Travis, on Jean-Pierre’s double-decker pontoon boat. He didn’t want anyone to worry about drinking and boating, so he hired a captain and a grill master and invited a bunch of us to join him. I hesitated at first, both because Roly would almost certainly be there, and also because getting out on the water as a big guy is always a little tricky. I love swimming, I love being in the sun, and I swear I really kind of actually like my build—comfortably strong is how I like to put it—it’s just hard to be as confident around people who make a living off their six-pack physiques. Especially since many of those people have seen me completely nude, belly up and covered in hives.
Speaking of the day I nearly died in a pool of danger juice, I notice that Roly is hanging out on the top deck, so I stay in the shade of the bottom deck, because god knows what would happen if we were in the vicinity of one another again. I assume it’d end with me drowning, accidentally, and with Roly shrugging likeI was just trying to help him.
To be fair, I think he’s giving me a wide berth, and I appreciate that, even though appreciation in Roly’s direction is entirely uncomfortable. Instead, I contemplate whether or not I look cool in my pineapple-themed Hawaiian shirt and white linen shorts. I’m wearing boat shoes since my taped-together toes prevent me from wearing flip-flops, and slides look dorky on me. As I consider my sartorial choices, the sexiest, most ripped of them all, Nick, plops down next to me, barefoot and beer in hand.
“Man, Heath. This is the life.”
I clink my bottle to his, and we both drink to that. “It’s funny, because I’m the business slash money-manager guy, but I’m the one who had to convince Jean-Pierre that the boat was a good idea.”
“I thought the goal was just to have a friend with a boat, not to be the one owning the boat,” Nick says, raising his brow.
“And you’ll notice that my good friend Jean-Pierre now owns a boat,” I say, clinking his bottle of beer again, grinning.
“Well played, money master. Well played. And I’ve got to say, your advice for managing the finances around the gym and possible expansion have really helped me out. This money shit is really stressful for me, and it’s nice to have someone I can talk to that has my back. I mean, Roly does a great job on the back-end stuff, but this trying to predict the future has us both scratching our heads. Really appreciate your insight.”
I raise my shoulder , ignoring the comment about Roly. Don’t know if I realized that he did the numbers in addition to everything else. “No big deal, I love that kind of shit. People are often so afraid of money that they don’t even know the kinds of questions to ask, and you actually had some really good questions.”
“That was all Elijah. Man, the way his mind works… it’s pretty damn sexy, to be honest.”
I smile, happy for my friend and glad to be talking about someone other than Roly. I’ve known Nick since high school, and he’s the kind of guy who always has his ducks in a row, who knows what his next move is going to be, and I know that losing his leg threw him for a loop. Starting this business, while it was good for him, was still a difficult adjustment away from the more structured environment of the Navy. Elijah is good for him, sands off his square edges, and Nick is happier than I’ve ever seen him before. “Agreed. You deserve to be with someone like that, and I am excited for whatever it is y’all do next.”
“Me too, amigo. Me too.”
