Zee drank down half a bottle of water before grabbing a sandwich.
“Taking in the view every day.What do you do with yours?”
“I work the damn land, not just take pretty pictures,” Roger said.“You could have an investment.A wind farm or something.”
“I don’t want anything on my land.I want to leave it just as it is.”
Even if Ella did want a bed-and-breakfast.
“Roger, leave him alone.You haven’t asked me what I’m doing with my condo.”
“I know what you’re doing with your real estate.You’re keeping your mistress in it.”
“Fuck you,” Nico said.
Roger shrugged.“Tell me it’s not true?”
Nico flipped him off, diving deep into the water and then resurfaced.
“I’ve bought new property up this way in the past month,” Nico said.
“Yeah?”Zee stretched his hands above his head, feeling the ache in his shoulders.
“I wanted to wait till I knew for sure to mention it.You and Ella have to come by one night to see it.”
“We’d love to, Nico,” Zee said, sitting back against the chair, his shoulders seizing up.
“Zee, if you have dollars to spare, I’m always looking for investment in a ranch,” Roger said.
“Not my kind of thing.I don’t know anything about cattle.”
“Good return.Why don’t I send you the info, and you can look at it?”
Zee crossed his arms.
Nico never took no for an answer and there was always a certain neediness to Roger that was rooted in the material.
Like when Zee drove his old car to practice, and the next thing he knew, two months later, Roger came in with the year-before model of Zee’s.
“You can’t call yours the oldest in the lot.”
It was the only car Zee’s father would let him have, and only because Scott stood up to their dad, pointing out that Zee had done all the restoration work on it and it was promised to him.
“There she is again, the best-looking in this place,” Nico said as Ella breezed through the doors and right to his side.
“You missed the race of the century, Ella!”Nico called.
“I won!”Roger crouched down to Ella.“A kiss for the winner?”
“I think not,” Zee said, anger flaring through his body at Roger’s brashness.
“Sorry, Roger, I’m long spoken for.”
“Too bad he doesn’t share,” Roger said as he stretched in his chair.
“Damn right, I don’t,” Zee said as he tugged Ella down for a kiss.
Being with his teammates brought back his glory days but he wouldn’t go back to that time.
