“Do you, um, need to take that?” Zhuri asks.
“It’s just my cousin,” I shrug.
“Is he in Croatia?” I nod. “You should answer it then.”
I mentally curse him out for having such abysmal timing.
“Hey, Petar,” I say, finally answering the call and seeing my cousin come into view. We could probably be siblings with how alike we look. The Kovacic genes are strong.
“Cameron,” he smiles. “Haven’t talked to you in a while.”
“Why are you calling now, though?” I ask. “Isn’t it like two in the morning for you?”
He laughs. “I work overnights at the hospital. Two is lunchtime for me.”
Zhuri slides herself up onto the bartop, and I walk over to stand beside her. “I have a friend over right now, actually.”
Petar smirks. “Friend?”
“Yes,” she laughs. “I’m Zhuri.”
“I know who you are,” he chimes. “Cameron always used to talk about how great this one woman on the Denver team was, and I know you’re on the same team now.
Fuck you very much, Petar.
Zhuri looks at me teasingly. “You used to talk about me, huh?”
I roll my eyes. “I told you I followed the Dragons, and I meant it when I said you’re the best left winger I’ve seen.”
“I thought he had a thing for you for the longest time,” Petar laughs.
She looks at him in surprise. “Cam hated me.”
Petar shrugs. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“I respected her as a player,” I assert. “But we weren’t friends until recently.”
Zhuri teasingly cocks her head to the side. “Are we friends?”
I step a little closer to her. “I recall you askingmethat question after our first photoshoot.”
“I hate you,” she chuckles.
I smile in satisfaction. “Not anymore, you don’t.”
“So how often do you flirt with Zhuri, Cam?” Petar asks with a smug grin, reminding me that we’re still on the phone with him.
“Fuck off,” I huff.
We’re interrupted by a loud boom of thunder that rattles the walls of my penthouse.
“I didn’t realize it was supposed to storm tonight,” Zhuri says, looking out the window at the darkening sky. It’s not raining yet, but it’s definitely coming.
“Shit,” I mutter, heading toward the balcony. “I need to put the tables on the pool deck away. They’re glass, and I don’t want them to shatter if they fall over.”
“Go on.” Zhuri waves me off. “I’ll be right here where it’s dry.”
I get onto the balcony and then take the stairs up to my pool deck. I certainly don’t love being surrounded by the metal that’s out in the open up here, but as long as I hurry, I should be able to avoid getting electrocuted.
