Slow Burn: A Colorado High Country Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

probably ought to be looking for a new living situation rather than hanging out at the reservoir. He’d come home to find an email from his landlord. The guy and his wife were selling their house together with all twelve acres of their property, which included Eric’s cabin. They’d wanted him to know in case the new landlord decided to kick him out.
    But Eric and Taylor rarely got vacation at the same time. He didn’t want to miss this week’s fun. Besides, the landlord’s house probably cost a couple million. It’s not like the guy was going to find a buyer overnight.
    He called to Taylor over his shoulder. “Did you say Sasha is coming, too?”
    Sasha Dillon was the youngest member of the Team at twenty-three. She was also a world champion rock climber whose success enabled her to live off sponsorships. Petite with a delicate face and long, blond hair, Sasha attracted men by the dozens. Those who didn’t recognize her thought they’d found a new belay slave or a little woman they could impress—until she roped in and made them look like amateurs.
    Taylor dumped ice into a large cooler, covering cans of soda and bottled water. “Sasha, Lexi, Britta, Vic, you, me, and Moretti. That’s seven.”
    “Did you have to count that on your fingers?”
    Taylor laughed. “Hey, at least I can count.”
    Eric couldn’t resist. “Hey, Moretti, can this old tub handle seven people?”
    You could call Moretti names to his face, but no one insulted his boat.
    Moretti’s head popped up from below the helm where he’d been tinkering all morning. “Fuck you, Hawke.”
    “You wish.” Eric grinned.
    That had been too easy.
    One of the newer members of the Team, Jesse Moretti had served as an Army Ranger and had seen combat in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He’d come to Colorado from Louisiana on vacation, discovered rock climbing, and hadn’t looked back. Still, he missed fishing and boating on the Gulf, so he’d thrown down a bundle for a fancy speedboat.
    “They’re here.” Taylor waved, a big grin on his face.
    Yeah, the guy had completely lost it over Lexi, and Eric was happy for him. Sure, Eric had had the hots for Lexi, too. He’d been the first one to notice her in junior high, but he’d been too damned shy to say anything to her. Taylor had been state ski champion in high school and had been more confident than Eric. When she’d first come back to Scarlet, Eric had thought he might connect with her, but, nah, man. She and Taylor had gotten back together in a matter of days. Anyone could see they were made for each other. They’d been each other’s first serious relationship and first lover, and now they were finally getting hitched. It was the perfect happy ending, and it couldn’t have happened to better people.
    Lexi led her flock of friends toward the pier, the lot of them wearing cover-ups over swimsuits, except for Sasha, who wore a bikini over her slender body as if it were street clothes, wakeboard tucked beneath her arm.
    “Hey!” Lexi called to them. “Sorry we’re late. I took Vic to see my office and got a little distracted.”
    “We were about to leave without you,” Taylor joked.
    He met them at the stern and helped the women aboard, first Lexi, then Vic and Britta, while Sasha climbed onto the starboard gunwale and stuck her wakeboard in the rack before hopping into the boat, a sunny smile on her face.
    “ Vamanos!” she called to Moretti. “Let’s go.”
    Lexi introduced Victoria to Moretti. “Vic, this is Jesse Moretti. He’s with the Team. He’s also one of Austin’s groomsmen. Jesse, this is my best friend and maid of honor, Victoria. She and I were roommates in college.”
    Moretti looked at Victoria as if she were lunch, puffing out his hairy pecs. “Have you ever been on a boat?”
    The big idiot.
    She nodded. “My brother owns a boat, and he used to take me out.”
    “What kind of lakes do you have around Chicago?”
    Dear God. Had he truly just asked that