Nate frowned at her. “Like what you see, huh? Fine. He’s not the only one who looks good. I work out.” Nate started to pull at the buttons on his shirt.
“What are you doing?” Callie grinned as she watched Nate took his clothes off. She wanted to laugh out loud, but she wouldn’t do anything that made him stop and think. Nate was running on emotion, and it was a lovely thing. He quickly unveiled his own hot body. It was different from Zane’s, but just as gorgeous as the other man’s. He was powerfully muscled with big arms, and every muscle looked like some artist had carefully sculpted it with beauty in mind. She longed to run her hands over the smooth skin covering his body.
“I can fit in, too, damn it.” He made his declaration with the same look of determination she’d seen when he talked about his plans for the future.
He kicked his boots off and strode arrogantly over to join the game. Callie noticed Bill’s surprised expression when Nate walked up and asked if he could give it try. Bill shook Nate’s hand, and Zane said something that had Nate promising vengeance.
Gina Winters, a forty-something friend of Callie’s, walked up to stand beside her. She was a pretty redhead. Her eyes flared as she looked at the sight in front of her. “Oh, my. When did the boy toys show up?”
An insane sense of satisfaction spread through Callie. “They’re with me.”
“Really?”
They were. At least for now. If she only had a few days with them, why shouldn’t she enjoy it? Callie tugged her T-shirt over her head and toed out of her shoes. “Yes, really. Those are my boy toys, Gina. And I don’t share.”
She didn’t. She didn’t share. It was a freeing revelation. Callie Sheppard had two men, and she wasn’t sharing them.
He was naked. He was naked and holding a horseshoe. Nate took a deep breath. He eyed the stake and let his arm flow back. He could do this. It was the same game, despite the fact that his junk was hanging out for all to see.
Actually, now that he thought about it, it felt kind of nice. It was different. The air felt different on his skin, softer but strangely crisper. He was more aware without the encumbrance of clothes.
His arm pitched forward, and he released the horseshoe. He’d never actually done this before, and he was horrible at it. He didn’t even get close. The horseshoe landed in the grass with a thud. Nate frowned.
“Don’t.”
He turned to Zane. “Don’t what?”
Zane put a hand on his hip. It was weird. Everyone was naked. “Don’t be an asshole. It’s just a game. You can’t be good at everything."
But he was supposed to be, a little voice inside him said. Sometimes that voice wasn’t so little. Sometimes that voice was a roar telling him that he wasn’t good enough, and he had to do better. God, what would his father think of him now? He was standing in the middle of a nudists’ colony, with his dick hanging out, playing horseshoes. “It’s all about practice.”
Zane groaned. “That’s your dad talking, man. You know, there was a time when I envied you. My mom couldn’t have given a crap whether I made anything of myself. When I got the opportunity to get that scholarship to go to private school, I had to forge her name on the paperwork. She didn’t even know I’d changed schools for six months.”
“Your mom was a drunk.” She still was, though Nate refrained from mentioning that. Nate didn’t think Zane had spoken to her for years. When Zane was in the hospital, Nate had called her. She’d said she didn’t have a son, but if she did, he owed her money. Nate had hung up, and he’d been the only one sitting by Zane’s bed when he’d finally woken up. “And you shouldn’t be jealous. My parents just wanted the perfect son. I screwed that up when I joined the DEA instead of taking over the family business.” Which his father had run into the ground. Could he have made a difference? Guilt burned through him.
Zane tugged at his elbow and led him away from the group. “Stop it. You aren’t responsible for what happened.”
“How did you know what I was thinking?”
“I’ve lived and worked beside you for years. I know when you’re letting the old man get to you. He pushed you so fucking hard you couldn’t take a dump without wondering if you were the best at it.”
Nate couldn’t help it. He laughed, really laughed. It was true, and Zane knew just how to put it to him. His father had pushed him on his grades, pushed him at football, pushed him to date the prettiest girl. Only the best for a Wright… His father hated Zane.
His father wouldn’t like Callie.
That thought sobered him really quickly.
Zane’s brow was furrowed. “Now I don’t know what you’re thinking.” It seemed to bother him.
“I was wondering how Callie and my parents would get along.”
“They wouldn’t, and you know it. He’ll see her as a little piece of fluff who could never help you socially. I know exactly what your father would say. He would tell you that if you simply had to have her, keep her as a mistress and find a proper wife. That’s when I would go to jail for assaulting your dad.”
Only if Nate didn’t get to him first. Damn, Zane was right. Callie was far too sweet for his high society world. “They would tear her up.”
“I didn’t say that,” Zane corrected with a shake of his head. “She’s no shrinking violet, Nate. She can be downright mean when she wants to. Did you see what she did to my bike? That was a custom-made bike. It took some strength to pry the seat off. And what she did to the tires… I’m kind of scared of her now. I don’t think I’ll piss her off again anytime soon.”
Nate grinned at the thought. She had been one pissed off sweetheart of a woman. Callie often allowed them to take the lead, but when she put her foot down, he had the feeling he and Zane would fall in line. She could handle herself, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t get her heart broken. “You need to stick close to her. I don’t trust Ben and Marcus with her.”
Zane’s eyes went positively arctic. “What did they do?”
“I just didn’t like the way they questioned her,” Nate admitted.
“Why the hell did you call in those two? Damn it, Nate, they’re going to cause problems here. They’re assholes.”
Nate sighed. “I didn’t ask for them. I actually tried to get Tyler Williams out here.”
Williams wasn’t as senior, but he was a solid agent. He didn’t mind getting his hands dirty and did undercover like he was born for it. He would have fit in here because he fit in anywhere. He was smart and quick. He didn’t think Zane was a fuck-up.
“Yeah, he would be good here. So why send in the suits?”
Nate shrugged. “This is serious, Zane. I guess they wanted their best agents on it.”
“The director’s blind. Those two are paper pushers. The only reason they move up is the fact that they went to Harvard and their dads are big in Washington.” Zane laughed bitterly. “I know why they sent them. They want you back. They’re really here to convince you to return to work.”
“Well, I think they might reconsider now that I apparently outed us as a gay couple.” He waited for Zane to roar.