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Roman must’ve decided to take pity on him because the car started moving again. “What do you plan on doing with the land?” Hunter asked.
“Building a resort.”
A sick feeling went through Hunter as he realized what that meant. “So you’d put up a hotel or something?”
“More likely a combination of individual residences and a lodge of some kind.”
“Individual residences? Like cabins?”
Roman actually chuckled. “No, actual houses.”
“A lot of the property is too rugged for houses,” Hunter murmured.
“They’d be constructed down here in the valley. The lake would be the central focus but we’d offer a wide range of amenities and activities.”
Disappointment tore through Hunter. “What kind?”
“Cross country and downhill skiing and snowmobile trails in the winter, off-roading, hiking, horseback riding and water sports in the summer.”
Everything he loved about this place would be gone – buried underground by a back hoe or driven away by the hustle and bustle of tourists who didn’t give a shit about what this land had meant to him.
“You can’t-” Hunter heard himself saying but he managed to cut the words off mid-sentence.
“Can’t what?” Roman asked as he pulled the car to a stop near the trail head that led to the lake.
“Nothing,” Hunter whispered. He felt fingers brushing against his arm but he managed to escape the touch by climbing out of the car. Because he knew that if Roman touched him even once, Hunter would end up begging him not to take this last reminder of who he’d once been away too.
* * *
Roman watched Hunter stride up the small incline towards the trail that disappeared into a line of huge trees. God, he felt like he’d just told the kid he was going to skin his puppy or something. He had no doubt Hunter was horrified by the prospect of what would happen to his grandparents’ land in order to turn it into a world class luxury hideaway. To his own surprise, Roman had actually felt a niggle of doubt when they’d crested the small rise and the lush valley in all its glory had come into view. With the mountains as a backdrop, the sight was truly breathtaking and if Roman hadn’t been preoccupied with Hunter, he would have stopped the car just to take in the view himself. But he’d still been reeling from Hunter’s simple admission about their kiss. And then he’d seen the brief moment of pure bliss on Hunter’s face when he’d seen the valley and it had nearly stolen Roman’s breath.
God, he needed to get a fucking grip. He was here to figure out if he could pull off another deal that would pad his and his investors’ bank accounts, not worry about the tender emotions of some barely legal kid who was clearly dealing with a mess of shit that Roman had zero interest in getting involved in. Besides, maybe Hunter needed to see how the real world worked.
“Yeah, right,” Roman muttered as he got out of the car. If the events of last night were anything to go by, Hunter needed a lot more than Roman would ever be able to teach him. Knowing that the young man had actually decided the way to not be gay anymore was by subjecting himself to a brutal gang rape had had Roman wanting to both hold and strangle the kid at the same time. And then he’d wanted to turn around and drive back to town so he could tear Hunter’s father a new one because it was clear from the man’s domineering behavior that he was likely the one Hunter was hiding his true self from.
It took less than a minute to catch up to Hunter because the younger man was waiting at a fork in the trailhead. He was shifting his weight back and forth but it was the way his hand was stroking over his front pocket that had Roman taking notice. He hadn’t noticed before but he could tell there was something in Hunter’s pocket by the slight bulge in the loose fabric but he couldn’t make out what it was.
“This way leads up the mountain,” Hunter murmured as he pointed to the trail heading west. Roman followed him down the trail to the right and within minutes it began to widen and the trees became less dense. The lake was much larger than Roman expected and he could see several small streams emptying into the clear water along the west side – runoff from the mountain he realized. The east side of the lake had a really nice beach that would be perfect for anyone willing to brave the cool, blue water.
“Look,” Hunter murmured and Roman felt his dick harden to painful proportions as Hunter brushed his arm to get his attention. He followed the direction Hunter was pointing in and saw a bald eagle sitting high in the branches of a tree just a couple hundred feet away.
“That’s Fred,” Hunter said.
“Fred?”
The eagle suddenly took flight and then dove towards the water. A few seconds later it was flapping its giant wings as its claws closed over something in the water and then it was airborne again, an enormous fish clutched between its talons. Roman tracked the bird to the other side of the lake where he was able to make out another eagle sitting near a nest.
“And that’s Ethel.”
Roman chuckled and warmth sifted through him when Hunter did too. “Gran has a thing forI Love Lucy.”
“What about Lucy and Ricky?”
“Let’s hope we don’t run into them.”
“Why not? Are they bears or something?”
Another laugh.
