“Sor-sorry,” you stuttered, straightening and bending over to retrieve the book. “There was a spider on my leg.” Your lie was terrible, but completely believable since the boat was so filthy. I don’t know if he missed that your cheeks were pink, or just attributed it to the sun because he smiled and turned to face forward again.
You caught my grin and I saw you working to fight your own as you propped your legs back on the boat, slowly moving to emphasize the fact you were crossing your ankles before hiding behind your book again.
My body was still buzzing, knowing you were turned-on had half of my brain contemplating how to get you out on a boat in the near future so I could live out this new fantasy, while the other warred to focus on fishing or discussing something like baseball stats.
We fished for a few hours and it started to get surprisingly warm for the middle of November. I pulled off my sweatshirt and began explaining how the fishing boat I’d been on in Alaska, the Arctic Bull, operated.
I didn’t realize that you had stopped reading and were paying attention until you asked me a question about the cages we used for crabbing after I explained how heavy they are.
A few more hours passed with you lost in your fictional world. David looked around, scratching his head and telling me he couldn’t understand why we weren’t getting any bites. It didn’t matter to me; we were planning to release anyway. Plus, the day had been peaceful and the mood light.
A whining groan broke your dad’s proposal of moving, followed by a loud splash. I turned to look as you sat up and peered over the edge. We were swaying from the loss of weight from the motor.
You were still staring at the water when you asked, “I don’t suppose we have a set of oars, do we?”
I knew without looking that the boat of course didn’t, but your dad and I both looked down at the floor of the boat anyway, which indeed didn’t have any oars.
Your dad took it the best. Remember his reaction? He started with a quiet chuckle that caused the boat to rock as it grew. I don’t know if Zeus eventually sat up to see what he was laughing at, or because the boat was swaying so much but by that point your dad had folded his hand over his chest, his laughter still building. We joined him, laughing until our sides hurt.
“Well, I think we’re going to get our exercise in today.”
“Dad, I can’t.” You voice was somber again as your fingers wrapped around the edge of the boat. The morning after you and Kendall had gone skinny-dipping you told me you have no idea how Kendall talked you into going because you were terrified of water, but I thought you had been making a strange joke since Kendall giggled through your confession and you swam all of the time.
“It’s alright. We’ll just swim a short way to that bank and then walk around the rest of the lake,” he explained, setting his pole down and pointing to the shore.
“Short distance, short distance. They’re more afraid of me than I am of them.”
“You’re afraid of fish?” I thought aloud, hearing your quiet mantra.
“Some of them have teeth! And who knows what else is down there that I can’t see.” You stared at the water like you were willing it to expose secrets.
“Don’t worry, Ace. Nothing is in there. We’ve had bait on our hooks all day and haven’t had a bite.” You watched me set my fishing pole down, weighing my words as I pulled my sweatshirt back on, since I wasn’t sure of how else I’d be able to keep it. I was glad that we’d only brought a single pole out and weren’t able to fit a tackle box.
“It’s going to be a cake walk, Ace. You’re going to do great.” Your dad jumped out of the boat with that parting advice. His weight violently shifted the boat, sending you, Zeus, and me into the water as the boat tipped with little warning.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” he exclaimed, swimming over to us.
“It’s okay. Let’s just go.” Your voice was a little shaky, as your hands ran over your hair, pushing back the water and loose hairs. Zeus set off first, looking more than happy to be swimming. You followed behind him looking stiff and uncomfortable, something I’d never seen from you in water.
“It feels kind of nice, huh?” We’d been swimming for quite a while when your dad asked. You still looked tense, and the sky was starting to get darker. I didn’t bother responding after realizing he intended the question to be more of a hopeful suggestion.
It was only a minute or two later that you started screaming and thrashing. “Something touched me!”
My heart beat like a helicopter rotor, loud and too fast, as I swam closer to you. “I’m sure it was just a lily pad, babe.”
You reached out and your fingers clasped around my arm. You were terrified.
“All I can think about right now, is all of those creepy, sharp-toothed fish that I see on River Monsters!” you whined, slowly releasing my arm and swimming forward again.
“We’re in a lake though.” Your dad’s tone was light, still seeking to comfort you.
“You and I both know that’s where he finds all kinds of creepy things,” you countered with a shudder, looking back to the water lapping around your shoulders.
When we made it to shore, my head turned in surprise as you released a small laugh, your shoulders sinking with obvious relief. “Okay, so maybe this fear of lakes is a little ridiculous. That wasn’t so bad.”
I smiled and peeled off my sweatshirt to wring it out.
We were all trying to lose some of the water from our clothes when you started screaming and flailing your arms again. You sprinted up the bank, pointing to a snake that moved past us and into the lake.
“I hate lakes!” you cried, jumping up and down in place a few times.
I didn’t know what to do. I think I stood there like a moron for a few minutes because honest to God, watching you run around and jump made me want to break into laughter, but it seemed really inappropriate to laugh at you when you had been so freaked out and just endured facing your fear. Not to mention, that snake would have probably made me swallow water if it had come near me when we were swimming. Suddenly, your head fell back and you began laughing.
“I know, I looked completely ridiculous. You guys can laugh.”
“Actually, I was just thinking that you don’t like lakes because you can’t see what’s in them. I think I’d hate lakes if I could. There’s no way I’d get in there if I knew things like that were in there.” A slight tremor shook your dad’s shoulders. “That thing was nasty looking.”
You nodded, still laughing softly. “Amphibians and reptiles aren’t my thing.”
“Apparently not,” I said with a smile. “Remind me to never let you look through the pictures J and I have from Alaska.”
It took us a few hours to walk the perimeter of the lake and reach the SUV. We tried to keep course and follow the shoreline. Occasionally, one of us would veer too close to the lake and you’d hear someone’s shoes slosh in the shallows of the water. You ensured you wouldn’t make that mistake by holding my right hand in your left as we navigated around with Zeus happily meandering in and out of the water, nearly invisible against the darkness.
“You can ride in the back,” your dad said, clasping a hand on my shoulder when we finally made it back.
I smiled at him appreciatively, not about to ask if he was sure.
You spread out a blanket for Zeus in the back, and climbed into backseat. I slid in next to you while your dad went to leave a note about where the boat, or what was left of the boat, was.
“Sorry this didn’t turn out like you guys were hoping.” Your voice was soft as your thumb traced along my forefinger.