“Thanks. Small’s not necessarily bad. Unless everyone’s in your business.”
“Nah. It’s not that bad. The station’s great. A bunch of really good guys. I’ll introduce you to them before you leave. In case you ever decide to move south,” I joke.
* * *
We climb into my car a few hours later and head for the nearest lake. Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch something worth bragging about this time.
“How’s your mom?”
“I think she’s good. I always worry she wouldn’t tell me if it wasn’t. I know she’s concerned about giving me anything to worry about being so far away. Luckily, Noah and his wife are looking out for her. He said she has a doctor’s appointment coming up he wasn’t aware of, but he’d let me know if something was happening.”
Turning the car onto a dirt road, I point toward the large clearing ahead. “The lake is just over there.” Parking the car, we grab our gear and head toward the water’s edge. With little to no breeze today, it’s like a sheet of glass. So clear you can see to the bottom in some places. The rolling hills covered in various hues of green and red provide a backdrop worthy of a Bob Ross painting.
“Hell, this place is amazing,” Zach says, looking out over the periphery in awe. Otis appears unimpressed, having already fallen asleep at Zach’s side. I don’t know what he’d do if something happened to that dog.
“Met any girls here?”
“Naw. I should’ve tried harder before I left Hanover. I’m starting to get blisters.”
This draws a guffaw from him and a short shake of the head. “How long’s it been?”
“Since before I left.”
“Fuck. That’s some dry spell. There’s no one here you could fuck in the dark?”
A snort of laughter rips through me. “Shut up, man. They’re not all bad. I’ve just had this sassy little number put her mojo on me, and now I can’t seem to get it up when I consider anyone else.” Why the hell did I admit that? To him of all people. He’ll never let me live this down.
“So, let me get this straight.”
Here we go.
“You left Hanover because you couldn’t get over the hot girl that did you wrong. So you move here, where the average woman’s age is seventy-two, just to have another hot piece of ass put you under her spell.” He laughs and reaches for a lure for his line. “Is there something wrong with you?”
“Shut up.” I’ve considered this fact.There might, actually, be something wrong with me.
“So, what’s wrong with her?”
“Who?”
“The girl who has her ‘mojo’ on you.” Zach uses his fingers to make air quotes around mojo.
“Nothing’s wrong with her.”
“Then why aren’t you hitting that?”
“Well, she’s not the kind of girl you hit and quit.”
He takes a pull from his beer. “Ah, so you fell for a church girl?”
“What? No. Nothing like that. It’s more that if I’m this fixated on her now, how am I going to walk away once I’ve fucked her. She’s got mad voodoo, man.”
“Who knows, maybe she’ll be bad in bed. Then you can move on,” Zach says, casting his line across the water’s expanse. The lure barely makes a sound as it connects with the lake below.
“Anyone in bed beats what I’ve had lately. Hell, Ashley just laid there, and it was enough.” This girl gets me all wound up, and I haven’t seen her with her clothes off. I’m not sure I could put out the fire that one would start.
“Hey, you got one,” he yells, pointing to my line. Even Otis lifts his head to check things out.
I start to pull and tug with force, hoping this one doesn’t turn out like our last outing and come out the size of a Ritz cracker. “Shit, I’m barely bringing it in.” I huff as I continue fighting to turn the reel.
