Ben rolls his eyes and turns around. Andy, sitting beside me, chuckles and pulls me in close so I can rest my head on his shoulder. “Get some rest sweetheart. I’ll wake you when it’s time,” he murmurs into my hair.
I don’t sleep but I do close my eyes and let Andy cuddle me for the rest of the drive. By the time we get there, Andy has fully wrapped himself around me and I am so warm and cozy that I do not want to move. Andy must have the same thought because he tells the guys, “You get set up. I’ll stay here and keep Charlie warm until we’re ready.”
“I don’t think so fucker. Charlie, you stay here. Andy, get your ass out of the truck,” Ben grumbles.
I sit up and yawn. “I can help with set-up.”
I move to get out of the truck, but Andy stops me. “No sweetheart. Just trust me when I say you’re going to want to stayin the truck for this part. We’ll be quick anyways. We’ve got our set-up down pat.”
I shrug. “If you insist. But you’ll let me help with the takedown?”
Andy chuckles. “Sure, sweetheart. Whatever you want.”
Andy gives me a quick kiss and gets out of the truck. The cold rush of air I feel from the door before it closes tells me exactly why I don’t want to help with the set-up. I wait patiently, listening to supplies being pulled out of the back of the truck along with the occasional rumble of conversation.
Before long, Max is opening the front door to shut his truck off. He so sweetly left it running for me so I could stay in the heat. “You ready, gorgeous?”
“Yeah, let’s do it!”
Hopping out of the truck, I am immediately full of regret. It is colder than the 9thcircle of hell out here. The sun is shining bright at this point, but it’s providing absolutely zero warmth. We’re parked at the edge of a forest. Some of the trees are completely bare, but the evergreens are stark against the otherwise snow-white forest. There is a little path leading down to the lake, where I can see an odd-looking, windowless tent sitting in the middle of the frozen water.
“Warm enough for you?” Max teases.
“It better be warmer in the tent Maximus,” I threaten. Not that I sound very threatening because my teeth are already chattering.
“It will be. C’mon, let’s get going.”
Max grabs my hand and starts leading me towards the tent. Once we are actually on the lake, I slip a little but manage to catch myself just fine. Max looks back at me and grins wickedly.
I start to ask him what he’s looking at, but he scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder.
“Max! What the hell are you doing?” I laugh-shout.
“Don’t want you slipping and breaking that pretty little neck of yours gorgeous,” Max informs me.
“Oh sure. So now when you slip, we both go down.”
“I won’t slip,” Max says with confidence and a slap on my ass.
I hear a zipper, and then a flood of warmth across the back of my legs before Max sets me down. I give Max my best mock-glare before turning around to see what’s happening in the tent. Andy and Ben are huddled over what appears to be a large metal corkscrew-thingy.
“What the heck is that?” I ask, flopping down into a camping chair Max held out for me.
“It’s called an auger,” Ben says. “It’s how we’re going to drill down into the ice.”
I take a moment to look around the rest of the tent. While it’s larger than I was expecting, with three huge guys, myself, and all the fishing equipment in it it’s rather cramped. I see the heater in the far corner, and I can’t see how that is going to keep us warm out here.
Max plops down in a chair beside me and we watch the other guys drill four holes, one for each of us. Before I know it, I am being handed a tiny little fishing rod and given the quickest tutorial on how to use it.
An hour or so later, no one has caught anything.
Not even a freaking nibble.
And my toes are so cold I won’t be surprised if they’ve turned black when I take my boots off later. And I even wore good socks this time!
“Well, this sucks,” Andy declares, and everyone grumbles their agreement.
“Should we call it?” Ben checks his watch.
