1
LEO
“ D ude , come over here and solve a debate between my girl and me.” The shaggy-haired blond waves me over as if I’m his fucking servant. I drag my feet because the last thing I want to do is get in the middle of whatever he and his girlfriend have got going on. He’s been an asshole since the minute they stepped foot inside the Trading Store.
Ordinarily on a beautiful fall day like this one, I’d be hiking in the Superior National Forest or fishing on the Boundary Waters, but instead I’m manning my friend Cole Braxton’s supply store while he is off on some camping trip with his new girlfriend. I have serious doubts they are doing jack-all but fucking like bunnies. The two of them have been making cow eyes at each other for three years, and they just recently acted on their not-so-secret lusts.
I bet that they’re going to come back and she’ll be thick with his cubs. In fact, I have put money on that down at the Lodge. All the bear shifters got together last weekend, drank honey ale, ate some fucking amazing cookies the Lodge chef baked up, and then put down when we thought Cole and Adelaide would be popping out cubs.
Eli, our de facto leader, was sure the seed was planted on the couple’s first night, but I like to think that Adelaide fought it off until this weekend.
“What’s the dilemma?” I flash a quick smile at the surfer’s lady love. She’s a fine piece—full of curves, pretty brown hair, and doe-soft eyes. Everything I like in a woman and then some. But she’s taken, and I don’t poach. I can still look though. I give her a wink and her eyes flutter downward, too shy to flirt back. That’s good, though, because she’s with a man, I tell myself, even as I feel a tinge of disappointment.
“We’re fishing today and tomorrow, and I plan to catch the biggest-ass fish in the ocean.”
“They’re lakes,” she says quietly.
“What’d you say, Caro?” He looks as if he’s smelled something stinky.
Her eyes stay down, and her mouth stays clamped shut. Whatever she said before wasn’t meant for his ears.
“The Boundary Waters are all freshwater lakes and streams,” I answer for her. “There are no oceans up here.”
“Whatever. Tomato, tomato. Right? Water is water.”
The little brunette sighs at the dude’s mischaracterization.
“I think it’s ‘tomato tomahto’, but you’re not going to find fish up here that you’d find in the ocean, so it’s actually real different.”
The dude scowls. “Look. I just want to get kitted out. I don’t need a stupid geography lesson.”
“Yeah, okay. What do you need?”
“Everything.” The girl finally speaks up loud enough for us all to hear. “We don’t have anything. Just a tent and a couple of sleeping bags.”
“You fish before?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. Never.”
“I’ve done plenty,” her man boasts. “But Caroline here hasn’t. I’ve been telling her that we need live bait. You got any of that around here?”
“You’re in luck.” I direct my comments to her. I have no interest in helping this blowhard do anything, not even take a shit in the woods. “Fall is the best time to catch pike, and they’re probably the most aggressive fish we’ve got out here.” Nothing like standing in a stream and catching those suckers with your paws, and then eating the tasty suckers then and there. Although, I admit to having developed a taste for cedar-smoked pike and walleye. Not all cooked fish is bad. “You can use spinners instead of leeches, grubs, or nightcrawlers, but if you want to use the live bait, that’s down at the supermarket. Fred’s got some good stuff in a place behind the grocery store.”
I gather up two poles, a jig, some spinners and fishing line, and then throw in a couple of life jackets.
“This here will do you good.”
“We don’t need these life jackets. We’re just going to be in a canoe.” The dude looks disdainfully at the flotation devices.
“Bill, I
LEO
“ D ude , come over here and solve a debate between my girl and me.” The shaggy-haired blond waves me over as if I’m his fucking servant. I drag my feet because the last thing I want to do is get in the middle of whatever he and his girlfriend have got going on. He’s been an asshole since the minute they stepped foot inside the Trading Store.
Ordinarily on a beautiful fall day like this one, I’d be hiking in the Superior National Forest or fishing on the Boundary Waters, but instead I’m manning my friend Cole Braxton’s supply store while he is off on some camping trip with his new girlfriend. I have serious doubts they are doing jack-all but fucking like bunnies. The two of them have been making cow eyes at each other for three years, and they just recently acted on their not-so-secret lusts.
I bet that they’re going to come back and she’ll be thick with his cubs. In fact, I have put money on that down at the Lodge. All the bear shifters got together last weekend, drank honey ale, ate some fucking amazing cookies the Lodge chef baked up, and then put down when we thought Cole and Adelaide would be popping out cubs.
Eli, our de facto leader, was sure the seed was planted on the couple’s first night, but I like to think that Adelaide fought it off until this weekend.
“What’s the dilemma?” I flash a quick smile at the surfer’s lady love. She’s a fine piece—full of curves, pretty brown hair, and doe-soft eyes. Everything I like in a woman and then some. But she’s taken, and I don’t poach. I can still look though. I give her a wink and her eyes flutter downward, too shy to flirt back. That’s good, though, because she’s with a man, I tell myself, even as I feel a tinge of disappointment.
“We’re fishing today and tomorrow, and I plan to catch the biggest-ass fish in the ocean.”
“They’re lakes,” she says quietly.
“What’d you say, Caro?” He looks as if he’s smelled something stinky.
Her eyes stay down, and her mouth stays clamped shut. Whatever she said before wasn’t meant for his ears.
“The Boundary Waters are all freshwater lakes and streams,” I answer for her. “There are no oceans up here.”
“Whatever. Tomato, tomato. Right? Water is water.”
The little brunette sighs at the dude’s mischaracterization.
“I think it’s ‘tomato tomahto’, but you’re not going to find fish up here that you’d find in the ocean, so it’s actually real different.”
The dude scowls. “Look. I just want to get kitted out. I don’t need a stupid geography lesson.”
“Yeah, okay. What do you need?”
“Everything.” The girl finally speaks up loud enough for us all to hear. “We don’t have anything. Just a tent and a couple of sleeping bags.”
“You fish before?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. Never.”
“I’ve done plenty,” her man boasts. “But Caroline here hasn’t. I’ve been telling her that we need live bait. You got any of that around here?”
“You’re in luck.” I direct my comments to her. I have no interest in helping this blowhard do anything, not even take a shit in the woods. “Fall is the best time to catch pike, and they’re probably the most aggressive fish we’ve got out here.” Nothing like standing in a stream and catching those suckers with your paws, and then eating the tasty suckers then and there. Although, I admit to having developed a taste for cedar-smoked pike and walleye. Not all cooked fish is bad. “You can use spinners instead of leeches, grubs, or nightcrawlers, but if you want to use the live bait, that’s down at the supermarket. Fred’s got some good stuff in a place behind the grocery store.”
I gather up two poles, a jig, some spinners and fishing line, and then throw in a couple of life jackets.
“This here will do you good.”
“We don’t need these life jackets. We’re just going to be in a canoe.” The dude looks disdainfully at the flotation devices.
“Bill, I