Free For the Love of Gracie by Amy K. Mcclung Page B

beside me.
    He picked up a Styrofoam cup. When he opened the plastic top, I squealed, “Gross!” There were several fat slimy worms crawling through dirt inside the cup.
    He chuckled at my girly-ness,  “Not that girly at all,” he teased, bumping his shoulder against mine. He baited the hook for me and handed me the pole.
    “Do I just plop it in the water now?”
    He smiled. “No, honey, I’ll show you.”
    Oh-to-the-freaking-my, him calling me honey gave me chill s all up my arms.
    I waited patiently while he baited the hook to his pole. He slid behind my back with his legs sitting on either side of me. I bit my lip as his arm reached for mine to show me how to handle the fishing pole. His arm pulled mine back and to the right gently. He instructed me on flinging the pole forward to cast my line. I did as he said and the line shot straight out across the lake.
    He whispered in my ear, “Great job.”
    His lips grazed my ear, causing me to suck my bottom lip in with a gasp. I turned slightly and smiled when I saw his face so close to mine. He moved away from me and cast his line next.
    “Do you come here often?” I asked.
    He smirked. “Is that a pick-up line or small-talk?”
    I laughed and said, “You know what I mean.”
    He grinned. “I haven’t been out in a while. My dad took me as a kid every weekend in the summer. He taught my brother Derrick and me. The three of us used to camp once a month and he made us live off the land during that time.”
    I had an image of an old black and white TV show with the father and son whistling as they carried fishing poles to the lake. The thought made me smile.  Everything about Ashton made me smile.
    “What all did he teach you for camping?”
    He shrugged. “The usual: fishing, hunting, building a fire, that kind of stuff.”
    I smiled. “That sounds nice.   I’ve never been camping.  I’d like to go sometime, with you.” Take it back, Gracie. Take it back.
    He seemed surprised. “You would?”
    I tried to fix my faux pas. “Yeah. Maybe we could get a bunch of people together and go camping. It would be fun.”
    He turned back the lake. “Check out your line.” 
    As I caught sight of my line I began to bounce up and down excitedly. "I got something!" 
    He laughed as I tried to jerk the line back. "Wait, wait." Ashton reached for my hand and placed it on the reel.  He held his hand over mine as he helped me reel the fish in. "Pull back gently as you turn this and it will ease the fish in." 
    When the line pulled harder, he took it from me to help out. The fish came flying out of the water , straight for me. I squealed and flung myself backwards. 
    Ashton yelled out, "Gracie, be careful!" 
    It was too late, I tumbled off the dock into the lake.  I gasped.  My mouth filled with lake water and I felt myself sinking to the bottom. A few moments later, I felt an arm around my stomach as I was yanked upward.    My back came in contact with a hard surface. I coughed, jerking upward, and spit up a large amount of muddy lake water. Yuck. 
    Ashton sat over me with a worried expression. "Gracie, are you alright?" 
    I nodded. "Except, that I just swallowed a bunch of bug infested lake water that probably had grosser things in it then I even want to think about." Then, I began to laugh.
    He helped me sit up. "What's so funny?" 
    I shook my head. "I'm such a klutz.  You have to admit that was funny." 
    His face scrunched up before he began to laugh with me. "Now that you're safe, yeah, it was. You should've seen your face when that fish came at you!" We were both cackling like crazy. 
    I looked around. "Where is it?" 
    He pointed out at the lake. "It took off with my pole. When you fell in, I dropped it to jump in and save you." 
    I covered my mouth. "I'm so sorry, Ash. I'll buy you a new pole." 
    He waved it off. "Nonsense, it was worth it to save you." 
    I placed my hand against his face and gazed at him. The moment felt right. I licked my lips