Jenny

"Oh, crap!" I look back and see my lure stuck in the tree branches behind me. I roll my eyes and laugh. Walker looks over and smiles.

"Again?" he asks. "That's like the millionth time you've done that, Jenny."

"I know," I reply innocently. "I seem to have a knack for it." I glance over at Siofra. She just shakes her head and hides her grin. She knows what I'm up to.

Walker helps me get the line out of the branches. Afterwards, since he's already standing so close to me, he stays to guide my pole for the next cast.

"And, just let it go, like this," he says, showing me how while holding his hands over mine.

Feeling Walker wrap his big, strong hands around my shoulders, settling himself up against me, is pure bliss. All I can smell is his cologne and peppermint gum. As he holds on, I reach back to look up at him with a smile. I hear Siofra laugh beside us, and the snap of her phone as she captures this moment with her camera.

"I'll text you guys a copy in a second. It's an awesome shot" she exclaims, walking over to her own line.

Walker looks down at me and it's like time stands still. I reach up to brush his hair with my fingers.

"Your hair was in your eyes," I tell him. "Just thought I'd help you out."

"Yeah?" he asks quietly.

"Mmmm-hmmm." I answer.

The sun's shining on us and I can see the highlights in his hair dance through my fingertips. I close my eyes and take in how good it feels to be right where I am at this moment. When I open them again, our lips are inches from each other's. I lick mine and capture my bottom lip between my teeth. I can see Walker's reaction as his eyes open wide in awareness. He starts to lean forward when all of a sudden there is a vicious tug on my line.

Distracted, the moment is lost as we both react to the fish pulling on my rod. I wasn't expecting to be yanked forward just then so I almost lose my balance. It isn't hard to do since I'm wearing flip flops on wet, mossy rocks. I have to be careful not to slip or fall. Thankfully, Walker grabs my waist to steady me, and then reaches up to keep the rod from leaping into the creek. He hands it back to me when I steady my footing and I reel in the biggest, meanest trout we've seen all day.

"Look at this thing," I snort. "It's a beast. What a feisty thing he is, too."

I get it onto the rocks and it leaps all over the place. Drops of water dance across my toes as I try to grab a hold of it with my hands. It's determined to make it back into the water. With all its flopping around, the fish is difficult to grasp, but I'm finally able to hold onto it. Trying to work fast and gentle, I slowly release the hook from the fish's mouth. I don't want to be stuck with the barbs of the hook, so I have to make sure the fish stays as still as possible. I also don't want the fish to suffer anymore that it already is, so I do my best to get the hook out of its mouth without tearing it more than it already has. When I am done, I show him off.

"Wow. He's a big guy," I comment, smiling proudly.

"Yeah, he is," Fionn replies.

Not wanting him to suffocate, I bend down with the fish to reintroduce him back into the water. After a few seconds, he springs into action, swimming away from us as quickly as possible.

When I stand back up, I smile and shake my wet hands out into the grass around us. Then I notice that Cian is standing to the side, gaping at me. I look over at Walker to see what's wrong. He shares a look with Fionn and then they both burst out laughing. I glance at Siofra and she is covering her mouth with her hands trying to hold in her own laughter.

"What?" I ask, clueless. I have no idea what's so funny, but I feel like I'm the butt of a joke no one has clued me into. I turn around to look behind me to see if I missed something. Then I look down at my dress to see if I've spilled fish guts or something nasty onto myself. I don't see anything.

I ask again, irritation and a little fear in anticipation of their answer, "What? What's so funny?"

"You just won their bet, Jenny." Siofra answers, smiling at Walker and Fionn, before glancing over in Cian's direction. He has closed his mouth and is grumbling to himself under his breath. Taking the lore off his line while we talk, he won't make eye contact with any of us.

"Huh?"

"Walker, Cian and me had a bet going," Fionn fills in. "We were betting on who would catch the biggest fish of the day. Cian was convinced he would be the winner. You just blew the bet for him with that big fish on your line."

Fionn throws his head back and shakes it. "Oh, this is great. I love it."

Poor Cian. He had just caught a really big trout right before I did. I guess he thought his fish was going to be the one to brag about. Walker is now ribbing him over the one I caught, however.

"Damn, Cian....out-caught by a girl!" Walker teases, tussling his brother's mussed up, dirty blond hair.

"Shut up, Walker! You didn't catch anything near as big as either of us. I don't know why you're so happy," Cian moans. "Not like you're winning the bet either."

"Doesn't matter, Bro. It's just all for fun anyway. You're the one getting all mopey over Jenny's fish."

Yeah, whatever, Walker," Cian mutters. "Leave me alone."

"Guys, come on. Just relax" Fionn says, as he finishes cleaning his gear by the water.

I move to go lay in a semi-shady spot on a nearby rock outcropping. The slate top is smooth and warm on my skin. It feels great with the gentle breeze that's strolling across my arms and legs; just what I need after spending so much time in the hot sun.

I look over to where Siofra is sitting in the shade and catch her practically salivating in Cian's direction. I smile. Siofra is always ogling Cian. Oh boy, Fionn is going to have a coronary, I think, rolling my eyes before smiling and putting a pair of shades on.

Cian

I knew Jenny and Walker were going to crush the bet. What else is new? Those two.

I laugh in resignation.

Every time we go fishing together Jenny tangles her line into the trees around us. Every time! Why can't she learn not to do that? It's not like she's an amateur at this point. Jenny's actually quite good. So why does she always do that?

I look over to where Jenny is sitting and notice her staring at my brother. I can hear her sighing from here.

Why indeed!

The little vixen.

She knows exactly what's she's doing; finding herself in my brother's arms, that's what. Why didn't I see it sooner? This whole time I've been thinking she was hopeless.

I wonder if that trick would work on Siofra?

I look at Siofra from the corner of my eye. She's scavenging shells from the shore. Pearled ones are her favorite. The shell in her hand right now is no bigger than her pinky fingernail. Siofra smiles like she's found buried treasure and it's contagious.

My smile retreats. I wonder what can I do to get Siofra to cozy up?

After-Sun Aloe! I could offer to rub some on her shoulders, across her smooth skin, down her arms and sides...I adjust myself in my seat and glance at Fionn. As if. He's like a boyfriend blocker. His parents couldn't hope for a better guard dog for Siofra. He'd stiffle that idea for sure.

"Hey, Walker," I call out. "Where's Tadhg today? Why didn't he come along?"

"He's over at the I-S, working for Duncan for a few hours," he replies. "Why?"

"Oh," I answer. "Isn't he usually off today, though? And on Wednesday nights? I mean, he was there this past week and he's usually off on Wednesdays."

The I-S is the local Irish-Scottish club we're all members of. It's a meeting place with a bar and grill, dance hall and a small multi-purpose room for various activities. There are several volunteer clubs that meet in it, and a lot of learning opportunities such as dance and music instructions, and Irish language-learning.

"Yeah," Walker answers distractedly. He's busy brushing a smug of dirt from Jenny's cheek for her. I smile. Jenny's always covered in something.

"Why do you ask, Cian?" he says, looking over at me, away from Jenny.

"Nothing. I just expected he'd be here, that's all," I respond, digging in the slate rocks for a good one to skip.

"He'll be at Foster's when we get there," Walker finishes looking back at Jenny. I glance up and see him lean in and whisper in her ear. I start to roll my eyes when I hear Jenny giggling at Walker.

Then I pick up on what Walker asked her; "Isn't Caoilainn teaching at the I-S this morning?" He then follows that inquiry with another question; "Wasn't she teaching there this past Wednesday night as well?"

I stop and listen. I look around and see if Siofra and Fionn are paying attention but they're lost in their own conversation.

"Yeah," Jenny whispers back to Walker with a shy smile. "But, you're not getting anything else out of me, Walker, so don't ask. I don't think I'm even supposed to know."

Walking across the rocks, I bend over to pick up a perfect skimmer, and zip it across the lake. Well, well, isn't that interesting? Tadhg and Caoilainn. If it's true, I'm happy for them. I wonder when they'll let the rest of us in on what's going on.

When I turn back to the group, I go over to my gear. I bend down and put my knight-crawlers into the tackle box. Just then I hear a commotion behind me. Fionn has Siofra around her waist.

"Fionn!" she shrieks, as they get close to the water. "Don't you dare, FIONN!"

At first, her giggling prevents her from getting away. She splashes her feet so much, though, that Fionn can't see what he's doing and she's slips out from his grasp. Siofra runs away, racing up to my side. I smell her suntan lotion and banana-scented shampoo.

Out of breath, Siofra plops down into the grass beside me. She gasps out a "Hey," followed by a breathy "What's up?"

"Hi, Siofra," I answer, smiling at her. Distracted, I don't notice the snake slithering out of my tackle box until it is too late. Its scales cross the back of my hand and I can't help it. I echo Siofra's shriek from a minute ago. Like a girl I yell and throw the snake right at Siofra.

Screaming in fright, Siofra jumps up and around our fishing camp, swearing at me.

"Ah! Shit, Cian! Ah! Get it away from ME!" she hollers with a squeal.

My heart races and I try to calm down. I glare in my brother's direction. He is busy looking at Jenny, adamantly doing his best to avoid eye contact with me. Son of a bitch! I can see Jenny nursing her lip again from here. Walker's fighting his own laughter.

I've been trying to talk to Siofra for weeks and when I finally get a chance, I throw a snake at her. Way to go, Cian.

Just wait until I get my hands on Walker and Jenny.

Jenny

Oh my gosh! I cannot believe Cian threw the snake at Siofra. I cover my mouth with my hand and bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. It wasn't even that big. When Walker and I found it under that rock, we knew it would be perfect.

I silently mouth an apology to Siorfra. "I'm sorry."

She's going to kill me.

"Did you see that? Hah! That was priceless, Jen," Walker chuckles, leaning back against the rock I'm laying out on.

"I know," I reply conspiratorly. "We're in for it now, though, Walker. You know he's going to get us back."

Walker smiles. "He's been trying to work up the nerve to talk to Siofra for weeks."

"Yeah, imagine that," I comment dryly. "Being too shy to ask someone out." What a hypocrite I'm turning out to be.

"They do have it bad for one another," I say, watching Walker from behind my sunglasses. He pulls some random blades of grass up from the dirt and splits them between his fingers. Before he lied down beside me, I had been daydreaming about massaging some suntan lotion across his back and stomach. I'd run my palms over those ripped abs and across that little line of hair that travels from his belly button downwards.

I groan, and let out a sigh. Walker is too hot for my own good. I'm turning into a puddle of desperation. Making it worse, I have zero nerve. I keep waiting for him to make a move, but will that day ever come?

Walker

I mimick Jenny's sigh with one of my own. I wish I could read her mind. Rubbing my eyes, I look over at Siofra and Cian. Their little flirt fest is in full swing near the cooler. They're sappy and nerdy in an awkward, but entertaining kind of way.

While the two love birds circle one another, Fionn is tightening the line on his rod. He has his eye on his sister and Cian. I can see the vein at his temple pulsing. He's about to lose his cool.

Turning in Jenny's direction. I wonder what she would do if I just leaned over and kissed her? I could take hold of one of those loose tendrils of hair, tuck it behind her ear and move in to kiss her...

Water splashes over my head and I jump up yelping. It's ice cold! Cian drops the cooler with a thud and bends over in hysterics. Ice is running into my swim shorts and I'm leaping on the rocks like a goon trying to get it out. After removing it from unmentionable areas, I reach out and grab Cian by the hips. He's up and over my shoulder.

"Walker! No!" he shouts. "Walker!" and we're in the water. No more fishing today.

The girls and Fionn are whooping as we leave the Creek. Toweling down, we pack up to head over to Foster's. Maybe later, instead of Cian, I can grab Jenny by the hips. She'd be more fun to throw over my shoulder than Cian. Once we get into the water together, I can hold her wet body tight against my own...

"Hey, guys," I say out loud. "Come on, let's get over to Foster's!"

"Sounds good to me," I hear Jenny respond as we pack up to go.

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Chapter 3 Photography Copyright 2018 A. E. F.

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