Take Out Chef

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter's song: Give me love by Ed Sheeran

The sun was shining directly beneath us as we trailed beside the lake. I carried the fish poles while Bryan had a toolbox in his hands. I was bent on carrying the stupid fishing poles, but now I was regretting it. They weren't heavy but my hand was starting to feel numb. However, I didn't want to complain. I was getting sick of having people help me all the time.

"Do you need help?" Bryan's voice asked as I bit my tongue.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" I wasn't looking at him but by the tone of his voice, I knew he was amused.

"Yes," I muttered through clenched teeth.

"Why do you sound like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're strained."

I was opening my lips to respond, when his strong hand grabbed me by the waist. "I've got it." His eyes were intense as he stared at me. He leaned closer and pecked me lightly on the lips. I gasped, glancing behind us, worried that anyone from school could see us. There was no one in sight, not even the camp.

He smiled. "There's no one behind us. We've been walking for almost forty minutes."

"Forty minutes?" No wonder my hand was numb!

Bryan laughed. "Yes. We had to find the right place." He gazed to the front, "and we're not there yet."

Narrowing my eyes, I tilted my head. "Right place for what?"

His eyes held a mischievous glint. "You'll see."

My stomach churned, but not in a bad way, more like in an I-wish-I-was-brave-to-jump-on-you way. My cheeks flushed and my lips curved up as I remembered Juno's scented condoms. We started to walk again following a stream inside the forest.

"What?" he asked suddenly, "You're blushing." He squinted his eyes as he studied me.

I raised a palm, pressing it against my cheek. It felt warm. "I'm hot," I tried to sound nonchalant, trying to mask my embarrassment. I was not telling him about Juno and her crazy gift.

Clearly seeing through me, he grinned and shook his head. "We can stop here." He glanced to the path we were following and checked something in his fancy smartwatch. He placed the toolbox on the floor and took out a few things for fishing. It was my first time doing this, so I had no idea what was what.

Instead, I observed the quiet place we'd stopped. The sound of the water running through the stream was calming. It wasn't too deep, almost see-through. There were a few fish swimming around and for a second I felt bad for them. We were there to kill them.

"What kind of fish are here?" I murmured, scrunching my nose, still watching the fish.

"Mostly trout. Brown or rainbow. I didn't bring all my equipment, but this will have to do." He took out a small plastic container that smelled awful when he opened it. He grinned as I placed a palm on my mouth. "Live bait," he explained. It looked awful. There were live worms on that thing. He grabbed one and passed it through the hook. My eyes were wide and somewhat panicked as I swallowed hard. "You can use anything, even corn, but I prefer to use worms."

"You are quite the expert, huh?"

He shrugged. "I like fishing."

My lips cracked a smile. He looked like an expert to me, with all the expensive equipment and how he knew what he was talking about.

"Okay," Bryan stood up and passed me the fish pole before walking around and positioning right behind me. I was glad he wasn't looking at me because I was blushing like crazy.