The Dance

Chapter 36 Queen of Hearts

Lila woke to find Bam gone from the trapper shack and a note on his pillow.

Queen of Hearts,

Meet me at the beach. We're getting the boat ready for some fishing.

Ace of Spades

Lila was particularly tickled with the note. She had taken advantage of Bam last night with a little game of poker or did he take advantage of her? Either way she reveled in the morning sun and didn't want to get out of bed. Bam's scent lay heavily on his pillow and she would have preferred to lie in bed all day hugging that pillow and breathing him in but getting the chance to be on the water with him was incentive enough to get her up and going.

Lila trekked to the beach and found the siblings shuttling back and forth between the skiff and the Integrity. She waved at Bam and he hopped the skiff back to the shore.

"Morning card shark." Bam gave her a peck on the cheek as he helped her into the skiff. He purposefully tried to not be so public with his displays of affection towards her as he didn't handle his brothers' ribbing well. Lila had picked up on that and always toyed with him, grabbing his ass when no one was looking or playing with his hair.

Once on board the Integrity, Bam fired up the engines to take the Integrity further out into open waters. "So we're fishing today?" Lila asked looking at the ocean.

"Want to make a wager?" She smiled slyly at Bam.

"Against you? Oh hell no!" Bam laughed heartily. "You already suckered me once."

Lila played with the collar of Bam's shirt. "It could be an interesting wager?" Lila blew in Bam's ear. He shifted his weight trying not to react to her closeness. Her effect on him did not go unnoticed as he pulled her in front of the wheel and his body.

Just as things started to get interesting, Matt popped in and asked, "Did I hear something about a wager?"

Bam quickly responded, "Watch out for her, she's a shark." Lila giggled.

"What's your wager, Matt?"

Matt gave careful thought to his bet. "Haha! If I catch a bigger fish then you, you have to eat a fish eye and if you win...."

Lila grabbed Matt's hat and put it on her head "...and if I win, I get to keep your hat!"

"You're on!" Bam shook his head and laughed. "I hope you like eye because Matt's a pretty good fisherman."

"Betting against me lover is never a good thing." Lila flipped Bam's hair and headed on deck for the fishing challenge.

Rain and Bird joined Lila's team as the brothers naturally sided with Matt. Bam found a spot guaranteed to produce some major sport fishing and the challenge was on. The rules were simple...largest fish caught in one hour wins.

Matt grabbed his hat back from Lila as Bam baited her line. "You haven't earned it yet, sweetheart." Matt cocked his hat back on his head and dropped his line next to Lila. Bear, Gabe and Noah sat back with Rain and Bird to serve as time keepers and judges.

Lila squealed with excitement as she felt something tug at her line first. She hooked the first fish. Matt eyed her catch and joked over its small size. Lila reminded him he still hadn't caught any fish. Matt assured her that she would love the taste of fish eyes.

Bam baited Lila's line again and she dropped it back in the water. No sooner had her line hit the water, she snagged a larger fish. Bear helped her pull the line in and on the end of it was a beautiful and very large Artic Char. Matt was beginning to look a little nervous as the girls reminded him that only 10 minutes remained in their challenge. Lila was feeling cocky until Matt got a bite on his hook. He wrestled with the fish as Gabe held him in place by his belt loops. Whatever he hooked was large and after a few minutes, he pulled a huge halibut onto the deck. Lila's smile dropped when she saw the size of the fish Matt landed. It was double the size of her char. She swallowed hard as Bam bellowed with laughter.

"Don't worry babe. It only tastes bad for a minute."

Matt asked the judges for an official ruling and they ruled in favor of Matt's fish. The girls tried to give Lila some quick advice on how to eat the eye. Matt on the other hand carved the eye out of her fish, popped it in his mouth and swallowed. He opened his mouth wide enough for Lila to see he had consumed it and smarted off, "Like eating cake!"

Matt pulled the second eye out of the char and handed it to Lila. It felt slimy to her touch. She pleaded with Bam but he held her to her wager. Lila pinched her nose and threw the eye into her mouth barely bothering to chew. She gagged as everyone wailed with laughter, eventually swallowing the rubbery fish ball.

Matt gave Lila a high five. "Yep, she's a keeper, Bam." Lila jumped on Matt's back and he paraded her around the deck. Bam was proud of his gal. It wasn't every girl that would go head to head with any of his brothers in a challenge. She was a good sport about everything she did with his family and that pleased him in many ways. Every day he found something new to love about her and began to see her as a permanent part of his life.