“ Why did I agree to go fishing? Why did I say I loved to fish? He gave me more options but nope, I said fishing.” You scolded yourself all morning as you got ready for your date with the cute guy you met in town. When he had approached you in the market and struck up the oddest conversation about collecting tires to expand his tire house you didn’t know whether to run or ask why he lived in a tire house. Curiosity won and you proceeded to ask why he lived in a house made of tires. By the time he finished explaining you were hooked. The pride he had when describing his home, the way he talked about his family, and the fact that he was gorgeous had won you over. He introduced himself as Matt Brown and asked if you’d like to go out sometime. You of course said yes. “Great, we could get something to eat, go for a walk on the beach, or go fishing.” You had thought for a moment and then blurted out fishing, you’d love to go fishing. Why you chose fishing was still a mystery. You could have picked walking on the beach. You imagined holding his hand as the waves crashed on shore. But no, you chose the one option that was sure to make you look like a fool. You had lived in Alaska a few years now and fishing was everywhere but it had never appealed to you. The bait, the waiting, and the slimy fish just weren’t your thing. You thought maybe you would get lucky and the weather would be bad but as you looked out the window at the bright blue sky that hope was dashed. So you got dressed and headed for the dock Matt had told you to meet him at. The walk there was spent thinking of excuses you could use for why you didn’t know how to fish. “Fishing was illegal where I grew up, it’s against my religion, I’m an animal activist.” You shake your head knowing those were all ridiculous and maybe you should just turn around and go home. But when you hear someone call out your name you look up and see that beautiful man from the store and your nerves melt away. Matt greats you with a big hug and helps you onto the skiff. When you look around and see the fishing poles and gear your nerves come back. The boat ride is mostly quiet as you both find it awkward to try and scream at each other over the loud motor. You can’t help but stare at Matt as his strong arms steer the skiff and his curly hair blows in the wind. You finally arrive at what he describes as the perfect fishing spot and hope for the best as you hop off the boat. Matt drops the poles down on the ground and asks you what kind of bait you prefer. You tell him to use whatever he thinks will work best and luckily he picked one out and baited the hook for you. As he hands you the pole your fingers graze his and you could swear you felt a jolt of electricity run from your hand straight to your heart. You stalled for a minute allowing time for Matt to cast out his line first and tried to watch very closely at what he was doing. You watched how he positioned his feet, the way he held it in his strong hands, how he tensed up his jaw. Oh that jawline. Shaking your head back to reality you take a deep breath and raise the pole up and fling it forward hoping for the best. Your hook lands with a thud only a few inches in front of you and you quickly try to reel it back in before Matt sees. You glance over at him and it doesn’t look like he saw anything but you could swear he has a tiny smirk on his face. You pull the pole back again but when it doesn’t come forward you look up confused at what’s happening. To your horror you see your hook stuck in the tree behind you followed by Matt’s roaring laughter. You feel your face turning red as he walks over to you taking the pole from your hand. When he asks if you’ve ever been fishing before you shake your head no and expect him to be upset. But he laughs again and offers to show you how it’s done. Matt puts the pole back in your hands and moves around to stand behind you. He wraps his arms around you and places his hands on top of yours. You try to listen as he explains how to do it but all you can focus on is yourself melting into him. You didn’t even realize he had stopped talking until you felt him pull away. You stare into his blue eyes until he breaks the silence asking you if you’d like to ditch fishing and take a walk instead. He holds out his hand and as you grab it you feel that spark again and a smile spreads across your face. When you look up at him and see the same smile on his face you can’t help but think this was a pretty good date after all.
