I stood to the side and watched. There was a bit of trash talking between Ethan and Logan and I laughed quietly along the rail. I should have felt like the proverbial third wheel, but I was enjoying myself just observing the team in action together. They all seemed to know each other well and worked in concert with one another. When one of them hooked a fish, another would use the net to help bring it up onto the boat. I got a few pictures of them hamming it up with their catch.
“Hey Kay, check this one out, it’s huge, I can feel it.” Jared called.
I nodded and held my phone at the ready to take a picture when he pulled it aboard.
It was a very large bluefish. “Good job!” I called out.
Ethan passed the net over to Nick. “Come on over and take one of the poles.” Ethan said rubbing my arm.
“No, you boys, go ahead, I don’t want to get in the way.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Come on.” Jared insisted.
There was no use to argue so I followed him over to a chair and let him hand me a rod.
“Hey, she’s a tiny thing, better strap her in.” Nick advised. I didn’t think of myself as tiny at five foot seven, but I was glad for the compliment.
Ethan nodded and strapped me in and started giving me instructions. “Now, for bluefish just troll so all you have to do is watch the line and wait for the hit. It’s going to be hard so it might surprise you at first so be ready.”
“Try not to drop the rod in the water.” Logan said from behind his beer.
“I bet I can catch a bigger fish than you.” I said stupidly at Logan.
He lowered his beer and smiled at me. “Really?”
“Yeah!” I boasted for some absurd reason.
Ethan and Jared stood slack jawed staring at me.
“Move over Jared.” Logan said as he settled himself in to the chair next to me.
I watched him and then nodded when he had his line in the water.
“Ready to lose?” I asked, goading him.
“You tell me.” He laughed.
I had no idea what I was doing but I was certainly tired of his attitude. My line got a hit first and Ethan wasn’t kidding. The reel screeched as the fish grabbed my bait. I pulled back and started reeling him in. Ethan stood behind me giving me encouragement and directions on how fast or how slow to reel in the fish without losing him off the hook. Jared stood ready to help hoist it onto the deck.
By the time I landed the fish, everyone was shouting and whooping it up.
“That is a pretty big fish there, Logan.” Jared chided.
“Beginners luck.” Logan groused.
“Don’t be a sore loser.” I smiled.
“I haven’t lost yet.” He smiled back.
“More bait!” I called and Ethan was happy to oblige.
Even Nick was getting into it and went back to the bridge to check the positioning of the boat and see if we needed to move to get a better chance at catching something.
A few minutes later I got another hit. This one wasn’t as big, and it wasn’t a blue fish, so we took a picture of it and tossed it back.
“Don’t worry, Logan. I understand fishing requires patience.” I coached him.
“Fishing with you, maybe.” He grumbled.
I laughed. Ethan wasn’t finding our competition so amusing. I winked at him that everything was alright. Logan and I spent the next two hours locked in fishing combat. He did manage to catch some impressive fish but, in the end, mine just inched his out.
Nick said it was time to call it a day and asked Jared to pilot the boat back to the marina while he cleaned one of the fish and prepared it on the grill. It was ready as we docked, and we all sat enjoying our catch and drinking more beer.
“Good job, little lady.” Nick said as he served me the grilled fish with corn on the cob.
“Thanks, it was really just beginners’ luck. I’ve never been fishing before.”
Logan rolled his eyes.
“Well, you can come fish on my boat anytime.” Nick smiled and winked at me.
“Thank you.”
“That was pretty bold challenging Logan like that.” Jared laughed and raised his beer to me.
“Not really, everyone knows marines can’t fish or swim worth a damn.” I leveled my gaze at Logan.
Everyone fell silent and you could hear was the water lapping up against the boat. And then Logan started laughing. A genuine hearty laugh that you couldn’t help but laugh along with him.
“You’ve got more stones than most people I know.” Logan laughed.
I just smiled and sipped my beer.
“When you’re not lowering your standards to drink beer what do you like?” He asked.
“I love a good single malt scotch.” I smiled. “I enjoy a good bourbon, too.”
Logan laughed again and slapped his thigh.
“I guess you’re right boss, she’s a keeper.”
I glanced over at Ethan who was blushing under his five o’clock shadow.
“Is that right?” I said to him smiling.
He shrugged his shoulders. “What can I say?”
I smiled and nodded.
“Hey boss, that is like her sixth beer and she doesn’t even look tipsy.” Jared slurred his words ever so slightly.
“Yeah, she ain’t no lightweight like you.” Logan pointed.
“Piss off! You’re just mad she beat you at fishing.”
“She beat you too or didn’t you notice?” Logan asked.
“Hey! You’re right she did!” Jared suddenly looked offended.
We all ate and drank some more. We gave Nick the rest of the fish we caught and in exchange he didn’t charge us for the fuel. I suspect he would get that back and more on the sale of this fish at the market at the other end of the marina.
The sun was setting, and we all decided to go our separate ways. Logan promised to get Jared home safely.
“That was a lot of fun.” I said as we
