HIM
sit in silence as we have Sunday church together with my dad. Ernie gives me a huge hug before excusing himself and strolling back up the hill. I start to cry again, and my rod falls onto the dock. I grab it and notice my bobber is gone. I set the hook and begin to reel. The fish seems slightly bigger than what I am used to catching from the dock, usually sunnies, bluegill, perch, or an occasional northern pike. But this one is putting up a fairly good fight, as I reel it in closer to the dock."I got something big!" I shout to Ernie.
He makes his way back to me and notices the bend in my dad's rod as well as my tired struggle from reeling. The fish comes closer to the surface as I continue to reel it in. It jumps frantically out of the water then back to struggling to swim away.
"Woah!" Ernie shouts in excitement and grabs the net.
He scoops under the water with the net and pulls up the fish. We hoot and holler as I just reeled in one of the largest walleyes I've ever caught in my life. I dance around in victory while Ernie laughs. I wish my dad were here with us, but Ernie being here makes me feel like he is.
"Hold this while I get a tape measure," Ernie says and digs through my dad's tackle box.
I pull the walleye out of the net and hold it up. Ernie takes a quick picture then measures my fish. The beast measures just over thirty-three inches long. What a pig! A definite wall mounter, but I decide to remove the hook and release it back into the water to swim another day. I am blessed to have caught it and have a picture taken with it. Ernie pats me on the back, tells me "great catch," then heads up to the cabin. I grab my dad's rod, tackle box, and the net to put back in the boathouse. I grab the container of worms and set off for the cabin. Before I reach the top of the hill, I turn back to the lake. I look out over it and smile.
"Thanks, dad! Love you!" I whisper.
Chapter Thirty-Five
When I enter the cabin, Ernie is sitting at the island talking with Luke while Gladys is cooking breakfast. No one else is awake yet. I am a little nervous to see Luke after our awkward moment last night, which ended in him stopping us from having sex again. However, he doesn't seem to think it's as uncomfortable as I do since he is smiling those gorgeous pearly whites at me. He looks striking, as usual.
"Nice fish you caught this morning," Luke says.
"Thanks, it was the biggest walleye I have ever caught. It was a lot of fun to reel in," I reply.
"Hard to believe I caught it off the dock."
I walk past everyone and head to my dad's room to check on Ris and grab my phone. Ris is sitting on the bed and looks in rough shape. The corner of her eye by her nose is quite puffy and blackish purple, her nose is pomegranate red, and her upper lip on the same side as her slightly black eye looks as though she has received lip fillers. I want to laugh but know I shouldn't, although the situation leading up to her MMA debut is one to put in the record books.
"How are you feeling, Ris?" I ask as I sit down next to her.
"As good as I look," she laughs.
I smile back at her.
"I seriously look like Kim Kardashian just got her ass kicked by Ronda Rousey!"
I wasn't going to argue with her there. She clearly does, but at least we can laugh about it now.
"What time do you want to get going today?" I ask.
I know she's very hungover and has a five-hour drive ahead, after our two-hour drive back to my dad's place to get to the city.
"I'm way too hungover to give a shit about going home today. Plus, no makeup in this world can fix this," she replies as she points to her face.
"You're going to leave tomorrow morning, then?"
"Yea, if that's okay with you. I will call into work tomorrow. This way, I can spend some more time with my bitch!" Ris grunts and throws herself back onto the bed.
"So, what happened between you and Luke last night before I interrupted you two love birds with my naked circus antics?" Ris asks sarcastically while sucking air in-between her teeth in pain as she touches her bruised face.
Last night was all kinds of craziness. Luke stopping us when he practically had it in then Ris naked and all bloodied up.
"I don't know how to explain what took place between him and me last night. He stopped us from having sex again, though," I say with a sigh.
Ris flings up from the bed.
"What? What the fuck is wrong with him?" she shouts.
I wish I knew the answer to give to her, but I don't even know it myself.
"It's just so strange that he keeps stopping us from having sex. Last night was the farthest we've made it. Like he was in but not in, in," I say while picking the polish from my nails.
"What the fuck is not in, in?" Ris questions with the most awkward, confused look I've ever seen her make.
"Well, we were naked. I attempted to suck his dick, and when I put my mouth on him, he flipped us around then fingered me before he went to insert himself. He was barely in, and there was no penetration or anything before he stopped it all completely," I explain, quite embarrassed.
Ris looks at me as if her mind is blown, and she is literally clueless as to why Luke is acting the way he is when it comes to us being intimate with each other.
"Um... Woah! Did he say why he stopped from fucking you silly? Is it