“Dude. You have to cover for me.”
With his left leg in a cast, Finn gestured toward it and then put his palms up like, “Well, dumbass?”
“How long is the trip?”
“The guy booked five days, four nights for his group. It’s a few corporate guys—you take the group out, camp, fish. It’s a dream.”
Nodding, I didn’t really have a good excuse to turn him down. When it came to guiding, I usually only did small groups, day trips. Being with a larger group for multiple nights didn’t give me the space I needed, and it made my skin crawl.
As I looked at my brother sitting on his couch, casted leg propped up with a pillow, he pouted—fucking pouted at me. But with a broken leg, Finn certainly couldn’t go. No harm in showing a few yuppies how to fish.
“Besides,” he continued, “you’ll have Jo and Brandon leading the whole thing. You’re just there to help out and show the guests a good time.”
Fuuuuuuck.
I’d been finding ways to avoid Jo since Finn’s accident, and five days with her on a camping trip would be too much. I still hadn’t heard whether or not she was taking the job, but I had hoped she turned it down. Apparently not.
The Marines taught me discipline and restraint, but I was having a hard enough time keeping my dick in check when she wasn’t around. Being blessed with a big dick wasn’t always a good thing when just the smell of her skin got my blood pumping.
“I don’t know, man,” I tried.
“Linc. You’re doing it. What else do you have going on? I’ll text Jo and let her know.”
He was right. Once we finalized the details, I left his apartment and headed back to work to gather the gear I’d need, hoping Jo was already out scouting the area. Since deciding to take the job, she had completely taken over Finn’s desk.
When I got to our guidepost, Jo wasn’t there and I couldn’t help the wave of disappointment running through me. My own thoughts were giving me whiplash. It was insane but all I wanted was a glimpse. Was her hair in a ponytail? Was she wearing jeans or shorts? Would she smile when she saw me?
After getting poles, waders, and other basic equipment for the trip, I left a note telling Jo I’d meet her at the drop-off tomorrow morning.
I’d never looked forward to three A.M. before in my life. But when my alarm rang, I popped out of bed, knowing I was going to see Jo.
It was a strange kind of torture, wanting something so badly but knowing how wrong it was to want it. I knew I had to talk to Finn. I didn’t think I could keep myself in check much longer. We needed to have a serious talk about whether or not he was going to pursue Jo—because if he wasn’t, game on.
In the early morning light, Jo’s beauty was arresting. She moved with strength and grace, unloading and packing tents, hammocks, coolers—she worked with efficiency. I appreciated the long lines of her legs and had to keep myself from staring.
The game plan was to hike, stopping to fish along the shallows of the riverbank, and camp. As a full guide service, we’d have to set up tents, provide the food, help inexperienced fishermen, and keep the pace so we’d make it to the lodge on night two. Once we were at the lodge, we could have a hot meal, hot shower, and resupply for the trip back.
The five men, probably in their late twenties, from a downtown office in Butte, were experienced fishermen, but had never been on a guided trip before.
“Hey, darlin’,” one said to Jo, “you doing all the cooking while we’re out there?” He gave a playful nod and shove to his buddy.
“Well, I guess that’ll depend on whether or not you catch any fish,” she shot back. Her face stayed friendly, but her back was straight and tense.
“I’ll be sure to call her if I need help handling my pole,” another said under his breath. They all laughed and he fist-bumped another. Fist-bumped—what a douche.
I stepped forward, ready to beat the shit out of them for talking about her like that, when I felt her hand on my back, warmth spreading through me at her touch.
“Easy there, tiger. They’re harmless.” She centered her pack on her back and started down the trail. “It’s not the first unoriginal dick joke I’ve heard, and it damn sure won’t be my last.”
“They won’t talk about you like that again,” I said, fixing my eyes on hers. If they kept that shit up, I didn’t care if they were paying customers or not. I’d kick all their asses without breaking a sweat.
She smiled, her green-gray eyes dancing. “I appreciate that.” And with a whistle, she walked down the path. Her stocky red dog wearing a hiking backpack with Bud stitched on the back trotted happily alongside her.
We hiked, staying together, as we wound around the base of a small mountain range. She asked about how I’d become a medic. I shared with her how I was a Corpsman—starting in the Navy because the Marines don’t actually have a medical department. I ate, slept, and shit with the squad and fought alongside the unit until I’d eventually earned the honor of Fleet Marine Force.
“I fired my weapon until someone got hurt,” I explained, “and then I switched to medic mode.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t easy,” was all she said. She didn’t press, didn’t ask me about losing men like people always did, or push to know more than I was willing to offer. Silence with Jo was easy, comfortable. As long as I could stop myself from watching her ass as she bent over to pet Bud, I would be fine.
I tried to bring up the letters, but couldn’t find the words, so instead asked about how she ended up in Chikalu Falls, her family, and life in our small town. I learned that Chikalu was actually a Native American Crow word for Honor Song. Jo knew all kinds of random facts about the deep history of the West.
My thoughts briefly flew to Finn. Watching Jo the way I was certainly wasn’t very honorable, but she held my gaze as she took a long drink of water, and right then I knew. I would risk everything to be with her.
