Page 55 of Scrape the Barrel
Blinking the thoughts away, I adjusted her hand on the pole. “You hold the bail as you cast, then release it when it’s out. It’ll stop your line when you’re ready. Then wind here—” I moved her hand to the handle on the reel. “—to bring the line back in.”
She studied the reel for a moment. “This seems too easy.”
I took a step back, gesturing to her. “Have at it, then.”
She tested her hands, trying a few different positions to get comfortable with the feel of it, then slung it over her shoulder carefully, eyeing the hook. “It won’t bounce back and stab me, will it?”
The question was cuter than it should’ve been. “No, Sage, it shouldn’t.”
She nodded, looking back out at the water. I could tell she was hesitant to cast, so I came back behind her, wrapping my arms around her to fold my hands over hers on the pole. “Like this.” I slowly swung it behind us, setting a finger on the bail, then cast it out, her arms easily moving with mine. When the hook hit the water, I released the bail, letting the end of the line sink a bit. I tugged on it gently, mimicking the movements of a fish with the bait, and slowly reeled it in with my hand still placed over hers.
She let me have complete control, watching each movement like if she didn’t memorize it, she’d fail the test. She didn’t have to know how to fish or ride a horse for me to be entranced by her. Opposites attract, right? And though Sage wasn’t myopposite in every way, she didn’t have to know everything I did for us to have fun or get along.
I got the feeling she’d been through a lot more than I had in life, and that was fine. I’d take Sage for who she was, and if she wanted to learn things, I’d show her. But I wouldn’t mold her into someone she wasn’t.
I stepped back, letting Sage try her hand at it on her own. Taking a seat at the rock she was sitting on previously, I watched her get a feel for the weight of the pole and how to get the hook to land where she wanted it to.
I glanced over at Avery, who was making some kind of tower out of her rocks, but it kept falling over when it got too high. Scanning the ground, I found a few flat rocks and made my way over to her, taking a seat next to her on the blanket.
“Maybe these will be easier to stack,” I told her, placing the rocks next to her pile.
She picked one up, studying it like the shape of the rock was the difference between life and death. “This might work.”
She began her stack again as Sage’s phone buzzed on the blanket next to the basket. I shouldn’t have done it, but I glanced at the screen. Whoever had texted her, the number wasn’t in her contacts.
“Do you think we can come back here after my next lesson?” Avery asked, keeping her focus on the rocks as she balanced another on top.
“You’ll have to ask your mom. But if she’s okay with it, I’d love to.” Maybe I could teach Avery how to skip rocks next.
Stop it.
Avery was a student, and Sage was her mother. Thinking of future plans with them was not what I needed to be doing. It was one date, and chances were, Sage wouldn’t want to continue whatever this was.
Thiscould very well be nothing, though.
One date didn’t mean jack shit, yet here I sat, my unforgiving brain growing attached to something that didn’t even exist.
Lost deep in my thoughts, I didn’t hear when Sage walked up to us in the grass.
“We should probably head back,” she said.
My eyes shot up to hers, then I quickly pushed to a stand. “Right. I’ll pack all this up.” The way Sage said it made me sure she wouldn’t want a second date. What the fuck was I thinking? I was stupid for even asking. Stupid for letting my brothers talk me into this. All that talk about Lettie and Bailey’s wedding had messed with my head, and now here I was, envisioning a future with someone I’d just met weeks ago.
I got to work putting everything back in the basket as Avery put her rocks back on the shore.
“Thank you for today,” Sage said quietly.
My hands slowed as I was rolling up the blanket. “Of course. I hope I wasn’t overstepping in any way.”
Her brows pulled together. “What? No. This was so thoughtful, Callan. Avery and I had a lot offun.”
I nodded.
Fun.
That’s all this was.
But why was it so hard to get that through my fucking head?
