“Four in the morning?” I asked.
“Yup. Same with hunting. The earlier the better.”
“Aren’t you glad that you can just go to a sushi restaurant when you want fish these days?” I asked. He laughed.
“I guess. No sushi restaurants out here though so you better hope something bites.” Just as he said that I felt something tugging at my line. I stood up and started reeling it in.
“I have something,” I said, pulling, tugging my line back in. Easton put his line down and got up, standing next to me.
“You need help?” he asked me. No, I thought that I had it. With one good tug, the fish broke the surface of the water. I started laughing when I saw it. It was big, almost as long as my forearm. Easton grabbed the line and unhooked the fish.
“Look at that. Your first catch and it’s a whopper,” he said. It would easily feed both of us for lunch today. Just in case we didn’t end up catching anything, we had brought snacks. A couple of sandwiches, some protein bars, and packs of beef jerky which we ended up not eating. After getting back to the house, Easton grilled the fish with herbs and lemon and prepared couscous and salad to have on the side. I was surprised at how adept he was at cooking when I thought about the way he used to live. This was a date, after all, maybe this was just him putting his best foot forward.
We ate out on the rear porch again. In the short time that we had been at the cabin, it was my favorite part of the house. There was a little clearing out there where I had already spotted rabbits, squirrels, and deer. It was amazing how quiet and peaceful it was out there. I felt a little bit guilty about how much I want to come back after this visit even though I had not received an invitation.
“I think you should pay me for feeding you today,” I said. Easton laughed.
“Are you still working for me? Did I miss something?”
“No, just for the sake of my ego, I think. I’ve never had to do that in my life before but clearly, I’m good at it. I think I deserve compensation.”
“That’s cute. Well, you’re welcome.”
“For what?”
“Without me, you would have never found out that you were a talented fisherwoman.” I laughed that time. I didn’t think I necessarily wanted to be known as one, but it was still nice. After lunch, I volunteered to do the dishes. I was kind of sad all of a sudden. It was technically our last day since we were flying back out to New York tomorrow. Just a weekend didn’t feel like long enough, I wanted a few more days there. I wanted more days with him.
“Are you tired?” he asked me.
“No, not really. Are you?”
“No, I could use a bath though.”
“A bath?”
“Come on, let me show you something,” he said. He led me through the house to what I knew was the downstairs bathroom though I hadn’t visited it yet. There was a fire roaring in the real fireplace which he must have lit when I wasn’t looking. Close to the center of the room was a large iron bathtub that was already filled with water. The decor in the bathroom matched the rest of the house, rustic with modern touches. I noticed that the lights were dimmed and realized that he had been planning this for a little while.
“I’ve never actually gotten a chance to use the bathtub down here,” he said. If that was the case, I was more than happy to take it for a spin. We both stripped down and climbed into the water. It was the perfect temperature. Hot, but not hot enough to burn, which would still be pleasantly hot even after losing a few degrees of heat.
It was large of course, big enough to fit the both of us comfortably. Since getting here yesterday, nothing had really happened between us, even though this was a date. Being out in the woods where we were all alone seemed like the perfect place to act out all our wildest fantasies, but everything had been
surprisingly sweet and domestic until now. I wasn’t complaining, I didn’t want that to change, I just wanted a little more of what we did when we were in New York. I hadn’t seen the man naked since… I couldn’t even remember when. It was like we were getting to know each other all over again after a brief period apart. Like this was our actual first encounter, on top of it being our real first date. I giggled a little bit when I realized.
“What’s so funny?” Easton asked me.
“Nothing, I was just thinking about how long it’s taken you to finally get me naked once we got out here.”
“You think I took too long?”
“Yes, much too long.” He nodded his head beckoning me over.
“Come here then.” I slid over to him, getting between his spread legs. This was the best date that I had ever been on. Easton was rocking my world and he didn’t even know it. We kissed and the heat in the room went up. I ran my hands over his body, shocked at how much I seemed to have missed it. Work had been crazy these past couple of weeks and since the charity night was Easton’s debut, we weren’t technically working together anymore.
Shame, since he wasn’t available for me to do this any longer. Things would likely change once we got back to the city. All that meant was I had to take advantage of what I had right now.
29
Easton