He handed me a pole, then sat down again. “It takes some getting used to.” He set a pole against the side of the boat and turned around in the seat in front of me. “What do you remember?”
“I remember that you have to flip the metal thingy to cast then you flip it back to stop the line.” I stopped because his face was turning red from trying not to laugh. “Fuck you.”
He cracked and started laughing a big belly laugh.
“Asshole.” My face burned. “I was eleven!”
He shook his head. “The metal thingy…”
“Shut up.” I crossed my arms over my chest and looked around the cove.
“Sorry, but that was the most girly thing I’ve ever heard you say.” He finally stopped laughing. “Okay, what kind of fishing do you want to do?”
I thought back over what I remembered. “I always liked the bobber, I kept losing Dad’s lures on stuff underwater.”
“Bobber it is.” He bent over and reached into his tackle box. He pulled out the red and white bobber. “Do you remember how to put it on your line?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Give me the damn thing.”
He chuckled as he handed me the bobber and pole. “We’re in around eight feet.”
I flipped the metal thingy on the reel and carefully pulled a little line before flipping it back. I went to the line end and attached the bobber near the top. Then I went blank. “And that is all I remember.”
“Grab the hook end.” Zeke leaned down and pulled a couple of little metal balls out. He got his Leatherman out and turned it into pliers while I carefully held the hook in one hand and the line in the other.
“These are weights,” he explained as he showed me the balls of metal that actually had a space to grab onto the line. He used the pliers to pinch the weight closed and did the same to the next one. He tossed his Leatherman into the tackle box and pulled out a plastic little tub. He opened the lid and showed me that it was full of dirt. “Grab a worm.”
I hesitated.
“Don’t tell me you’re squeamish.” He looked at me as if he’d never seen me before.
“I always used the plastic ones,” I admitted. “I didn’t like the idea of hurting the worm.”
He bit back a smile as his eyes grew warmer. “Don’t worry, they don’t feel pain. Their nervous systems aren’t complex enough.”
“Really?” I perked up. “Then why the hell do they wiggle?”
He smirked. “Well, they’ve got a piece of metal through them. Wouldn’t you?”
I snorted.
“They wiggle around on reflex. There was actually a study in Norway on it when they thought about banning the use of worms for fishing.” He reached into the dirt and pulled out a worm. “This is how you do this.” I watched as he speared the worm and slid it up the hook then speared it again.
He held it up the hook and dropped it over the edge of the boat. “You remember how to cast?”
I nodded.
“Cast away.” He reached into his tackle box as I turned my seat to face the side. I pulled my arm back, flipped the metal thingy, and cast. Once the bobber hit the water around ten feet out, I flipped the metal bar again.
“Nice.” Zeke went back to setting up his own lure.
I leaned back, braced my feet up on the edge of the boat and took a sip of my coffee. “So, you woke up this morning and wanted to take me fishing?”
“I was planning on it all week.” He glanced at me before tying his lure. “I spent the week fishing from the shore, finding several good spots.”
I thought about it. “Ah, I see.”
He chuckled. “How was your birthday?”
“Best one I had in years.” I shrugged. “No one’s remembered it for years. It became just another day until you guys showed up.”
“You did nothing with your mom?” He got to his feet and cast out his line.
“Not after my dad died.” I pulled on my pole. “She didn’t call me a demon child as much on my birthday.”
Zeke cursed under his breath as he slowly reeled his lure in.
“Well, you don’t really like celebrating your birthday either.” I pointed out before taking a sip of coffee.
“That’s for a different kind of reason.” His voice was quiet in the early morning silence.
“Sorry.” I watched my bobber float on the surface of the water.
“It’s okay.” He shrugged as he pulled his lure from the water. “It’s just a fact.”
“Still doesn’t mean that I like that you went through it.” I took another drink of coffee.
“What do you want to know?” He cast again.
I turned to him. “What?”
He started to slowly reel his lure back in. “What do you want to know?”
My heart clenched as he straightened his shoulders as if bracing himself to answer. But that’s not what I wanted. “What do you feel comfortable telling me?”
He looked down at me and met my eyes. The corner of his lips lifted as he turned back to the water. “You always do that.”
“Do what?”
He shook his head. “You always know when I don’t really want to talk about it.”
I smiled to myself. “Well, you do kind of stiffen up, and look ready to kill someone. It’s not that hard to figure it out.”
He chuckled. “I guess you’re right.”
“Like I told you days ago.” I met his gaze. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”
We fished in silence for several minutes. The birds started chirping, some fish started jumping as the sun rose higher.
“It was my dad.” Zeke’s voice was harsh.
“What was?” I watched my bobber bob.
“My back.” He pulled his lure in and cast it again. “Any time my mom had to visit Sylvie or her parents, he’d keep me home to make sure she’d come back.”
“Zeke, you don’t have to tell me.” My voice was quiet even over the water lapping at the hull.
He shook his head. “You already saw my back, you might as well know.”
“Only if you want me to. Otherwise, it’s none of my business.” I didn’t want him to tell me because he felt like he owed me an explanation. No one owed anyone their past.
His eyes ran over my face before he started reeling his lure in again. “Cigars, cigarettes, he’d be pissed off all day. Eventually he’d drag me into the living room and force me to sit still while he burned my back. Over and over.”
My throat grew tight as my heart ached. His voice was emotionless and matter of fact. And it just made my chest hurt more. The picture of Zeke as a kid filled my mind. That fucking asshole…
“And when he got bored with that, he’d pull out the pocket knife.” He cast again with more force than necessary.
Tears ran down my face. “How long?”
“Once a month, since I was four until he died.” He shrugged.
My heart took a hit. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m sorry, Zeke.”
He continued to reel in his line. “It was what it was.”
I tried to wipe my face without him noticing. But of course, it didn’t work.
“Lexie…” His gruff voice let me know I’d been caught.
“A bug got in my eye.” I gave him the first excuse I could think of.
He set his pole down and squatted down beside my chair. He turned my chair around and brushed my hair off my face. When my eyes met his, I knew I couldn’t pull it off. I sat up and wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in the crook of his neck.
One of his arms moved around my lower back. The other ran up my back, his hand holding the back of my head. “I didn’t tell you to make you cry.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I whispered, holding him tighter.
“I’m okay, Baby.” His voice was the soft deep one that I loved.
“I know.” I pulled back and wiped my face again. “So, that’s why you always swim with a shirt on?”
He sat back i
n his seat, his knees resting on the outside of my thighs. “Yeah.”
“You usually sleep shirtless, don’t you?”
He nodded.
“Are you upset that I saw your back?” I whispered.
His eyes met mine. My heart thumped from the warmth there. “No. I thought I would be.”
“You looked mad.”
“I was pissed about what you’d think. That you’d think I was a victim or some shit. That you’d start treating me differently.” He let out an agitated breath and ran his hand through his hair. “I know it’s not pretty…”
“Zeke… Turn around.”
His eyes shot back to mine. “What?”
“Turn around. If I’m going to tell you what I think, I need to see.” My voice was calm as my face grew warm while I bit back a smile. “I was a bit distracted last time.”
He didn’t move. I met his eyes and waited for him to decide if he was going to trust me. I simply waited. The morning was still and quiet. Even the birds had stopped chirping as I waited. His eyes were dark with shadows as he made his decision. He turned around. The vinyl squeaked as he settled his weight again. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. His shoulders were rigid, his body radiating tension. I waited several heartbeats before I touched the middle of his back. He jumped then stayed put, he took deep breaths as I ran my hand up and down his back in a soothing motion.
“It’s just me,” I reminded him softly.
“Yeah, it’s just you,” he rasped. “No one but the guys and Sylvie have seen my back.”
“Do you want to know what I think?”
He swallowed hard. “Are you going to tell the truth?”
“Yeah.” I kept my voice soft and low.
He thought it over again then nodded.
My fingers went to his lower back. I took the hem of his shirt and slowly pulled it up his back. Giving him more than enough time to change his mind. Without looking at his skin, I lifted his shirt up to his shoulder blades. If I was going to tell him what I thought, I’d need to see all of it. I took a breath and looked at his scars.
The round ones were everywhere, some had scarred up, and some had created dips. His back was a series of hills and valleys of burn scars. Interspaced over his muscles were wide, thick, short lines of scars. Almost as if his dad had been drawing the grooves on diamond plate metal sheeting.
“Can I touch your back?” I whispered, my heart in my throat.
He nodded slowly.
I reached up and ran one fingertip over a knife scar. The rigid skin had obviously stretched as he grew, making the scar thicker and longer. My heart ached. Everything he’d been through…
He waited, tense as a guitar string.
“You’re right. It’s not pretty.” I trailed my fingertips gently over several of his burn scars in the middle of his back. “But not because they’re on you. It’s because they show all the fucked-up shit you’ve been through. Shit that never should have happened. It makes my heart hurt to know you went through that.”
His shoulders rose and fell with his slow deep breaths.
My eyes filled. “That’s why they’re ugly.” I ran my fingertips down his spine. “But you’re not a victim, Zeke. You survived. And not just physically. You made it through all of that and came out as the gentlest, and most protective man I’ve ever met.” I pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades on a particularly bad burn scar. “You’re a survivor. And because of that, in an odd, twisted way... they’re kind of beautiful.” I lowered his shirt back down. Then wrapped my arms around his waist, pressed my cheek against his back and held him tight. “Because if you didn’t have them, you wouldn’t be here.”
His big hand shook as he covered both of mine on his stomach and squeezed my hands. I held him until his breathing stopped shaking. Until his grip loosened on my hands. I kissed his back again, let go and sat up.
Needing a distraction, I looked out at the water. “Oh, fuck! My bobber’s under water.” I grabbed my pole which, amazingly, hadn’t gone overboard and started reeling it in.
“How long was it under?” Zeke picked up his pliers and set them on his leg.
“How the hell should I know?” I grabbed the line and lifted the fish out of the water. It wasn’t huge which was fine. An odd blend of yellow and gold scales covered its body.
“That’s a perch. You see the dorsal fin, those are spines.” He reached out and flattened the back fin down to its back. The fish wiggled and flopped around in his hand making me jump. “Now, take the pliers and get the hook out.”
The fish kept gasping for air. “Uh, Zeke? Can you get this one? He’s been out of the water too long, I don’t want to kill him.”
He bit back a smile as he grabbed the pliers and showed me what he was talking about. It wasn’t actually as hard as I thought it would be. When he got the hook out, he tossed the fish back into the water.
“It’s going to live, right?” I turned back to look up at him.
He smiled down at me with a big smile. One with teeth. Those were still rare. “Yeah, it wasn’t in his gill so he’ll be okay.”
“What?” What was he looking at?
He just shook his head and picked up his pole.
Isaac
“What do you mean, scales?”
Ethan gestured wildly. “I mean exactly what it sounds like. Scales like a fucking snake only bigger.”
Hades brushed against my leg as we turned the bend in the trail. All I had wanted was a nice hike. Hell, Hades even wanted to come this morning. Then my brother had poked his head out of the tent.
I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “You landed right on a log?”
He nodded, his face a little paler. “And not one fucking burn on me.”
I shook my head. “Could it have been something in the fire in New Orleans?”
Ethan shot me a look. “I’m pretty sure it has something to do with that fucking crap the witches kept pumping into me.”
“Yeah, that does seem more likely.” I threw the stick in my hand up the trail. Hades ran after it.
“But I don’t feel any different.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “My back is better, that’s it.” Hades ran back toward us.
“Maybe we should get a doctor to look at you?” I took the stick from Hades and threw it again. “That might get us some answers.”
“Yeah, until someone tells someone else and I end up being dissected in a lab somewhere.” He ran his hand through his hair. His anxiety practically vibrated off him.
“What about Miles’ doc?” I tried again.
“No. No doctors.” He shoved his hand into his pocket again as Hades ran back. “We should talk about all of us dating Lexie.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I threw the stick again.
“We have to.” Ethan kept in step with me. “We both fell for the same girl. We have only one day left and there’s a decision to be made.”
“I’m not going to make it with you.” I didn’t even want to think about it right now. Hades came back and gave the stick to Ethan.
“Which way are you leaning?” He threw the stick for Hades again.
I shook my head. Which way was there to lean? All of us dating her was crazy. “I’m surprised she didn’t pick you.”
He stopped walking. “I told her to pick you.”
I stopped and turned back to him. What… “Why would you do that?”
He smirked. “Because you deserve someone like her. Someone who will appreciate you, and call you on your bullshit.’
I snorted. Red would do that without a problem. But… “You’ve never loved a girl before. Why would you step aside for me?”
“Because at the end of the day, you’re my brother.” Ethan moved to a large log at the side of the trail and sat down. “I want you to be happy.”
“Then why are you trying to get me to agree to Miles’ crazy idea?” It made no sense.
Ethan sighed. “Because she’s not going to choose. An
d I won’t get a chance to be with her in any other way.” The resignation in his voice killed me. It was like he was giving up.
“She could still pick...” I sat beside him on the log. Though, from what Asher said the other day, there was no way for her to choose.
“She won’t.” He picked up a stick and broke it in half. “She can’t.”
“Fuck.” I set my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands. “I can’t even imagine how that would fucking work.”
“I couldn’t either.” He took the stick from Hades and threw it again. “Then I talked to Miles and asked questions. When something worried me, I asked him and he said we’d have to work together to come up with a solution.”
“You can’t predict all the problems ahead of time.” I repeated one of the things Miles used to say.
He nodded.
“Do you really love her?” I had to know…
“Yeah.” Ethan tossed the stick across the trail. “More than I ever thought I could love anyone but you, Ma and Sophie.”
Oh, shit. I tried to imagine it. All of us. Dating her. Kissing her… “I don’t understand how it would work and I fucking don’t want to ask Miles.”
“Ask me.” Ethan bumped my shoulder. Hades hustled back to us and sat down. Apparently he was done playing fetch.
I could ask him, I guess. Ethan sucked at keeping a secret, but when it was mine he usually kept his mouth shut. “So, she’d be your girlfriend one day, and mine the next.” I tried to wrap my head around it.
“Not really.” His eyes unfocused. “Your relationship wouldn’t end, you just wouldn’t hang out with her on one of the other guys’ nights. At least, that’s how I understood it.”
I shook my head. “I’m not into group sex.”
“How would you know? You’ve never had sex.” Ethan smiled.
I drove my elbow into his side.
He chuckled. “That is so far down the road from where we are that we don’t need to worry about it. Besides, do you think Lexie could ever do that?”
Lexie was rather old fashioned about some things. She didn’t show a lot of skin, she didn’t dress to look sexy, she was simply herself. “I don’t know. But there’s a fucking ick factor, man. You’re my brother.”
When the Dead Have It Easy Page 31