Shifter Nation- East Coast Bears Collection

by Meg Ripley

  “It’s very rare to see a baby out sunning like that,” he said, pointing. Everyone took numerous photos and exclaimed over the sight. “I see a baby like that maybe once in a hundred rides. You folks must be very lucky.” He leaned closer to us and smiled at me once more. “Or maybe I’m just the lucky one.”

  My face warmed and I tried to ignore it. I snapped photos and let my touristy side take over. I wasn’t here to flirt or be flirted with. I was here for taking in the sights and to spend time with my friends. That was it. I turned away from the guide back toward the front of the boat.

  Unfortunately, he turned out to actually be funny. Several times as he was giving commentary, I found myself chuckling at his stories. I did like guys who could make me laugh.

  The ride ended, and as we got off the boat, he watched us file off. Emma and Julie glanced back at him.

  Emma sighed. “Bummer.”

  “Yeah,” Julie agreed.

  I was confused. “What?”

  “I thought maybe he’d ask you out,” Emma confessed.

  “Me, too,” Julie added.

  We walked into the building and weaved our way through the gift shop. As we made our way along the aisles of items for sale, we paused now and then to look at some trinkets and souvenirs. Emma bought three postcards and stamps.

  “Here.” She handed us each a postcard as we stepped out of the gift shop into the bright sun. “We’ll send these to someone so we can feel like we’re really on vacation.”

  “We are really on vacation,” I said.

  “Then why haven’t I been drunk yet?” Emma asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Because enjoying nature is more interesting.”

  “What if you could have both?”

  The three of us turned at the sound of the male voice. Just outside the gift shop, Aiden leaned against the railing. Had he been waiting for us? “There’s a place out in the woods that friends of mine own. They’re having a party tonight. Plenty of wild animals. Plenty of beer.” He raised an eyebrow and looked at me expectantly.

  I pressed my lips together. “I’m sure you’ll have a good time.”

  “I’d have a much better time if you joined me.”

  My eyes widened and I felt heat rush up my neck. When Emma had said something about him asking me out, I’d been relieved that he hadn’t. So much for that.

  “Oh, I, umm… am on vacation,” I said. “With my friends. We’re doing things together this week.”

  “Even better. Bring them along.”

  I glanced over at them, which was a mistake. Both of them were pleading with me. Pleading to say yes. We hadn’t been out yet. Of course, it had only been one night so far, but they were itching to let loose, and I didn’t want to stop them.

  “Okay,” I said. “The three of us will meet you there.”

  “Excellent.” He handed his phone to me. “Why don’t you save your number in my phone and I’ll text you the address.”

  I took the phone reluctantly. I didn’t like giving out my number to someone I barely knew, but I guessed I could just block him if I had to. I saved my number and handed the phone back.

  “Addie,” I told him.

  “So glad to be your tour guide today. I look forward to seeing you tonight, Addie.” He nodded at us, smiled and turned away as he headed back into the building.

  Emma and Julie squealed as we walked away.

  “Thank you! Thank you!” Emma said. “Party in the woods, woot!”

  “Awesome,” Julie said. “And, this will be perfect. We’ll get there, find your man, and conveniently disappear.”

  “No! You will not leave me alone with him!” I demanded.

  “He asked you out, remember?” Emma said. “He let us come along.”

  “That’s because I would have said no,” I insisted. “I’m not going out alone here with some guy I don’t even know.”

  “That’s how you get to know people,” Julie said. “How will you ever meet someone if you don’t ever go on dates?”

  I shrugged. “I haven’t been too worried about it.”

  “Right,” Julie said. “Owen? Still?”

  “And Sam,” I added, getting a little defensive. “Owen broke my heart, but Sam confused me. I have no desire to be in any sort of relationship right now.”

  Julie frowned. “You’re going to give him a chance, aren’t you?”

  “He is cute!” Emma gushed. “And he’s funny. That was a good tour.”

  “It was,” Julie agreed.

  “Just give him a chance,” Emma begged. “If it doesn’t go anywhere, then it doesn’t. But you won’t know unless you get to know him a little.”

  “Just talk to him,” Julie added. “And drink a beer or two while you’re at it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “We’re going, aren’t we? I told him we’d go, so we’ll go. And I will talk to him, but I’m not going to be off alone all night. I’m going to spend time with you guys, too.”

  “We’ll be with you all week,” Emma said. “Talk to him. Maybe have a make out session.” She made a kissy face.

  “No,” I narrowed my eyes. “Not on the agenda.”

  “Keep your mind open,” Julie said. “No expectations. No assumptions.”

  Emma laughed, pulling the car door open. “You never know; he could be the one.”

  I shook my head as I climbed into the backseat. “I highly doubt it.”

  “You won’t know unless you give him a chance,” Julie pointed out.

  “Fine. One chance,” I said. “I’ll talk to him. Didn’t I already agree to that anyway? Give me a break, guys!”

  “But we want you to take it seriously,” Julie said.

  “I take it very seriously. I will have a serious conversation with the cute airboat tour guide. Then I will seriously move on with my life.”

  “Unless you like him,” Emma chirped.

  “If he turns out to be the man of my dreams, you can both remind me that I was wrong every day of my happily ever after.”

  6

  Addie

  I hadn’t packed much for going out. I thought we’d be hiking around the area and camping. Silly me; I should have known better. Emma and Julie had plenty of cute outfits with them, so they kindly helped me supplement. A top from Emma and cute, strappy sandals from Julie and we were on our way.

  Aiden had texted me the address, as promised. When we looked it up, the place was about a half hour away. So much for getting away if we were just going to head halfway back to Miami. But I said nothing and rode along, knowing that if nothing else, they were happy we were going out.

  We knew were getting close when the cars started to appear, parked along the side of the road. We pulled into a dirt parking lot and were lucky enough to find a spot that didn’t require us to walk a quarter mile along the dark road. I felt nervous and looked around anxiously; I hoped he wouldn’t show. Then I’d have had held up my end of the deal, and my friends couldn’t complain that I hadn’t given him a shot. I could whine all night about being stood up and make them feel bad for me.

  We walked in the direction that some of the crowd meandered toward and came to something of a clearing. There was a large fire, a few kegs of beer, and someone’s Bluetooth speaker playing a playlist of country rock songs. Not really my thing, but I wasn’t there to complain.

  “We beat him here,” Julie said.

  I shrugged. “Maybe he won’t show.”

  “Not a chance,” Emma quipped.

  We each got a beer and then stood off to the side. It didn’t take long for the guys there to notice that three single ladies had just walked in. We were like a target, much to my dismay.

  Two guys walked over and started talking to us. I tried to ignore them, but Julie and Emma chatted away, laughing and smiling where appropriate until Emma went off to dance with one of them. The other walked off to get a beer and found himself caught up in a conversation.

  “That didn’t take long,” I said, glancing at Emma and the guy she
was now dancing with.

  Julie nodded toward the other guy, who had now wandered off, out of sight. “He was into you.”

  “Nah.” I sipped my beer and glanced at the small group trickling toward us through the trees.

  “You really didn’t notice?” Julie asked.

  “I wasn’t really paying much attention.”

  She nodded. “So that’s it. It’s not that no guy has shown interest. It’s that you don’t pick up on it.”

  I shrugged again. “I guess I don’t really care.”

  She blew out a sigh, then grabbed my arm. “He’s here!”

  I turned and saw Aiden walking toward us. Great. I forced a smile as he approached.

  “You’re missing one,” he said.

  I pointed to Emma.

  He saw and nodded. “Glad you could all make it. I’m sure you’re used to fancy nightclubs and all, but this is what us locals do to unwind. You from the city?”

  “I guess so? I mean, we went to school in Miami, but my family is from the outskirts. I’ve always considered myself more of a suburban girl than a city girl.”

  “Well,” he said, letting his smile spread across his face, “that’s just my sort of girl. Woman, actually. You’re no girl.”

  My face warmed and I glanced down at myself subconsciously. I turned toward Julie, and that’s when I noticed that she had ducked out of the conversation. I met her eyes from several feet away as she poured herself another beer and pretended to be enjoying some conversation with a few people by the kegs. She gave me an encouraging smile and turned her attention back to her new group.

  I was on my own.

  “So, you’re…from around here?” I asked.

  “You could say that. Born and raised just a few miles down the road. My family and I are pretty tight. We stay close to each other and near the area.”

  “That’s nice.”

  Why was I so bad at these sorts of conversations? At dating at all? Must have been because I had no practice. Dating was much different in high school, and in college, I had already known Sam before we were alone together for any length of time. This whole concept of going out with someone I didn’t know had me baffled. Relationships really started out like this?

  “What made you decide to take a boat ride today?” he asked.

  “My friends and I are here camping at the park, celebrating our graduation. We wanted to do something that would give us a chance to see animals that we haven’t noticed around the park.”

  “I love the Everglades. We’re so lucky to be so close to the park. I just wished I was more accepted there.”

  I drew my eyebrows together. “You’re not accepted at the park?”

  “Well, you know. Some of the Rangers there don’t like the local folks very much.”

  “Why would that be?”

  “I don’t know. Technically, the boating company isn’t part of the park, it’s just off the property. We have permission to ride through the park, but the company is privately owned by my family. Maybe they don’t like the noise; who knows.”

  That seemed strange to me, but what did I know of the area’s politics? “Oh,” was all I could say. It made sense. The Rangers probably didn’t like how the boats disturbed the water and animals.

  “Have you met any of the Rangers?”

  I lifted one shoulder. “Not really. We’ve just hiked and kept to ourselves for the most part.”

  “There’s this one Ranger in particular.” Aiden shook his head. “Owen something. He hates me.”

  My heart jolted. He couldn’t be talking about the same Owen, could he? “Owen Bailey?”

  Aiden straightened up. “I think that’s his last name. Do you know him?”

  “I knew him in high school, but I haven’t seen him since—well, I saw him at the park, but I haven’t really talked to him in years.”

  “I see. So, you know what I’m saying then. How much of a jerk he can be.”

  “Oh, I… guess so. I don’t know.” Could he be a jerk? I didn’t know Owen now. People changed a lot in college. Maybe it was true.

  “How well do you know him?”

  “Not at all. We dated in high school, but like I said, that was years ago.”

  “Do you know about his family and friends? His brother?”

  This conversation was going to a strange place, and I didn’t like it. “I guess? I’ve met his brother.”

  “What about his friend, Ezra?”

  “Uhh… I don’t recall him having a friend with that name.”

  “Do you know where he lives?” he asked. “Someone said he has a cabin just off the park’s land.”

  “When I knew him, he lived outside of the city. I really don’t know.”

  He nodded, thinking for a moment before he kept talking. “Guys like that just get to me, you know. I get that he’s a Ranger. Or the main Ranger or whatever his title is. I get it. I don’t have a fancy degree or anything. I just know the land from growing up here. They must not like it when locals know more than they do.”

  I nodded absently; I really didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t want to be on a date, if that’s what it was, talking about Owen. And not in a way that was putting Owen down. He might have been a jerk, I didn’t know. But the Owen I knew wasn’t, and I didn’t want to think of him in that way, even if he had broken my heart.

  “Have you been doing the boat thing long?” I asked. Maybe a different subject would be better.

  “My family has had that business for over twenty years,” he said. “No thanks to the Rangers who want to shut us down. Do you know that one time that Owen guy approached me and tried to stop me from coming onto park land?” He shook his head. “I say live and let live, you know? Why should he care if I want to make an honest living? Isn’t that what we all want to do?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to do myself. This week, I’m hoping to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.”

  “Right. For me, it was easy. My family has this business, so if I wanted it, the job was mine. I like giving tours, meeting people, showing off the area. I grew up here, so this is all home to me. I don’t think I should be chased out of it just because someone doesn’t like me.”

  “No, I guess you shouldn’t.”

  “So, you agree. This guy is a total jerk, and he needs to back off.”

  “I…” I didn’t want to agree, but I also didn’t want to argue with the guy. Clearly, this bothered him. “I don’t know enough about the situation to make that call.”

  “Well, if you see this Owen again, you tell him to let me be. I never did anything to get in his way. I just want to run my tours and that’s it. Meet a nice lady, which I may have already done, have a nice life with her.” He smiled in a hopeful way.

  “Right. That’s what we all want, I guess.”

  “It doesn’t bother you that I don’t have a college degree, does it?”

  “No. You have a livelihood. Seems like you enjoy it. You’re good at it, so…”

  “Thank you. I like to think so. What was your favorite part?”

  “Umm…” I really wished Emma and Julie hadn’t gone off and left me here. “I guess the baby gator. That was neat.”

  He nodded. “It is quite rare. That wasn’t just tour talk. You’re lucky; you brought me luck.”

  I picked at the edge of my cup. “I haven’t had too much luck lately, so that’s good.”

  “I find that hard to believe. I almost didn’t work today, but something told me to just show up, that it would be good. And then you and your friends came walking along, and I knew I’d made the right call. Who needs a day off when you can spend time with a beautiful woman?”

  I looked over the crowd, trying to locate Emma and Julie. I at least wanted to have an idea of where they were if I needed a quick getaway.

  “Yeah, my brother and I—I have four brothers, if you can believe that—we all work on the boats. Giving tours, fixing them up, whatever needs to be done. My oldest brother
even learned how to work the web site and all. We’re high tech now. Did you know you could book a tour online?”

  “I didn’t, no.”

  “You can. And there’s pictures, too. I took most of them. I like to think I’m somewhat of an amateur photographer. I noticed you taking a lot of photos today. That camera of yours is nice.”

  “Thanks. I don’t really know much about it.”

  “I’ve worked with cameras for a long time. I have one like yours—the newer model, but it works pretty much the same. Great for low light. I have some of the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “I’ll have to show you my collection. I have lots of photos framed and hanging in my house.”

  “Nice.”

  “I even had one printed in a local magazine,” he said. “Have you ever had a photo published?”

  “I have not.”

  “It was just a local thing, no big deal. But people around here thought it was a pretty big deal. I’ve sold a few copies of the print.”

  “That’s…cool.” He went on talking about himself non-stop. His family, the business, even his ex-girlfriend. Like I wanted to hear about her. After about twenty minutes, I was ready to get out of there and never talk to Aiden again.

  What was it Emma and Julie had said about me liking him? About him maybe being ‘the one?’ Were they high? There was no way I even wanted to spend another half hour with this guy, let alone go on another date. I finally spotted them across a crowd.

  “Well, I should get back to my friends,” I said when there was a pause in conversation.

  He glanced to see where I looked. “Already? I’m having such a good time talking with you. I thought we had a good thing going.”

  “It’s just that we came together and, like I said, we’re on girls’ trip, so I should spend time with them.”

  “Well, I have your number. Maybe once your vacation is over, we can go out on a real date.”

  I nodded absently. “Umm… maybe.”