Chapter 4

It had been two days since I’d gone to dinner with Sidney. I hadn’t heard from him, but it hadn’t been too long. If he called, he called. If he didn’t, no big deal. It wasn’t like I was trying to date the guy.

I put on some workout clothes and grabbed my iPod. It was a nice day and I wanted to go for a run. I stepped out onto the driveway and looked in each direction. After thinking for a minute I decided to head to the right. I hit my stride a few minutes in and lost track of everything else. As I was headed back home I saw a familiar Range Rover pull over to the side of the road in front of me.

“How’s the run going?” Sidney asked as he rolled down the window.

“Pretty good. I was just heading home,” I answered.

“Look, I have to drop something off at my parents’ house. It’s a nice day and I have a boat. I’ll come pick you up after and we can go out on the lake.” I smiled and nodded.

“Sounds great. Can Bauer come?” I asked.

“Of course. I’ll be over in about 20 minutes. Is that enough time for you to be ready?”

“What? You think I have to shower, try on 20 outfits, and do my makeup and hair to go out on a boat?” I scoffed. He looked surprised, but smiled.

“Then 20 minutes it is.” He gave a wave and pulled back onto the road. I watched his car disappear around a corner and finished my run home.

I quickly hopped into the shower to rinse off from the run. I threw on a bathing suit, put a sundress on over it and walked into the kitchen. I figured food was probably a good idea since it was close to lunch time. I wasn’t sure what Sidney liked so I made a few different sandwiches. I grabbed a bag of chips, some salsa, and some fruit. Just as I packed everything into a bag I heard his car pull into the driveway.

“Bauer, let’s go!” I called. He jumped up from the couch and followed me to the door. Sidney was just getting out of the car as Bauer and I walked outside. Bauer immediately froze when he saw Sidney and let out a loud bark. “Would you stop?”

“I’m really not a bad guy,” Sidney said to Bauer as he squatted down. Bauer moved close enough to sniff Sidney’s outstretched hand. When he’d smelled what he wanted he moved back towards me. I just rolled my eyes and headed towards the car.

“I packed lunch,” I said as I put my bag into the back.

“Oh yeah? What have we got?” he asked.

“Well, I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I packed a bit. We have two peanut butter and jelly, two peanut butter and banana, and two turkey sandwiches along with some chips and salsa, and some fruit.”

“Two of each sandwich?”

“I didn’t know what I was in the mood for.” He laughed. “Oh, if you want mayonnaise or something you’ll have to get it yourself. I don’t do mayonnaise.”

“Not a fan of mayo, eh?” he asked.

“Not a chance. It’s white, goopy fat. Ick,” I replied. “I don’t eat anything white and goopy.”

“What else is white and goopy?” Sidney asked grinning at me, obviously in amusement.

“Sour cream and fluff. Actually, I eat crème anglaise. I guess that’s not so goopy though.” He laughed again.

“You are too much,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“You hate citrus fruits, but you like kiwis. You hate white goopy food, but you like crème anglaise. There’s always an exception. I just think it’s funny.” I smiled back at him.

“I’m going to find some quirk of yours, and when I do, I’m going to really give it to you.” He laughed and got into the car. I got into the passenger seat after getting Bauer to jump into the back and we pulled out onto the road. Just as we hit the road his phone rang.

“Hey…..Going out on the boat…..With Misty…..Yeah, the girl I went to dinner with…..No way…..Come on, Caden…..Not gonna happen…..You would not…..I don’t believe you…..Just hold on.” He sighed and turned to me. “My friends wanted to go out on the boat. Would you mind?”

“Not at all. The more the merrier.”

“If you’re not there in 10 minutes we’re leaving without you.” He said into the phone and hung up. “I want to apologize ahead of time.”

“For what?”

“You’ll see.” I laughed.

Just as we pulled up to Sidney’s house, another car pulled in behind us. I watched three guys get out armed with towels and beer. Bauer noticed them as well and began to bark as he cowered in Sidney’s car. I rolled my eyes and got out of the car, opening the door for Bauer to get out. He jumped to the ground and kept me between him and Sidney’s friends.

“Guys, this is Misty. Misty this is Walker, Caden, and Wesley,” Sidney introduced us.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” I said as I shook their hands.

“Not bad, Siddo,” Wesley said, looking me up and down. I looked over at Sidney and saw his cheeks turning red. I laughed.

“I told you,” Sidney said to me.

“Told her what? You telling lies about us?” Walker asked.

“Never,” he replied with a grin.

We grabbed everything and carried it over to the boat. It took a bit of coaxing to get Bauer on a boat full of people he didn’t know, but eventually the lure of a treat got him to jump on board. We pushed away from the dock and headed out.

“So, Misty, where are you from?” Caden asked.

“New York.” Before I had a chance to elaborate, Wesley cut in.

“What part of the city are-" he started.

“Don’t finish that question,” Sidney warned. I laughed and shook my head.

“I’m from upstate. I’m closer to Canada than the city,” I explained.

The five of us chatted as Sidney drove the boat out to the middle of the lake. I passed out the sandwiches and put out the chips and salsa when the boat stopped. We all cracked open a beer and Caden busted out a deck of cards. We talked as we played Asshole. As the afternoon went on I got hot and decided to jump in the water for a swim.

“Anyone else coming in with me?” I asked as I peeled off the sundress. The sound of splashing water was my answer.

I jumped in alongside them, gritting my teeth as the cold water hit me. The five of us swam and splashed around in the water while Bauer watched from a perch on the boat. I noticed that Sidney seemed to be a target for the other three as he somehow managed to get dunked about a dozen times in just a few minutes.

“I thought you were supposed to be a professional athlete,” I said to him as we were drying off back on the boat.

“What does that mean?” Sidney asked in confusion.

“Well, your friends seem to be stronger than you. You sure got dunked an awful lot,” I joked.

“They ganged up on me!” he yelled sarcastically while laughing. I laughed too and threw my towel at him. I stretched out along the back of the boat after slapping on some sunscreen, and sipped on a beer.

“So, Misty, how’d you get that amazing body?” Walker asked. I heard Sidney groan at the same time a leftover sandwich hit Walker in the face. Everyone laughed.

“I like sports and working out,” I replied, not at all bothered by the comment.

“What sports?” Caden questioned.

“Pretty much everything. I was a four sport athlete in high school and played just about every intramural sport in college.”

“Wait, four sports? How is that possible?” Wesley wondered.

“Volleyball was in the fall, swimming in the winter, and softball and track were in the spring. Track meets were only on Saturdays and softball games were only on weekdays. Of course doing two sports at once took up a lot of time. I’d have two hours of softball practice, then I’d have to go and run a few miles after since I did all the distance events in track.”

“No hockey?” Sidney chimed in.

“I used to figure skate as a kid, but I gave it up when I got to grade seven and started playing the other sports on school teams. I’ve never picked up a hockey stick though.”

“Well, now that you don’t play sports in school anymore, what do you do?” Walker asked. I shrugged.

“I run at least a few miles a day five days a week and go to a gym to lift. Speaking of lifting, where’s there a good gym around here?”

“I’ll show you when I bring you home,” Sidney replied. I smiled and thanked him.

Around six, Sidney started the boat back up and we headed home. I said goodbye to the guys as they got into the car they’d come in and pulled out of the driveway. I helped Sidney carry some things into his house and looked around in awe. His house was perfect. It was definitely a lake house, with lots of windows and simple décor, just how I’d want my place to look.

“Are you hungry? I can order some pizza or Chinese if you want,” Sidney offered.

“That’d be great, but do you think we could do it at my place? Bauer needs to eat too.”

“Not a problem.”

After getting in the car Sidney drove me past one of the gyms in town telling me that’s where he worked out. I took note of its location, deciding to go in the next day and get a membership for the summer. When we reached my house I fed Bauer while Sidney ordered Chinese.

We sat on the couch and watched TV until the food got there. Sidney went towards the kitchen to grab plates and I laughed at him. I grabbed the chopsticks that came with the order, opened a container and started eating out of it as I walked back to the couch and sat down. Sidney followed suit. He only stayed a couple of hours before saying he had an early morning and had to get home.

“Thanks for taking me out on the boat today. I had a lot of fun,” I told him as I walked him to the door, Bauer following closely behind.

“I did too. I’m glad you came.” He squatted down and stuck a hand out to Bauer. “I’ll see you later, big man.”

To my complete shock Bauer walked right up to Sidney and let him pet him. Sidney grinned and began to scratch Bauer’s ears. In pure joy, Bauer flipped over onto his back indicating that he wanted a belly rub. I watched in surprise as Sidney began scratching Bauer’s stomach in such a way that it got Bauer’s leg kicking in ecstasy. I was the only one he ever let do that. It had even taken three months for Bauer to let Mason do more than just pet his back. I started to wonder if maybe Bauer was trying to tell me something by doing that.

“I can’t believe he’s letting you do that. He’s not like that with anyone,” I told Sidney.

“I guess I’ve just got the magic touch.” He stood up, said goodbye and walked out to his car. I shut the door behind him and Bauer let out a small whine.

“I don’t even know what to do with you sometimes,” I told him, giving him a pat on the head.