Chapter 7

I woke up and smiled at Bauer, who was lying down at my feet and staring at me. His tail began to wag and I giggled as he army crawled up the bed to lick my face. I felt a slight headache, probably from dehydration due to drinking the wine the night before. I stretched and got out of bed, wishing I had a toothbrush.

As I got downstairs I noticed that if Sidney was awake, he wasn’t down there. I let Bauer out the back door and stopped to look out over the lake for a minute. I then made my way back inside where I began to search for a coffee maker and some coffee. I was successful in my quest and got it going while drinking a glass of water.

When the coffee was done I poured myself a mug, black of course, and headed outside. I walked out onto the dock, still in Sidney’s clothes, and let my toes dangle into the water. I usually hated silence, preferring there to be a TV or music going in the background, but there was something about sitting here listening to only the water lap along the shore that was comforting.

“How long have you been up?” I heard Sidney’s voice ask from behind me. I turned and smiled up at him.

“Half an hour at most. I see you found the coffee I made,” I said. He nodded and sat down next to me. I noticed that his coffee was black as well, and tried not to laugh.

“The smell woke me up.” He lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip. The sip was immediately followed by the coffee being spit out into the lake and a few gagging sounds. “What the hell is this?!”

“It’s coffee!” I exclaimed, trying to suppress any laughter. I’d seen that coming.

“No, that’s not coffee. That’s mud,” he said, making a face in disgust. I rolled my eyes and giggled as I watched him dump the rest of the mug into the lake.

“I like my coffee strong,” I told him.

“You’re crazy,” he said standing up.

“So you’ve said on numerous occasions,” I joked as I stood up and followed him inside.

“What’s your plan for the rest of the week?” Sidney asked when we got inside. I shrugged.

“I don’t really ever have a plan. I just go with the flow. How about you?” I returned.

“My friend Jack is coming in a couple days. You should hang out with us. You’d like him.” I smiled and agreed. I finished my coffee and headed home.










“You’ll love her,” Sidney said to Jack as they pulled into Misty’s driveway.

“You’ve told me that about a hundred times in the last twenty minutes. You’ve also told me that she’s funny and a bit crazy,” Jack responded. Sidney shot him a glare.

“I was just reiterating,” he told him as he shut the car off.

He hadn’t told Misty they were stopping by. He hadn’t planned on it even. He and Jack were just headed into town to grab an early lunch before doing some fishing and he found himself talking about her. Jack then insisted on meeting her so Sidney obliged. He didn’t think she’d care that he just showed up.

He noticed her front door was open as they got out of the car. He could hear music playing clearly. It only took him a second to recognize “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot. He chuckled to himself as Jack shot him a strange look. For them to hear it that clearly at the car meant Misty had to be blaring it inside. He knocked on the door but there was no response.

“Misty!” he called through the screen in the door. He waited for a minute but there was still no sign of her. He looked over at Jack who shrugged. He pulled open the door and they both walked in. “Misty!”

There was still no response so Sidney continued to make his way into the house, hoping he wasn’t going to walk in on anything awkward. He froze when he saw her and Jack’s jaw nearly hit the floor. Misty had her back to them both, dancing in the hallway. She was singing along with the song and shaking her ass.

“Okay, I was wrong. Misty’s not crazy. She’s insane,” Sidney said to Jack as he choked back laughter. They stood in stunned silence watching Misty dance her ass off. She was really going to work with her moves and Sidney just couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

She began to dance down the hallway and into the living room where they were standing. Suddenly Bauer walked out of a room in the hallway, immediately spotting Sidney and Jack. He was startled and began to bark. Misty spun around at Bauer’s outburst and let out a yell when she saw them standing there. In her shock, she took a step back and went right over the top of the ottoman that was behind her, landing on her ass with a thud.

“Misty!” Sidney called rushing over to see if she was okay.

He found her laying on her back, legs still over the ottoman laughing. He cracked a smile and began to laugh too. He held out a hand that she took and helped her up. She moved over to the dock for her iPod and turned the music off.

“For fuck’s sake, Crosby, why am I always on my ass around you?” she asked, still laughing.

“I can’t answer that for you. No wine this time. Sorry about scaring you. I tried to knock and call for you, but the music was too loud,” he explained.

“Nice moves,” Jack cracked from behind him. Misty turned to him and grinned.

“You must be Jack. Sidney’s told me a lot about you,” she said walking over to Jack and holding out her hand. He took it and instead of just shaking it, he brought it up to his lips and placed a kiss on the back of her hand. “I like him,” she said, a giant grin on her face.

“He’s told me a lot about you too. We were actually going to grab some lunch and go fishing after. Would you want to come?” Jack invited her, turning on the charm. Sidney wanted to gag.

“I’d love to!” Misty exclaimed. She was eating it up. Typical, Sidney thought. Jack’s charm worked on every girl.

“I won’t even make you touch the worms we’ll use as bait,” he said giving her a wink. Sidney started to get annoyed.

“I thought you said Sidney told you a lot about me?” she asked glancing over at Sidney for the first time since Jack had spoken to her.

“He did,” Jack said in confusion, but still keeping the charm in place.

“Obviously not if you think I’m too prissy to put my own worm on a hook,” she shot at him. Sidney laughed as Jack’s cool demeanor fell.

“I-I wasn’t trying-I didn’t mean to imply that you couldn’t,” he stuttered. She grinned back up at him.

“Relax, Jacky, I’m just messing with you.” She turned to look at Sidney. “Are you leaving Sam at home?”

“That was the plan,” Sidney replied.

“Think she’d like company?”

Sidney nodded as he looked down at Bauer who was currently sitting at his feet, practically begging for attention. He obliged and gave him a pat on the head before they piled into the car, grabbing lunch to take with them and heading back to Sidney’s.










“Winner, right here!” I called pointing at myself as I beamed down at the fish I’d caught.

“It figures we’d lose to a chick,” Jack lamented. He handed over the $20 he owed me. Sidney laughed and continued to drive the boat back home. We’d made a bet over who would catch the biggest fish. To their amazement, it had been me.

“I used to fish all the time,” I told them, taking a sip of my beer.

“When?” Sidney asked from his seat.

“From the time I was old enough until I was 11. My grandparents lived on a lake and my grandfather always took me fishing. It was kind of like our thing. He died when I was 11 and I haven’t been fishing since. Until today.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sidney said. I shrugged.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. I’m glad I came today. It made me remember all those good times.”

“What? Did you kick his ass in fishing competitions too?” Jack joked. I laughed and smacked him lightly on the arm.

We headed back to Sidney’s where we hung out a bit longer before I got tired and decided to head home. Sid and Jack dropped me off at home and I collapsed on the couch as soon as I got inside. Bauer curled up at my feet, exhausted from playing with Sam all day. I’d liked Jack a lot and he and Sidney were hilarious together. They’d promised that we’d hang out again soon and I was really looking forward to it.