“I’ve got the net,” Seth said, coming up beside Tori. “Bring him up and I’ll scoop him.”
I watched as Tori struggled with the reel, but it was a good struggle—like she enjoyed the challenge the fish was posing her. Nicole stood beside her, cheering her on, and Seth squatted with the net in anticipation. Naomi and Chad stood beside me, watching as Tori pulled a two-foot fish out of the water. Seth scooped it and handed the net to Tori as they peered into it.
“Holy shit!” Nicole squealed.
“What is it? A rainbow?” Vince asked.
“Striped bass!” Tori said, a sheen of sweat across her brow as she held it up proudly.
“He’s a big bitch, too,” Seth said.
“I’ve caught bigger,” Vince said, but everyone ignored him.
Holding up my phone, I directed Tori to hold her fish for a few photos. She held its belly in one hand and its head in the other and smiled for the camera. Her hair was messy from the wind, her cheeks flushed by the effort, and her smile so wide that one couldn’t help but grin right along with her. I snapped a handful of photos and wished I’d been snapping them all this time.
Tori leaned forward, giving me a big smacking kiss. “I should be the one giving you a congratulatory kiss,” I joked.
“You did.” She gave me her soft, gentle smile. Yeah, there was no fucking way I’d say goodbye at the end of this week and go on my merry way, unaffected.
“What are you going to do with him?” Nicole asked as Tori turned away and lowered herself on the deck.
“Let him go.”
“What?” Vince hollered. “That’s crazy! No one releases fish that size.”
“I guess I’ll be the first one.” Tori shrugged.
“It’s not like we have a grill back in the hotel room,” I reminded Vince.
“Whatever,” he said, shaking his head. “Stupid.”
“Hey, chill,” Seth said, his tone far more controlled than mine would have been, had I replied. “It’s not your fish, why do you even care?”
“Because it’s a big one. People don’t catch and release bass that size.”
“Sure they do,” Chad added.
Tori put the fish back in the water and let it go, seemingly ignoring Vince’s objections.
“Time to head back to the hotel,” Seth said more to me than anyone else.
“Yeah, today was a fucking bust.” Vince was clearly disgruntled. He raised his stainless bottle to his mouth, but nothing poured out. I watched, as if it happened in slow motion, as he chucked the bottle across the boat in frustration. It bounced off the decking and came dangerously close to the back of Nicole’s head with a quick, “Look out!” by Seth before Tori thought fast and swatted it away in the water.
“What the fuck?” Seth roared, smacking Vince square in the chest.
The smack seemed to mentally wake Vince up. His eyes went wide and he straightened. “Shit, Nicole, I’m so sorry.”
Nicole didn’t say anything. She just looked up at Seth, her happy mood sobered.
“You need to get it together,” Tori said softly, causing us all to turn toward her. “You could have really hurt her.”
“I fucking know that,” Vince said flatly. “I apologized. It’s been a long day; can we just go back to the hotel?”
Tori and I exchanged glances and she exited the back deck of the boat to join Naomi where she sat with Nicole in the front.
I slid behind the steering wheel and headed toward shore. Throughout the ride, Seth would glance at Vince as he sat in the seat closest to the women, as if somehow he could protect them from Vince.
When we made it back, Nicole was the first one off, followed quickly by Naomi and Tori. Vince got off after and headed toward the bathrooms, while Chad stayed back to help me secure the boat to the trailer. Seth jumped out of the truck after parking it and pinned me with a serious look. “Naomi is right, we’ve got to talk to him sooner than later. Because that shit?” He pointed out at the water. “Cannot happen again.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “Fuck.” I dragged a hand down my face. I wished I had experience with confronting someone with behavior like this, but the last time I’d been around someone who had a substance abuse problem had been my dad.
“Maybe after the funeral on Friday, we’ll go out for dinner. Have a chat.”
“He might stomp off,” Chad said.
I nodded, agreeing. “But I think that’s a risk we have to take. His behavior