Fic: Story of a Life Time 1/3 Adam/Kris
Part One
Adam filled a bowl with pieces of fruit, grabbed a yogurt from the refrigerator, and his coffee from the kitchen table as he headed out to the small deck to eat his breakfast. He'd been in Brookton three days and so far what he found most interesting was the cute guy in the house opposite his on the small lake. That was the reason Adam was having both breakfast and dinner outside. Adam had discovered that the man went out for a swim first thing in the morning and in the late evening. The vacation home had no television, so Adam had quickly designated leering at his neighbor twice a day as his entertainment.
Of course, he'd have to find something else to write his story about, since he was reasonably sure Lee wouldn't accept a story about him stalking hot locals. He'd spent most of his time here, that wasn't spent watching his neighbor, just talking to a few locals and checking out a couple of the shops on main street. Today was the day he'd have to delve into local attractions, first on his list was jet skiing. It was at least something he'd done before. Not since he was a teenager on family vacations but it was somewhat familiar. Then he'd try fishing, which just seemed generally unpleasant. Next Friday he'd go to the festival, he couldn't remember the reason for it but the girl at the grocery store said they had it every year. With any luck the man he was currently ogling would be there as well. That had the potential to make his month here not completely suck.
He watched the man pull himself onto the long dock and towel himself off, before heading into his house. As soon as he disappeared from sight, Adam took his breakfast dishes and put them in the dishwasher. A few minutes to check in with Brad, who had made him promise to do so every morning so he'd know Adam hadn't drowned himself in the lake, and then he'd shower and head to the hardware store to rent a jet ski.
~~~**~~~
"You sure you don't want to take lessons first?" The girl behind the counter asked, eyeing Adam with obvious skepticism. "We have a class starting in a couple hours."
"I'll be fine," Adam insisted. "I've done this before." And he had. He was just leaving out that it'd been nearly fifteen years. He was sure he could handle it though, if he and Neil managed as teenagers it couldn't be that difficult.
"If you're sure," the girl said, still sounding unsure.
"Don't worry," Adam assured her with a smile. "If anything is unfamiliar I'll quit and call you to sign up for a class, okay?"
"And you want it until Friday, right?" She asked.
"Yep, if that's okay?"
"Of course it is," she said, returning his smile and pushing a pile of papers in front of him. "This is the rental agreement, the insurance papers, and a waiver releasing us from responsibility if you get injured, and another saying you waived the class and are taking responsibility for knowing how to operate it correctly. Just read them all over and sign them when you're ready. Let me know if you have any questions."
Adam nodded and started going through the papers while she moved on to help the woman that had just come in. He scanned the forms quickly signing each as he got to the end of them. Nothing new or surprising in them, and nothing he was overly concerned about. The girl returned to him just as he finished the last of the papers. He slid them across the counter so they were in front of her.
"Any questions?"
"Nope. I think I got it all," Adam answered.
"Okay, Jim pulled your jet ski and trailer to the front, he's waiting out there in case you need help hooking up the trailer, and he has your keys," she said, as she placed the papers into a folder and set it on a table behind her. "I'll see you on Monday."
"Thanks," Adam said, as he headed outside to meet Jim. He hadn't even thought about the need to hook a trailer up to his car. Did he even have a trailer hitch?
As it turned out he did have one, and Jim had it hooked up and ready to go by the time he got outside. He also gave Adam a few more last minute instructions on using the Jet Ski and securing it back on the trailer when he was ready to return it. Adam was beginning to feel self conscious that everyone in this hardware store seemed to feel he was incompetent to deal with something as simple as a jet ski. All the concern did convince him to wait until morning to go out though and spend the rest of the day doing some research on jet skiing, and maybe a little on his other stories as well if there was time. He did have until Monday morning anyway so there wasn't any real rush to get out on the water.
~~~**~~~
"You're kidding me, right?" Neil said, not even trying to contain his laughter.
"No," Adam snapped. He really should've known better than to call his brother. "It's really not that funny."
"When was the last time you did anything more athletic in the water than lay on a float and get sunburned?"
"Fuck you," Adam sighed, he certainly wasn't going to admit Neil was right. "So are you going to help me or not?"
"I haven't done it any more recently than you have," Neil admitted. "I have no idea. Don't they offer classes or something?"
"Yes," Adam muttered. "They do."
"Then take the class," Neil suggested. "The magazine's paying, right?"
"They are," Adam agreed. "But I already insisted I didn't need the class, no way am I admitting I do now."
"Then you're on your own, sorry," Neil said, not sounding anywhere near sorry.
"Don't you know anyone that does it?"
"It's nearly midnight," Neil pointed out. "And you want a lesson in Jet skis by morning. So no, I don't know anyone that can help."
"Fine," Adam sighed. "I'll figure it out myself in the morning."
"Good luck," Neil said laughing again.
Adam hung up the phone, calling Neil for help with this was a bad idea. Calling Neil for help with anything was a bad idea, really. He just had no idea who else to ask. None of his friends did this kind of thing. He'd gotten as far as he could on Google but still wasn't completely confident, but he'd figure it out as he went. It was late and if he was going to get an early start as planned, he needed to get to bed now or he'd oversleep and end up being out on the water when the sun was at its worst and he'd end up looking like a freckled tomato by the time he was done.
~~~**~~~
Adam looked warily at the Jet Ski sitting in the water next to the dock. The smart thing to do would be to go back in the house and call to arrange going to today's class. Doing that would waste another whole day though and he really didn't want to do that. Taking a deep breath he checked once again to make sure he'd turned it on before backing it into the water as Jim had instructed. He mentally checked off each item that the instructions he'd found online said to do to get started. He sighed in relief when the motor kicked in and he started to move forward. Everything was going the way it should. Once he was out in the lake it would all be easy.
The lake wasn't that large so once he got the hang of controlling his speed and direction Adam decided to ride along the perimeter of the lake, or as close to it as he could get and stay far enough out to avoid any kids playing or people swimming. He was even pretty sure if his luck held out he'd make it back home in time to watch the stranger across from him have his morning swim. Smiling Adam sped up slightly wanting to do his best to make it back in time for his morning ogling and to avoid the lake being busy with kids, swimmers, boats, and other jet skis.
As Adam was finishing his trip around the lake and was turning to head to his own dock from the one belonging to the man. Adam saw him come out of his house and head toward the lake with a towel in hand. As the Jet Ski turned and was aimed at his dock, Adam turned his head to watch the man walk down his own dock. He saw the man stop moving and stare at Adam for a moment. Adam frowned, and started to turn back, before the man pegged him as some creepy stalker.
"Watch out!" Adam heard someone shout and started to turn to see where the voice was coming from. "The dock!" It was the man on the dock shouting at him.
Adam snapped his head around to the front just in time to see the dock approaching way too fast for him to miss it. The Jet Ski hit the dock and Adam fell sideways into the water, as he heard the wood of the dock splinter. A piece of wood snapping off the dock flying toward him as he tried to swim out of the way, but was too late as it hit his head.
~~~**~~~
Adam's head hurt, and he was pretty sure he was on a couch. He knew why he had the headache, the last thing he remembered was a plank of wood from the dock flying toward his head. So, he guessed the fact that he was on a couch and not floating dead or unconscious in the lake was a good thing, but the couch was damn tiny. At least it was too tiny for him to be comfortable lying on. It didn't feel like his couch or the one at his rental anyway, so now he had no idea where he was.
The first step was to open his eyes, until he did that he was never going to figure out where he was. Hopefully, he was in a dark room so he wouldn't regret this first move. He slowly opened his eyes only to close them as quickly as possible when the bright light from the window across from him flooded his vision.
"Fuck!" he muttered. That was a bad idea. Maybe whoever's couch he was on wouldn't mind if he just spent the rest this trip laying here with his eyes closed-or at least until dark.
"Good," a voice said from a distance, but moving closer. "You're awake. I was beginning to think I'd have to try to convince the doctor to make a house call."
"I'm sure I'll be fine," Adam assured him. "As long as I never have to be exposed to light again."
"Sorry." Adam listened to the man moving around the room and the rustling fabric that he assumed were curtains being closed. Finally, a small click near Adam and the man saying, "It should be better now."
Adam slowly opened his eyes again, this time to a mostly dark room, just one small lamp on the table behind the couch offering a little bit of light. Enough light that he could see whose home he was in. Normally finding himself in a cute guy's home would make him happy, but considering it was the man he'd spent most of the week ogling, and who had seen him run a jet ski into a dock and nearly drown, it wasn't the best possible scenario for him.
"Fuck!" Adam muttered again. "Could things get any worse?"
"You could've crashed the jet ski when no one was outside and drowned?" The man suggested helpfully.
"Not sure that's worse than being rescued by-" Adam trailed off, did he actually want to admit to what had happened.
"The guy you've been not so subtly watching for days?" The guy asked.
"You noticed?" Adam asked. This was just getting more embarrassing. He'd hoped he'd only been caught watching today.
"If I hadn't before, I would've today."
Adam really didn't want to continue this conversation lying down, or at all really, but if it must continue he needed to sit. He started to push himself up and was hit by a wave of nausea so he lowered himself back down the few inches he'd managed before it hit.
"You really need to see a doctor."
"No," Adam insisted. He did not need to recount his incompetence to someone else. "I don't. Can you just help me sit?" Between the two of them they got Adam into a sitting position but Adam had to close his eyes again to fight of the dizziness and nausea.
"This is ridiculous. You need a doctor," the guy insisted. "Do you think you can handle a ride into town? Or should I see if the doctor can come out here?"
"I can-"Adam said as he stubbornly tried to get himself on his feet before collapsing back in another wave of nausea. "Walk."
"Yeah, I can see that." Adam lay back down on the couch as he listened to the man calling the doctor. "Hi, Susan, it's Kris. Is there any chance Doctor Hardison can come out here. There was a Jet Ski accident and-No, no. I'm fine. It was the man renting the house across the lake. He hit his head pretty hard." A brief pause and then, "Thanks so much."
"I said I could walk," Adam pouted.
"Yes, and I could tell how true that was by the way you fell the second you got to your feet."
Adam watched Kris pace the room, waiting for the doctor. Up close he was even cuter than Adam had thought from the safety of his own deck. Something about him was also familiar. Not someone he'd met, maybe he'd just seen his picture or something. He couldn’t quite place why or where though.
"Kris," Adam said when Kris stopped pacing for a few seconds. "Can I ask you a question?"
Adam saw Kris stiffen for a moment before he answered. "I might not answer."
Adam decided to take that for consent. "Are you from Los Angeles? You look familiar."
"No, I'm from Arkansas," Kris said, visibly relaxing as he answered. "Do I get to know your name?"
Adam considered telling him no, don't let Kris put a name to his stalker. But Kris didn't seem bothered by Adam's creeper tendencies so he answered. "Adam."
"Not that I don't appreciate it," Adam said as he walked into his kitchen followed by Kris. "But I'll be fine here."
"You have a concussion," Kris pointed out, sitting down at the small table. "The doctor said you need someone to watch you for the next couple days."
"I don't want to be an inconvience," Adam said as he unplugged his laptop and put into its case. "I can set an alarm to wake me up every hour or something."
"Will you call an ambulance for yourself too, if you don't wake up?" Kris asked, then smirked and added. "Look at it this way, for the next two days you'll have a much closer view of my morning swim."
"Oh God!" Adam said, blushing and avoiding looking at Kris. "You're never going to let that go are you?"
"Not any time soon, no."
"I'm going to go grab clothes for the next couple days," Adam said, as he headed up the stairs to the second floor. "I'll be right back."
Once upstairs he grabbed his duffle bag and filled it with clothes and necessities he's need for the weekend. He took his time, not because he was that concerned about what to wear, but he needed a few minutes alone to get his thoughts together. Things were really not going as planned at all, starting with his stalking Kris without Kris knowing. He could hardly spend his mornings and evenings watching Kris swim now that he knew him.
Of course, he could turn that horror into a plus and actually find a way to spend time with Kris while he was here. A vacation fling could definitely make the next week and half less boring. Kris hadn't seemed at all upset over Adam's spying on him so it was possible he'd be interested. Adam still hadn't figured out why Kris looked familiar to him though. It was really nagging at him, but he just couldn’t place it. Kris didn't seem to know him though, which narrows it down some, it's obviously not someone he'd worked with, or interviewed or anything. Kris had said he wasn't from L.A. but maybe he'd visited or something and Adam had run into him in a club or restaurant.
"Adam," Kris yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "Everything okay?"
"Be right down," Adam answered, putting the last of his toiletries in the bag and slinging it over his shoulder, grabbing his phone as he went back downstairs.
"You have cell service out here?" Kris asked, eyeing the phone. "I don't get any at my place so-"
"No service," Adam admitted, putting the phone in his pocket, "But all my contacts are in so I'll still need it."
Kris nodded his understanding. "If you're ready we can run into town for dinner. With all the excitement today I forgot to take anything out."
"Sounds good."
~~~**~~~~
"So, why were you out on that jet ski anyway?" Kris asked, as the waitress walked away after bringing their food to the table. "You really didn't have a clue what you were doing."
"I was fine until I got distracted," Adam answered, smirking. "I could probably make a case that it's your fault I crashed."
"You could barely control that thing from the minute you left the dock," Kris argued. "I had nothing to do with it."
"I was doing great until I saw you!" Adam's eyes narrowed as a smile spread across his face. "You were watching me?"
"I uhh…well-" Kris stammered, a blush creeping across his cheeks.
"Looks like I'm not the only stalker here," Adam said reaching over and taking a fry from Kris' plate.
"I wasn't watching you," Kris protested. "Well, I was today, but only because you looked like you were having a lot of trouble with it."
"So you thought you'd come outside and make me crash into the dock?"
"Of course not," Kris objected. "I didn't think you'd forget what you were doing just because I was outside. Did you even answer my question?"
"Probably not." Now it was Adam's turn to blush. He'd completely forgotten the original question when the chance to flirt, even a little, opened up. "What was it?"
"Why were you trying to jet ski?" Kris repeated.
"I'm trying to get the 'full experience' of vacationing here," Adam answered. "The real estate lady mentioned Jet skis and fishing so I thought I'd try both."
Kris raised an eyebrow but didn't respond right away. It gave Adam a chance to once again try to figure out where he knew him from. He was sure he'd seen him before. He met so many people when he was researching stories it's possible he'd interviewed him and didn't remember. He'd have to ask Brad. He'd know if Adam had met him for anything magazine related, although Adam doubted that because he was sure he'd remember Kris, no matter how short the meeting.
"Why?" Kris asked, pulling Adam out of his thoughts. "You don't look like the type to vacation here."
"I'm not," Adam admitted. "Really, really not. But my editor assigned me this story. Apparently the magazine staff was threatening to quit if I didn't lighten up, so Lee sent me out here for two weeks."
The smile fell from Kris' face and Adam could see his body stiffen at the mention of the magazine. "What kind of story?"
"The perfect vacation getaway or something," Adam clarified. "It got me to go somewhere and relax for a while and saved the magazine from a massive walk out."
"Oh," Kris said, relaxing slightly. "So, not some big investigative story? Just how awesome small towns are?"
"Exactly."
~~~**~~~
"Do you really think I can tell you if you've ever met someone based on a first name and 'he's cute'?" Brad asked, not even trying to hide his annoyance. "It's not even like it's an unusual first name."
"It was worth a try," Adam sighed, speaking as quietly as possible in case Kris came out of the shower faster than Adam expected.
"And how do even know it's someone you interviewed? You go clubbing almost every weekend," Brad pointed out. "You could've met him at a club or something."
"I'd remember that," Adam sighed. "Although I don't know, it may not be someone I interviewed either. He reacted really weird when I said I was writing an article."
"All depends how wasted you were at the time," Brad argued. "So you think he's concerned about you investigating something? Like a town secret maybe?"
"Maybe," Adam said hesitantly. "I don't know. I've talked to a lot of people here and been open about writing a story and he's the only one that reacted like that."
"Maybe he's the story?" Brad suggested.
"Possibly," Adam answered, just as the shower shut off. "So you'll look into it?"
"I need a last name," Brad pointed out again, sounding annoyed. "Or a picture, if he is the story, I might be able to find out who he is with a picture."
"I'll see what I can do," Adam said, as he heard footsteps in the hall. "And I've got to go."
"Email it to me and I'll check with your sources."
"Bye, Brad," Adam said and disconnected the call just as Kris came in the room.
"You didn't need to hang up," Kris said, as he sat down on the couch. "You could've asked me to leave the room if you wanted to talk longer."
"Oh, no," Adam corrected quickly. "He's my assistant. I just need him to look into something for me."
"Well then, did you need to work on your story?" Kris asked, "If not, we could watch a movie, unless you wanted to sleep. I was just figuring with the having to be woken up very couple hours staying up late might not be a bad idea."
"Movie sounds good," Adam agreed, he wasn't actually tired anyway. It was still early. It also gave him more time to study Kris, and he'd work on convincing himself it was just to figure out why he looked familiar.
"Movies are over there," Kris said standing up and gesturing toward a bookshelf filled with DVDs, "You choose, and I'll get the snacks."
When Kris disappeared into the kitchen Adam shut off his computer and went to browse the movies. As he looked through them for something he'd like, since he assumed if they were here Kris liked them, he saw a photo sitting on one of the shelves, it was just a snapshot, unframed, of Kris and an older couple, Adam assumed his parents. A picture of a picture wasn't perfect but maybe Brad could work with it. Adam quickly pulled his phone from his pocket and took a picture. He'd have to send it to Brad in the morning when he could transfer the image to his laptop.
"Find something?" Kris asked. Adam turned his head and saw Kris in the doorway with chips and beer and a bottle of water for Adam.
"Oh yeah," Adam said, grabbing a random movie from the shelf. "Let's watch this one." He held up the movie case as he went to the TV to start the movie.
~~~**~~~
Adam could smell coffee, and bacon, it was a great way to wake up. Well, it would've been better if his neck and back weren't sore from falling asleep on the couch. He pushed the blanket off of his legs, Kris must have put it on him the last time he'd come out to check on him. They'd actually watched a couple movies and spent a long time talking before he'd fallen asleep and Kris had abandoned him for his bed. Kris had offered the guestroom, every time he came out to check on Adam but at the time he was sleeping comfortably and didn't want to get up. In retrospect he's had smarter ideas. He followed the smell of breakfast and coffee into the kitchen where found Kris busy at the stove.
"You know if you make me breakfast like this I may not want to go back to my place on Friday, right?" Adam asked leaning on the doorjamb. "It smells delicious."
"It's just bacon and scrambled eggs," Kris said, turning to look at him and smiling. "I make it most mornings."
"And I usually have yogurt and fruit," Adam admitted.
"I do have some oranges and apples if you prefer?" Kris offered.
"Hell no! I wasn't complaining," Adam said moving closer to glance at the pans on the stove. He couldn’t remember the last time he'd had a real breakfast. "Do you need any help?"
"No, I can manage," Kris said, flipping the bacon over. "It is going to be a little while though if you want to shower or anything."
"Be back in a few minutes then."
At Kris' nod of agreement Adam went to shower, grabbing his laptop on his way back through the living room. He went first to the guest room Kris had shown him when they'd first gotten home after dinner and quickly set up the computer and transferred the photo he'd taken yesterday and emailed it to Brad. Then he grabbed fresh clothes and went to shower.
Adam showered and dressed quickly, so that he could check his email before breakfast. Not that he thought Brad would answer this quickly but he just couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he should know Kris. He was just shutting down his computer, when Kris called him for breakfast.
"Coffee?" Kris asked, as Adam walked into the kitchen, hair still damp from the shower.
"Please," Adam said as he sat down at the table. "You really cook like this every day?"
"Yep," Kris said nodding as he handed Adam a cup and slid into the seat across from him. "After my swim."
"Damn, I missed your morning swim?" Adam asked, pretending to pout.
"And you could've seen it up close," Kris responded smirking. "How's your head today?"
"Better, still a slight headache, but the dizziness and stuff is gone," Adam admitted.
"What did you have planned for today?"
"Well, I had planned on Jet skiing all weekend, but obviously that isn’t going to happen," Adam said. Then he realized he'd never asked about the Jet Ski, it had completely slipped his mind with meeting Kris, and the doctor visit. "Where is the Jet Ski?"
"I called Jim to come and get it yesterday while you were still out," Kris explained. "It wasn't horribly damaged. It still runs and everything, but they will be charging your card to repair the damage that did happen."
"And I’m sure the realtor will also be charging me to replace that dock," Adam sighed. Lee was going to be so pissed when he got the bills for this trip.
"Yeah, probably."
They both finished their breakfast in silence. Adam offered to clean up since Kris had cooked. They ended up compromising with Adam washing the dishes while Kris dried and put them away. Adam kept glancing over at Kris. Last night they'd discovered a lot of the same interests, at least in music and movies. Not as much in other hobbies though. He'd also learned that Kris had been living in Brookton for two years. That had been as far as Adam could get Kris to share about anything personal. A fact that only made Adam more curious who this man was. He was starting to more and more think that Kris was the story in Brookton, not that he was protecting something about the town at all. The reporter in him was dying to hear back from Brad and discover Kris' secret.
The man in him though, really didn't care what Kris was hiding. He'd been attracted to him before he met him. Adam wasn't even going attempt to lie and pretend Kris wasn't exactly his type. After meeting Kris and getting a chance to talk to him about something other than his idiotic head injury and stalking habits, he'd become even more attracted to him, and even could add the bonus of truly liking the man.
"You said you wanted to try fishing too, right?" Kris asked as he was putting the frying pan away.
"Yeah, I was going to try it after I finished with the Jet Ski on Monday," Adam asked, rinsing the soap off of his hands and turning off the sink. "Why?
"Do you have more experience with fishing than you do Jet Skis?" Kris asked.
"Less."
Kris raised an eyebrow in question. "Less? How is that even possible?"
"The closet to catching a fish I've ever done is to choose the one I want to buy at the market," Adam admitted.
"Do you want to try it today?" Kris asked. "I have a boat in the garage. You'll be more likely to catch something than you will from the dock. And it'd be a lot safer than you trying to drive a boat if your Jet Ski skills are anything to judge by."
Adam faked a pout when Kris smirked at him, as he brought up Adam's boating skills. Going out on a boat with Kris to fish did sound more interesting than sitting on a dock alone trying to figure out fishing. Plus, it was more time to spend with Kris.
"Sure" Adam agreed nodding. "We do need to go to the hardware store and rent me supplies or whatever."
"I have an extra pole," Kris said. Then glancing down at the old sweats he'd pulled on after he got out of the lake. He also glanced at Adam's own clothes before adding, "Just give me a few minutes to shower and dress. And you might want to change into something that can get wet."
Kris disappeared into the bathroom with a pile of clothes while Adam went to change into something more appropriate for a day on a boat, and hoped he'd remembered to bring sunscreen. Adam also took a second to make sure Brad hadn't emailed him back yet. He hadn't. Adam really wouldn't be surprised if it was Monday before Brad got back to him. Brad's workload would be lighter with Adam gone and checking on something personal for him was probably not top priority. Brad wasn't as interested in knowing who Kris was as Adam was.
Adam sat on the bench at the back of boat, watching the end of the fishing line for any sign of movement. While he may have sucked at Jet Skiing it was at least interesting. This was possibly the most boring thing he'd ever done in his life. Kris had even said he couldn't turn on music, unless he had his iPod with him, which he didn't. Kris said the noise would scare the fish away. He could also feel the sunburn developing every minute they were out here.
The only positive side of being out here all day was Kris. They'd talked a lot, although Adam could feel the tension radiating off of Kris every time he asked about anything personal that related to his life before he moved out here. He also had a long time to enjoy the view of Kris without a shirt, because unlike Adam, Kris wasn't worried about the skin damage of spending the day out here.
"What are you doing?" Adam asked, as he watched Kris remove a fish from his line and toss it back into the water.
"Too small to keep," Kris answered shrugging.
"So all this time out here and the one fish we caught, you don't want?" Adam asked in a mixture of confusion and anger.
"Yeah," Kris answered, casting his own line again. "It's too small to eat, and there's no point in killing it to throw it in the trash at home."
"Oh," Adam sighed, "That makes sense. How long have we been out here? Shouldn't it be getting dark by now?"
"It's not even noon yet. Are you really that bored?" Kris asked glancing back at him. "Do you want to go back?"
"Is there a point in staying out here longer?" Adam asked honestly curious. A lot of people seemed to really like fishing, so maybe he was missing its appeal. "Other than seeing just how red my skin can turn."
"You aren't that sunburned," Kris said, turning to look at Adam. "You used SPF 500 or something didn't you?"
"One hundred," Adam said with a frown, as he looked once again at Kris' dark tan. "We can't all have perfect skin and a perfect tan. Some of us will always be freckly red heads no matter what."
"I think the freckles are cute," Kris said, pulling his line from the water and sitting next to Adam. He held his hand out for Adam to hand over his line. "We can leave though, if you want. It wasn't like I planned to do this today. You just said you needed to try all the things that attract people to vacation here."
Adam handed his fishing pole over to Kris. "I did. And I'm sure it was better out here with you than sitting here doing this alone. At least I had you to talk to. This whole quiet summer on the lake thing just isn't me."
Kris reeled in Adam's empty line and set the pole next to his own. "Okay, so fishing and jet skiing aren't your thing. Are you sure there's nothing at all here you might enjoy? We do have more than just fishing."
"I doubt it," Adam admitted. "I'm really more into clubs, music, and dancing. Not family picnics and quiet days on the lake."
"Well, lack of a family, does make it hard to enjoy family picnics," Kris agreed, grinning. "What about hiking? There's a trail not far from here."
"Close enough to count it as an attraction to vacationing here?" Adam asked. Hiking wasn't necessarily his thing, but it was at least more interesting than fishing.
"Definitely," Kris said nodding and moving to start the boat back up. "Want to try it?"
"Today?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow. He felt better than he had yesterday but he still had a headache and spending the entire morning in the sun hadn't helped.
"I think that might be pushing the acceptable activity level for the day after a head injury," Kris said as the boat started moving. "I was thinking tomorrow morning. We can get another early start and bring lunch."
"Like a date?" Adam asked. The question was half joking because he found that making Kris blush was another amusing way to pass the time here. But it was also half serious because he really did like Kris.
"If that's what you want to call it," Kris answered with a quick glance back. Adam grinned at the blush creeping up Kris' cheeks.
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