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Meg sat down on the pier hard. Her hands shook as she grasped the ropes, closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. "I can do this." Opening her eyes she wrapped the rope around one piling before standing up and moving to one at the front of the boat. "I can do this." Nodding at the boat she looked one more time to make sure it wasn't taking on water before she walked quickly to the pick-up truck and pulled it away from the ramp. "So far, so good." She parked it without issue and returned to her boat. "I WILL do this. I WILL get out and back." She climbed down into the boat and checked one more time to make sure she had everything she wanted with her. Marine radio, cell phone, sun screen, hat, GPS, bait, fishing rods, cooler, drink cooler, snacks, camera, e-reader, paddles (please don't let me need them), tow-rope, (I don't know how to tow anyone), and extra life-vests. What else could I have forgotten? Everything was secure so Meg lowered the engine into the water and turned the ignition. Satisfied that she wasn't going to get stranded in the channel, she untied from the dock and backed out slowly. Knowing she was a novice, she was careful to follow the rules of the waterways and try to give wide berth to the more experienced boaters.

Once out in the open water, Meg kept an eye on the GPS-fish finder. "Not too difficult. Stay in water deeper than the engine is going to draft. Why are you talking to yourself?" A smirk crossed her face. Suddenly a large school of fish appeared on the screen. "Hot damn!" She cut the engine and baited her line as quickly as she could. Dropping her line she looked at the screen again. "Dammit!" The school was gone. Meg began to reel her line back in when her rod bent over. Something big had struck! She flipped the reel exactly the way she was supposed to, having been fishing with her ex-husband many times before. The line spun as the fish raced away. Meg held the rod with one hand and locked it between her thighs as she fired up the engine. "This is when it really bites that I am fishing alone. I need another set of hands!" She looked around and saw another boat headed her direction. Recognizing the three occupants on board, she swore. "That doesn't help." She glared at the men headed her way. Looking at the fish running with her line, she turned in that direction and hoped they'd leave her alone. Giving the engine a little gas, she followed the fish and held the rod.

To her surprise, the other boat turned and cleared a path for her. Were they watching her? Why would they do that? They were HIS friends, not hers. "I can't think about this right now." Gripping the fishing rod more tightly, Meg tried to begin reeling in the monster.

"Don't! Just… Aw, hell! Wait a second!" Meg looked at the man who stood on the bow of the other boat that was now parallel with hers. Before she could question his orders, he said, "Hold steady. Don't jerk the wheel." The next thing she knew, the lunatic had done a hop/leap from one boat to the other. With a brief shake of his head and a thumbs-up to the men on the other boat, he stepped over her coolers and right up behind her. Meg was shocked when his arms surrounded her and grasped the wheel of the boat. "I've got the helm, so to speak. You go after that fish."

That sounds like a terrific plan. But the way you have your massive arms, I can't move. You have me and the pole stuck, right here between you and the steering wheel of the boat. Was that your plan or a happy accident? And why on God's gorgeous green bay are you helping me, the ex-wife of your friend? This doesn't make sense. I am confused. So confused. And I want this damn fish! Meg's thoughts raced as she reeled and released. "Smart fish. He's headed for the cove and the rocks." Before Meg could respond, her helper stepped closer and spoke in her ear. "Here's our plan to outsmart that fish." Is it the thrill of the chase? Does he want to catch this fish that badly? I know how competitive these guys can get.

The boat sped up with the companion boat flying past. "Why are you helping me?"

"You are asking why I'm helping his ex-aren't you?" Meg didn't answer. He expertly maneuvered the boat into the cove. "Damn fish. This is going to get tricky now." Meg began reeling for all she was worth. His arms were wrapped around her, holding on to the rod. "You concentrate on reeling him in. I'll hold the rod." The fish ran and the duo sidestepped along the boat. "For the record, I'm not helping his ex. I'm helping an old friend, someone I haven't seen in a while, and she's a damn fine lookin' woman." Meg glanced wide-eyed over her shoulder. "What? He might be stupid but I'm not blind. Now, focus woman. We've got a fish to catch. You need to keep reeling on that monster fish."

The boat rocked as another man climbed from the other boat onto hers. "Alright, kids. Break it up. Need to get closer to the fish, not each other." He took the helm and crept the boat closer to the fish while the duo continued reeling it in. "Anybody got a net?"

"How the hell could I forget a net?" Meg wailed.

Both men laughed. "It's what, your first time out here by yourself? You aren't going to remember everything. Fish finder and marine radio… that's impressive. Those are what usually get forgotten. Not sure what you thought you'd do with paddles on a boat this size by yourself, but you brought them."

"Ha, ha. You are so funny, Seth. So, so funny." Meg glared as she looked over the side of the boat. "I can see him." She whispered as if that would keep the fish from escaping.

"And Jay tossed me my net, so you are in luck. Watch the mouth, woman." He moved quickly to their side. "Dean, hold her steady." Meg felt the arms surrounding her sides squeeze tighter as the man behind her seemed to take a step closer. He pulled the fishing rod closer to her middle as she stared into the water.

The hands holding the rod seemed to readjust. Now the one fisted at the bottom of the fishing rod was placed firmly against her abdomen and his chest was plastered against her back. "Seth's got him, watch… watch…" He spoke directly into her ear. Seconds later the water erupted in a fury of angry monster fish fighting against the bonds of net. Meg was yanked away from the side and set on the back deck of her boat. She watched the two men turn the net upside down and hold the squirming fish against the bottom of the boat. "Just a… nother… minute… I've… got… the… hook." Dean pulled the well-set hook free from the striped-bass's mouth with the pliers that Jay had passed over. "Time for a picture and then toss it back." Meg stuck out her bottom lip. "Not gonna work, sweets. This monster is out-of-season. It goes back. Let's snap your picture and go." Meg shook her head and stood beside Dean. Seth snapped a picture of Dean holding the huge fish and then Dean laid the fish in the water. They watched it whirl and swim away.

"Good thing, look over there." Jay nodded towards the opening of the cove and at the Natural Resources Police that were headed their way.

"I guess I really owe you guys." Meg sighed. She turned to face the officers on the now-stopped police boat. "Good afternoon, officers."

"Good afternoon, ma'am. That was quite a catch you had. Fought you for a long time." one officer greeted. Meg realized that they had been observing from afar.

Jay realized that as well. "She took her picture and let it go. No trophies here."

Seth agreed. "We just watched it swim away, no harm no foul."

Dean continued, "I have the hook right here." He held it up as if to prove the massive animal had been released unharmed.

The officer harrumphed. "Gentlemen, we watched the catch-and-release process. We're aware that that bass was released unharmed. Are there any other fish on board?"

Meg spoke up. "No sir. I was lucky to catch that one on my first try. And even more lucky that these friends saw me and came over to help, otherwise I would have lost the fish and the rod." she acknowledged sheepishly. "I have to admit that I was over my head battling that fella."

Dean grasped her shoulder. "It was an experience. You'll learn. I doubt you'll forget a net next time." Meg grinned. "Is there anything else you need, officers?"

"Just a look into the live well." The smug look on the officer's face rubbed the friends the wrong way.

Meg immediately slipped past Seth and opened the hatch to the live well. "Nothing in here but heavy duty gloves – sorry Dean, I forgot about them – a scoop to add water to the well, my filet knife in its cute little leather cover, a measuring tape – I can't believe we didn't measure that fish, guys! – and some other assorted tooly things that I saw at the supply store that I thought might come in handy. These guys will probably laugh and tell me I wasted my money but I've not come out here alone before. I just know that when I was fishing with someone else and I caught an eel we needed a tool that we didn't have and I didn't want to be in that position again. I'm going to be ready."

The officer smirked again. "Except the live well is full of all that stuff, lady." He shook his head. "Just remember what is in season. We'll be around." They pulled away.

Meg looked at the live well. "The jerk has a point."

Seth and Dean peeked over her shoulders. "Yep. And you do have a lot of stuff you'll never need." Dean waved to Jay. The other man tossed a small duffle across. "Perfect. So, let's clear this out." Dean grabbed the stuff from his bag and shoved it into her bag. Meg cocked and eyebrow in confusion, not sure what the man was doing. Her sunscreen was now sitting on the driver's seat. The rest of her things were now buried underneath Dean's. Then he took her by her shoulders and moved her to the side so he could sit beside the live well. He emptied the well piece by piece into his duffle with the exception of the scoop. "See? Plenty of room for fish now."

Seth nodded at Dean. "So you're gonna keep an eye on her?"

"Yep."

"Good." He jumped back onto his boat. "How about heading over to the cliffs?"

Meg shrugged her shoulders. Dean looked down at her and told the other guys, "Sounds like a plan. We'll head that way." The other boat took off. "Your shoulders and nose are pink. It doesn't look like you got much sunscreen on yet." He picked up the bottle and squirted a glob in his hand. "You know better, Meg. The sun beats down and reflects off the water. It's a double-whammy." As he spoke his large sunscreen covered hands began to caress her shoulders. She seemed almost frozen as his fingers slid under the tank-top straps. His hands slid to her biceps, encircling her entire arm easily. "I don't want you to burn." He picked up the bottle and dumped more into his palm. Handing her the bottle, she wordlessly took it as she stared up at him. He rubbed it between his hands and then he started rubbing her face. She closed her eyes. "Good girl." When her mouth opened to retort, he caught her chin with his index finger. "Shh. Enjoy the pampering. Bet it didn't happen that often, did it?" Slowly his hands slid down to caress her neck as he spread the sunscreen across her skin. "This skin needs to be protected, not burned. And you need to be pampered." He took the bottle and gathered more sunscreen. "Meg…" He rubbed along the exposed skin at the top of her back. There was only one area that was left. He looked into her eyes as his hands slid to her collar bone. Meg held her breath and waited to see what Dean would do. Stepping closer, she could feel his breath breezing across her face. His index finger of his left hand seemed to brush both of her breasts as he pulled her top away from her skin just slightly. His right hand began again at her collar bone. "Such sensitive skin, this cannot burn." He skimmed across her chest and then murmured, "Tsk, tsk. First place I've left streaks. I guess I have to go over this again." This time he slowly caressed the area until he worked his way down to the gentle swell of her breasts. Finally breaking eye contact, Dean glanced down. "I don't think these have ever seen sunlight." His hand grazed the tops of her breasts, both of which were barely exposed by the tank top.

"D…D…D…Dean." Meg stuttered his name.

"Shhh. I'm just looking out for a friend." He whispered as he let go of her shirt.

"You know damn well you're doing more than that." Meg muttered as she stepped away from him.

Dean hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against his hip so he could whisper against the back of her head. "You are caught up in who his friends were."

"Are" she corrected.

"Were" he emphasized as he continued. "And you seem to see yourself as his ex. I see you as something else; someone I haven't seen in a long time. Before you were someone I couldn't touch because she belonged to another man. That's his loss. His loss is my gain. Because now… Now you are free. Now I can come after you. No need to tense up, friends is a fine place to start. I'm just making sure you recognize that it IS just a starting point."

As soon as he moved his arm she retreated to the back of the boat. "Dean," she whispered. "Dean, you can't know… You can't mean…"

"I know and I mean every word. I just needed the chance to say them to you. You deserve the time to think on them, mull them over." He seemed very confident as he spoke. He moved to the wheel of the boat and fired the engine. The conversation was obviously closed for the time being.

Meg pulled a fold-up side seat down and sat towards the back of the boat enjoying the breeze hitting her face. She knew Dean looked over his shoulder periodically to watch her but she kept her eyes averted. Think, Meg, think. This subject is obviously going to come up again… ha ha. Come up. You know what you felt. Dean is no slouch in that department! If he wanted to find a secluded cove and lay down in the bottom of the boat… MEG! Get your mind out of the gutter! She felt a flush creeping up her face. They were good friends. They were together so much. If anyone were to know about his girlfriend, it would have been Dean, Jay, and Seth. These guys would have been the ones covering for him. Dean's declarations now could be out of guilt. On the other hand… Meg, no, you can't dare to hope. Think about the age difference. Dean is so much younger than you are. You can't possibly entertain the idea! This time she let herself glance his way. It should have been just quick glance and that wouldn't have hurt, except that quick glance lingered. He is fine looking. Who wouldn't be enthralled by his curly dirty blond hair, that neatly trimmed golden beard, or the way his sunglasses glasses balanced on his nose? Meg continued mentally cataloging Dean's physical features; his broad shoulders, his thick, strong neck, and the muscles on his arms that were bared by his torn t-shirt sleeves. It would be so easy to fall into those arms and stare into those eyes. What color are they? Blue? Green? A mixture of blue and green? I can't tell from here. Wait, he's looking back at me! He's smiling at me! Panicked, Meg quickly jerked her head and looked back out over the water.

Dean's chuckle filled her ears. "Oh, Meg, Meg, Meg. You know you feel it too. Nothing to be ashamed of, sweetheart."

Her whispered denial was caught in the wind and carried to his ears, wiping the smile from his face. "I'm not ashamed. I'm confused by how fast this is moving. How fast I want… I could let…" She closed her eyes as she stopped speaking. She didn't see Dean's white-knuckle grip on the wheel. He cut back the speed of the boat and sat down in the driver's seat. "Meg, enjoy the afternoon. You were going to come out here fishing. That's what we are going to do. You, me, and the guys. We've all missed seeing you. We're catching up with an old friend. No pressure."

"But…"

Dean looked over his shoulder. "Promise. Today is all about friends and catching up." Meg nodded. "Look at me, Meg." He waited until he had eye contact. "Relax. It's all about fishing and fun. No pressure, not today. I promise. Just getting to know each other again." She nodded again. "You said moving too fast." He reached across the small boat and snagged hold of her hand. "Come closer, Meg." He widened his legs and braced his feet so he could guide her around to sit on his left thigh. He rested his left hand against her hip. Waves rolled the boat gently back and forth. They just sat together for a moment in silence, Meg on Dean's lap, boat barely making forward progress, neither one looking at the other. Meg could feel Dean's fingers pressing against her hip bone and threading into her belt loop. This is what it's supposed to feel like. But… "Don't go there, Meg. You think too hard. Enjoy the time, enjoy the day. We'll have some fun, make some memories, have some more great fishing tales… Then we'll worry about the other stuff. No need to ruin a good day fishing with other worries, right?" Shifted his hand and rubbed his thumb just under her left breast.

Meg let out a tiny gasp and tried to jump away but Dean had dropped his hand back down to lock her in place. "'Bout time you two got here!" Seth shouted. "We figured you'd buggered out."

"Nah, Meg needed sunscreen before we did anything else. We're set now." Dean explained.

"Women." Jay snorted. "Just slap on a cap and be done with it."

Seth rolled his eyes. "And that's why you'll never have a girlfriend. Well, one reason." He snorted and cast his line again.

Now that Dean had cut the motor, Meg was once again free from his grip. She looked at the sky and realized that the heat of the day was soon going to be upon them and she hadn't pulled the movable canopy up for shade. "Um, Dean? Would it be a good idea if I… If we put the canopy up now?" Together, the duo made quick work of the snap-in-place canopy that provided shelter from the heat of the day. They fished from the stern of the boat, ate in the shade, laughed with friends, and reminisced over times past.

It was Jay who finally broached the taboo topic. "Everyone says I have no tact so I'll do it. What the hell happened between the two of you anyway? If there was one couple I thought would go the distance, it was the two of you."

Meg shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You really don't know?"

Seth asked, "How the hell would we know?"

"You are his friends. You have to know something!" she snapped.

Dean looked Meg in the eye. "We don't know what happened." Meg thought he was starting to look upset that she didn't believe him. "The fact that you keep calling us his friends is getting old."

Meg reached for his arms, stroking them softly. "When… Before…" She closed her eyes. "In that other lifetime, you were his friends." She spoke softly. "That's how I got to know all of you. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have met." Meg opened her eyes and met the concerned gazes of each man. "He changed. You all saw it. Some commented on it. Somewhere along the line he got himself a girlfriend. He had a real, true girlfriend. Like he would leave early for work to be with her, come home late because he'd been with her, say he'd been at the fire house when he'd really been with her…"

"Oh, hell no."

"No, he didn't."

"There's no f-ing way!"

Meg turned and started talking towards the boat engine. "Yes, there is. Because she came to our house with her pregnancy test and a sex tape. He looked at me and shrugged and then asked, 'What do you want me to do? There's a baby. Get over it.' I didn't have a whole lot of choice. The whole situation made me sick. Then I wasn't sure who knew and who had been covering for him. Obviously there have been people covering for him since it had gone on this long, I just don't know who. I mean, he'd told stories about guys at work who had girlfriends and had gotten caught… They seem to shrug it off like it's no big deal. It is a big deal. People get hurt. It seems to me like there's massive fall-out and impact on many people's lives."

Dean grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards the guys. "He's the ass. His loss." Jay growled. "His fall-out to deal with."

Seth seconded the emotion. "We're here, Meg. We knew whatever went down was bad. You got us in the divorce."

Dean caressed her jaw. "See? We were his friends. He introduced us to you. Now we are yours. You get to keep us, boat with us, fish with us, feed us…" Meg giggled, drawing Dean in closer. "Someday he'll figure out what he gave up but by then it will be too late, because by then I won't be giving you up." Dean whispered against her cheek before pulling back, eyes blazing. More loudly he said, "I mean it, Meg. You'd better open up those coolers. Feeding time." Seth and Jay cheered.