9. Ambrose #2
“Got it!” Annabelle exclaimed and rushed to her feet as the fish popped out of the water.
A rainbow trout flapped around on her line, and I sympathized with the dangling creature.
I dropped my gaze to my shoes, wondering if she’d even heard me.
My tongue went drier than a desert might feel in summer, yet Annabelle said nothing.
“Quite the proposal, Mr. Somerset,” Zeth teased softly beside me.
I shot him an angry reprimand.
He shifted his fishing pole from one hand to the other, his eyes on the lake. “That was so romantic, my heart is practically melting. If you’re handing out lazy proposals, why not toss one at me? Oh, that’s right, because you don’t think I’m good enough for you.”
I let out a breath, baffled, and even Annabelle glanced over at us with curiosity as she wiggled the fish from her hook.
Zeth’s gaze rose to her too, and the man actually looked embarrassed for a moment before he corrected himself with a bored shrug. “Not good enough to be your friend, that is.”
It was too late. His cover-up didn’t hide what he really meant.
My jaw fell open again. I was starting to feel like the poor fish gasping in Anna’s fingers.
This whole time, Zeth thought I saw him as not good enough for me?
I had loved him, and judging by my emotional chaos since seeing him again, I was almost certain I’d never gotten over him.
Anger coiled in my stomach at the unfairness of his accusation. I stood to my feet, eyes fixed on his fake smile. I wanted to punch him.
“They say old friends can make the best partners,” Annabelle suddenly chimed in to sweetly advise before tossing her fish back in the water.
What in the world did she mean by that? I’d certainly never heard that saying before.
Zeth sighed deeply and set his pole down before standing to face me too. I couldn’t believe how hard his eyes glittered as he watched me fume, even though he spoke to her, “Be careful, Anna, old friends know exactly how to hurt you the most.”
“What are you going on about? You think I wasn’t hurt when you left Everdeen?” I snapped back, too furious to ignore him anymore.
Zeth’s gaze narrowed at me. “Oh, I’m sure you cried onto your quiche the first morning, and then quickly forgot about me before lunch.”
I tossed my pole to the ground and stepped forward, forcing him to retreat a squishy step into the waterlogged mud on the shore of the lake. That made Zeth squint with distaste, and before I knew it, I raised my arms and planted both my palms on his chest to push him forcefully into the water.
Zeth fell backward, but his hand curled in my vest and jerked me forward with him.
Suddenly I was falling too. My feet hit the slick mud first, and I only managed a few steps before I stumbled right into the water on top of Zeth.
We were a tangle of limbs, both struggling for purchase.
The water was still shallow enough here that I could sit up, but Zeth pushed me right back down.
I hissed, and as he tried to stand I grabbed his leg and tripped him face-first into the lake. He sank into the mud and then rose sputtering like some sort of sea monster.
“Ambrose, you little shit!” Zeth growled with a shake of his hands to fling the glop at me. It splattered against my glasses, and they drooped down my nose.
Zeth huffed for a moment before he leaned forward swiftly.
I flinched, ready to start throwing punches if I had to, but he only reached for my glasses and gently removed them, so I faltered.
When he threw me a handsome, blurry smile, I wondered if we were about to shake hands and call a truce.
Instead, his fist curled in my shirt, and the mud slipped out from under me.
I tried to clutch Zeth’s shirt to hang onto him as the world spun.
I only managed a yelp as Zeth threw me into the deeper water.
A shock of ice bolted through me. I swam up until I broke free with a big inhale. I wiped my eyes and found Zeth before me, his back turned as he tried to escape the scene. Growling, I lunged toward him and grabbed his waist to pull him under, and we both plunged this time.
Hands pushed me down hard, and water rushed up my nose until I choked. And then the hands pulled me free from the water. I coughed and gagged as my feet miraculously found the bottom of the lake, and I scrambled to shallow water. I wiped the hair from my eyes to see Zeth storming up the shore.
Annabelle watched us emerge from the water with her hands over her mouth.
Zeth reached her first, a soggy mess, and handed her something.
He glared back at me before kneeling to grab his cap and pack up the fishing gear.
Even from here, I could see the roughness of Zeth’s movements and the stiffness of his back as his jacket clung to his broad, muddy shoulders.
My legs felt shaky, but I managed to plough my way to the shore to join them at the log.
I found my cap in the mud and grimaced as I picked it up. Annabelle met me with a sympathetic gaze as she held my glasses out to me.
I took them and blew the water off before sliding them over my ears. They were bent, as Annabelle didn’t look quite right through the splotchy glass.
Wincing, I took them back off and pocketed them inside my soaked vest. They would have to be fixed later. I watched as Zeth dug into his jacket pocket and pulled something out with a light growl.
When he shook the pocket contents off, soggy biscuit chunks fell to the ground. I squinted at them in confusion, recalling the times he’d pocketed food to take home to Millie when he was younger… and poor. Was he taking food from Annabelle’s because he needed it?
My stomach tightened with worry.
“Can you see alright, Ambrose?” Annabelle touched my arm.
A cool breeze blew through my soaked clothes, and I spoke through chattering teeth, “I’m fine. My glasses may be broken, though.”
“Damn it all,” Zeth growled, stepping his long legs over the log to reach me. “I didn’t break your glasses. Do you think I’m a complete ass?”
“I didn’t say you broke them,” I sassed. “Only bent them.”
He grabbed me by my shirt collar to pull me up to see him eye to eye. I grabbed his arms to steady myself and raised my chin to challenge that determined low brow on his furious face. I wouldn’t back down from a fight.
“Go ahead, hit me,” I seethed, my voice full of fire. “I told you I’m not afraid of you.”
Something in his dark eyes faltered, a slight dent that told me he wouldn’t lay a hand on me. He let me go, and my heels hit the solid ground again. Then he grabbed the fishing gear and stomped past Annabelle and me, apparently done with us.
Annabelle rushed behind Zeth, calling out to him, “You can both change into dry clothes at the house!”
Puffing out my cheeks, I trudged after them both.
After pushing Zeth in the lake, I felt somewhat bad, but his drenched suit made my lips twitch, because honestly, he’d deserved a dunking for insulting me.
In the distance, Annabelle and Zeth became blurry.
It was easy to keep track of her blue dress, though my fast pace had me tripping over every tree root in the way to catch up to them.
“Are you alright without your glasses, Ambrose?” Annabelle asked. “I can help lead you back if not.”
“Oh, nonsense, I’m not that blind.” As soon as the words left my mouth, my foot hit a root, and I stumbled right to my knees like the awkward idiot I was.
“Oh, Amby!” Annabelle cried so loudly, the birds flocked from the trees above. At least she was concerned enough to use my nickname. It honestly made me feel bad for how much I was pretending to want her as a wife.
Heavy footsteps squelched toward me seconds later, and I found Zeth’s muddy shoes in my path. I glanced up to see him standing before me, still looking furious, but he offered a hand to help me.
I didn’t feel like pressing him further, so I took his hand and stood with pride, despite the fact that my clothes were heavy with water. My thin shirt clung like a second skin, and my shoes were squishy. My hair must be a frazzled mess too.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
Zeth answered with a stiff arm offered out, as any fine gentleman might. I stared at him in a battle of wills, noticing how strands of his dark hair hung around the sides of his forehead.
Annabelle walked by with a chuckle that said we were being idiots and continued along the path. She knew how close we’d been growing up, but she didn’t know we’d been lovers for a whole year before we parted. She seemed amused by our childish spats. “I’ll meet you two at the house. Take your time.”
Zeth looked like he was going to stand there offering to help until moss grew on his feet. Rather than continue our stubbornness, I grabbed his wet jacket sleeve with my other hand, so it wasn’t so intimate.
He started forward with one arm balancing the poles and basket, and the other arm balancing me.
I trusted him to lead me for some reason.
His soft grunts told me when to lift my feet over roots, and I wanted to tease him for the silent treatment.
I let him seethe instead, and opted to squint at the scenery as we walked.
When a breeze blew our way, I shivered and inadvertently coiled against him.
Kicking myself for my actions, I drew away slightly, wishing for my jacket that still warmed Annabelle.
When I glanced at Zeth, my heart stilled.
He stared intently at me, as if trying to figure me out.
What did he see? Why was he looking at me?
It didn’t matter. I turned to face ahead again, feeling somewhat vulnerable now.