‘Let’s go hunting’ He says as we sit down on the patio for lunch.

‘Hunting?’ I pause for a moment, catching the appraising way he looks at one of the waitresses and then I smirk. ‘I assume you don’t mean the kind of hunt where you go out and kill a deer, then.’

He catches the slight inflection and returns his own look of amusement. ‘Yes, that’s what I’m talking about. I’m bored with the same old stuff. We could make a weekend of it.’

‘What is the last thing you’ve killed, Dan? A duck when you were two? You aren’t exactly an avid hunter.’ I turn my head and met the nosy gaze of the woman sitting at the table just beside ours. She has the courtesy to look away, but I can see her interest remains.

‘And you are?’ The sarcasm in his tone is the dripping sort, oozing from each word.

I simply look at him and smile before shrugging my shoulders. The waitress comes over and takes our drink order. I try to determine if those are nipple rings I see pressing against the white material of her shirt. As she walks away, I turn my attention back to him.

‘I don’t hunt just for the sake of hunting, and I don’t find it a challenge to slaughter something because it was stupid enough to walk in front of my gun while I sit in a shack and wait.’ My fingers toy with the rim of my water glass and I pull out an ice cube.

‘See! That’s what I’m talking about! We could hunt bears or those moose, mooses, meese…what’s the pural for moose anyway?’

‘Moose.’ I glance and catch the woman’s head snapping back to the plate in front of her. I’m not certain if I should be irritated or not.

‘Yea! We could kill something like that.’

‘They aren’t exactly common in this area and the same thing applies. Perhaps a rabid raccoon would be more your speed.’

He laughs, ‘Asshole.’

‘Mm.’ The ice cube starts to melt between my fingertips and I bring it to my mouth, crushing it between my teeth as I bite.

‘So what are you planning on doing this weekend anyway?’ He rolls his eyes. ‘Another weekend with N?’

‘I haven’t really decided.’

‘Yea.’ I can see the boredom written on his expression.

‘So, what are we going to be hunting, again?’ I ask and his face rekindles with the excitement of a moment ago.