I start unpacking all my fishing gear, the poles, lures, and a few other tools near the kayak I brought here much earlier, and I get to work on setting everything up.
I hum a Three Days Grace song, completely zoned in on this and in my own world.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise with a feeling as though I’m being watched.
Placing my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sun, I look around, and on the edge of the tree line is Jared, eyes boring into me with a crazed look on his face.
Not sure exactly how long he has been standing there watching me, I offer him an awkward wave over my head to break the weird standoff. Snapping out of his trance, he waves back and casually approaches me.
“Hey, man.” I extend my hand toward him to shake it.
He offers his back and grips my hand tightly, smiling at me, and while I try to end the handshake, he holds on a bit longer than is typically normal.
At last, he lets go and continues smiling at me. He ends up breaking the silence as he mentions, “Last night was wild. I haven’t partied like that in a minute. Are you guys still planning on coming by tonight?”
“That’s the plan. Where are AJ and the girls?”
“AJ is on his way, and the girls are still sleeping off the hangover.” He snickers.
As if on cue, AJ emerges from the trees with fishing poles and a small cooler.
“Did you guys bring a kayak too?” I ask them, relaxing a bit.
“Afraid not. We’ll be fishing on the bank,” AJ informs me as he points to the location.
Giving him a small nod, I continue organizing everything on the kayak.
“Hopefully it’s a good day, and we catch a few,” I say excitedly.
“If not, we have hot dogs we can make for dinner,” AJ says, unconcerned.
“Perfect, those hamburgers last night were fantastic!” I let him know.
As I’m finishing up placing everything in the kayak perfectly, I spot Marley coming toward us, book in hand.
She would bring a book everywhere if she could. I swear I rarely see her without one. We all have our hobbies, and I love that she reads for fun. She’s always been a reader.
“Are you ready to head out?” she asks nonchalantly.
“You know it,” I say as I hold out my hand to hers to help her into the kayak. She leaps in, avoiding the water, and I give it a little push and jump in too.
With the paddle in my other hand, I wave back at the guys.
“Catch you guys later!”
“See ya,” one of them shouts back.
CHAPTER
NINE
As we sit down on the sandy bank, I dig out a glass jar from my pocket and wave it in AJ’s face. AJ looks at the jar, then at me, and he throws his head back, hysterically laughing.
Once he gets control of himself, he asks curiously, “What in the fuck are you going to do with those?”
“They are known for being great bobbers.” I cock an eyebrow at him.
“You are one sick fuck, man,” he says humorously as he slaps me on the back.
