Page 29 of Until Death Parts Us

“We gotta goto Willie’s Bait & Tackle and then we can go home.”

“Good. I’m starving,” I complain, rubbing my stomach. “We just need the fishing line, right?”

“I already got that. We’re gonna get fishing rods.”

“Are we actually fishing?” I ask.

“No, but the guys you’ve been watching have been spending most of their day fishing down at that pier. We gotta be down there looking like we’re also fishing.”

“Maybe I could actually catch a fish,” I muse.

“We’ve lived up here for years, and not once have you ever gone fishing.”

“I bet I could do it though.”

“Well, if you catch one, you’re cleaning and skinning it.”

I make a face. “Or I could just throw it back.”

Quin chuckles. “You can’t manage to gut a fish and clean it out, but yet you’re planning on strangling those guys with fishing wire?”

“It’s different.”

He shakes his head as we walk inside.

Along the left wall are a bunch of fishing poles, so that’s where we go.

“Some of these say fishing rods. What’s the difference between rods and poles?”

“We’re getting rods,” Quin states.

“Okay, but these are split up. These are casting rods, and these are surf rods. Oh, and this says fly rods.”

Quin rubs his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“What if these guys think we don’t know what the hell we’re doing because we’re out there with the wrong rods?”

“Then maybe they’ll get closer to help us,” he says through gritted teeth, trying to keep his voice down.

“This one already has the reel attached. This one says you can buy your own reel.”

An exasperated sigh is Quin’s only response.

“Well, I don’t know shit about which reels go with which rods, so I’m getting a combo. What about you?”

“Sure, that’s fine.”

“I just don’t know if I want the red one or not,” I say, holding two different ones in my hands.

“For the love of god, Kaspian, just pick one,” he says in a not-so-quiet whisper.

“Fine. You’re lucky I love you, Quin.” I say his name with the same frustration he said mine with.

He rolls his eyes. “You pay and I’ll wait outside.”

After he storms off, I take another minute to debate which rod I want, and decide I’ll get them both. Quin needs one, andsince he clearly doesn’t care, I can change my mind on which I’ll use when the time comes.

I stroll to the counter where a girl with black hair and a face devoid of emotion stands. When she sees me, she forces a smile on her face.

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