“Look, the club helps out those who need it. Don’t worry about payment and don’t feel embarrassed about needing help. We’ve all been there at some point in our lives.”
I gave her a weak smile.
Drew’s hand settled on my hip like it was second nature. “We can do that now if you want?”
My shoulders relaxed. I wasn’t used to kindness, and Drew’s club was so welcoming. Relief pulsed through me and I nodded, already starting a mental list of what I needed to grab. A couple pairs of jeans, some t-shirts and maybe a hoodie or a sweater. Possibly a jacket depending on how cold it got in the desert. That would be plenty to get me through.Oh and underwear. I only had about five pairs, so I definitely needed to stock up.
I wasn’t taking charity, though. I still had some money, and I would try and pay my way. Though I wasn’t under any illusions that Drew would make this easy or that he wouldn’t argue, so I was ready for a fight.
“Come on.” His hand moved from my back to my hand as he guided me out of the clubhouse and across the parking lot where his bike sat.
We left on his bike, my hands sliding around his slender waist automatically. My body still remembered the way he ate my pussy earlier, the way he’d taken his time like he had nowhere else to be. Heat pulsed through me and a full body shiver shook me. Drew put the ball in my court so if I wanted a replay, if I wanted more, it would have to be me who made the next move.
As if I could do that. I didn’t make the first move, not because I wanted to be chased but just because… I didn’t do that. Never had. I wasn’t opposed to it, but I had no clue where to even start with something like that. But I really wanted to push this thing with my oldest friend. My first crush.
How?
That question was quickly pushed to the back of my mind when the bike came to a stop inside a big ass parking lot and I looked at our surroundings. It was a mall.
A goddamn mall. “What the hell is this?” I demanded, glaring at the offensive structure and then my alleged friend. “Well?”
Drew grinned, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. “This is a place where people come to buy tons of shit.”
“This isnota secondhand shop,” I reminded him through clenched teeth.
“Nope,” he agreed cheerfully, taking my hand as if this wasn’t a total betrayal. As if my budget could handle mall prices. “Come on, Mace.”
Inside was madness. The lights were too bright, the air was stale and smelled like a mixture of breath and nacho cheese while Top 40 pop music blared from speakers in almost every store we passed. There were too many people and too many smells. In short, it was pure hell. This was why I hadn’t been to a mall in ages. Online shopping was easier and safer and left me feeling far less exposed.
Drew stepped into a lingerie store first because of course he did, and no amount of pulling him made his big body budge.
I tried to relax and browse like a normal person, but my eyes bugged out of my head with every glance at a price tag. “I can’t afford this, Drew. Let’s just hit up a big box store, they have better deals.” I didn’t need anything frilly or sexy, just functional and affordable.
His answer was to lift up a lace thong that dangled from his middle finger, the same one that had been buried deep insideme earlier, and my breath hitched before I could stop it. “How about this?” he asked, his voice dripping with innocence.
I glared at him as hard as I could.
He watched me for a long beat and then laughed. Before I could make my next argument, Drew grabbed a basket that looked tiny in his massive hands and started filling it with panties in every color, style and fabric that caught his eyes. Cotton. Lace. Silk. Thong. French cut. Boy cut. Low-rise. Things that were sexy and pretty, some things I’d never have picked for myself.
“That’s too much. I really can’t afford it. I know what Ellie said about the club helping, but I want to pay my way,” I whispered, gripping his wrist to stop him from adding even more panties to the basket.
Drew turned soft, unyielding gray eyes on me. “Get what you need and let me worry about the rest.”
“I can —”
He covered my mouth with his hand, not hard, but enough to stop the argument before it left my lips. “I said let me worry about it.” His voice was low and dark. So forceful it was like a physical touch against my skin.
My pulse skipped. “Fine,” I agreed after a beat. “But Iwillpay you back.”
“No, you won’t,” he said quickly. “This is what we do. We take care of each other.”
I wanted to argue. I knew it wouldn’t work because Drew was more stubborn today than he’d been as a teenage boy. So I thought about all the ways I could take care of him instead.
Once we made it through underwear shopping, Drew remained steady at my side as we moved through the mall, browsing jeans and t-shirts on clearance racks. I found a hoodie on sale and I barely winced when I tallied up the receipts at the end of the day.
By the time we left the mall, I felt better. My shoulders were no longer up by my ears even though I found myself glancing over my shoulder and noticing men who stared a little too long. I stuck close to Drew’s side and kept my anxiety to myself. But I also felt alive and when I caught a glimpse of my reflection, I looked alive too.
I wasn’t magically healed, I knew that, but today was the first day in a long time that I spent more time enjoying myself than worrying about my safety.
