“Are you going to try those on?” asked Noah sternly as she placed the box into the cart.
AJ shrugged. “I’ve been the same size since I was thirteen, so no.”
Noah rolled his eyes and stalked off into a different aisle. He returned presently with a metal shoe bench and placed it down with a clang beside AJ.
“Sit.” AJ sat. He took the right shoe out of the box, removed the cardboard stuffing, and began to lace it up with practiced alacrity.
“Let me guess—your next role is a cobbler with a dark past,” said AJ, as Noah knelt before her.
“I just think something worth doing is worth doing well,” he said, pulling back the shoe’s tongue so she could slide her foot inside, pushing against his thigh. As she did, the skirt of the black wrap dress parted slightly. Noah’s eyes darted toward the opening and for a split second, his face went slack.
Then he grabbed the other shoe and busied himself with the laces. AJ could detect a slight flush on his cheeks and neck as he helped her on with the left shoe. This time he kept his eyes down, but AJ felt his thumb linger an extra second on her ankle.
She walked the short distance to the end of the aisle. “These feel…excellent,” she reported over her shoulder. “Your cobbler character’s going to be very convincing.”
She pivoted around in time to see his eyes intensely focused on the spot where her ass had been a second before. This time, AJ blushed. They stared at each other for a moment, then Noah cleared his throat. “You’re welcome for the extra five years on your knees.”
Methodically, they canvassed each section of the store. Noah slowed again as they passed the swimwear. He nodded toward the rack.
“You guys got a pool?” asked AJ, looking for her size.
“After my mom died,” said Noah. “It’s where the rose garden used to be.”
“Eudora allowed that?” asked AJ, rejecting a periwinkle two-piece.
“She liked to pretend she cared about that garden, but she never actually did anything with it,” said Noah in an irritated tone that toldAJ she had just raked up one of their old arguments. She pulled out a navy blue one-piece. This time Noah didn’t insist she try it on.
Instead, he brought her to the outdoor goods section, which lived up to the hype. They stood before a floor-to-ceiling rainbow constructed out of pool toys as a Muzak version of “Hold Me Now,” by the Thompson Twins, played in the background.
“This is…everything,” said AJ in hushed reverence.
“You should see toboggan season,” said Noah. AJ laughed, eyeing the boxes of neon floaties.
Noah grabbed two.
By the time they reached the checkout counter, AJ couldn’t remember how half of what they were buying had made it into the cart. She felt as if she were preparing for the world’s weirdest summer camp.
“This was very successful,” said Noah, as they got in line behind an oblivious older woman buying two cat toys and roughly eighty pairs of socks. “I’m getting this, by the way.”
AJ looked up at him, uncomfortable. “Are you sure?” she asked. “I already owe you for Blue Con…which, thank you, by the way.” Her face burned.
Noah waved it aside. “It’s my pleasure,” he said quietly. “Seriously.”
They checked out and loaded their purchases into the car. Then Noah turned toward the Big Y at the other end of the parking lot. This was the grocery store where Emily worked, although not on Sundays. “Should we pick up stuff for dinner while we’re here?”
Again, AJ’s heart leapt. “Okay,” she said. “But I’m getting this.”
Noah held up his hands.
They did a second shop aisle by aisle. AJ, who generally used lists, found this extremely inefficient, but she didn’t want to disrupt whatever was happening between them. It was all so sudden and unexpected, yet totally familiar and just…nice.
So nice it felt dangerous to read into anything they were doing or even buying. At any point Noah might ask if she needed a lift back to her parents’ house. In a way that would be the most normal thing he could do. All AJ knew was that she wasn’t going to be the one to suggest it.
If Noah noticed her go quiet, he said nothing. But when they got to the breakfast cereals, he slowed the cart. Shaking his head, he reached for a box of Special K Red Berries.
“Absolute shlock,” he said, and placed it in the cart.
They returned to Drew House,unloaded the car, then set out on a run down the tree-lined ridge, quickly crossing town lines. Noah kept pace beside her, giving AJ the skinny on the other mansions on his street, jogging ahead when a car passed or if they came to a blind curve.
