Stupid. This was a stupid thing to buy.
I kept striding toward an open checkout lane anyways.
"A cactus?" Tray called after me, jogging to catch up. "Dix, wait up. You're giving our mate a cactus?"
I clutched the small pot tighter, feeling defensive. "It's a succulent. And it has a flower."
What an idiot. A flower. I’d just argued against flowers. I’d already done the flower thing.I was beating myself up inside, but I was committed regardless.
"A cactus is a succulent,” Tray chuckled out, then gave a little frown. “Dix, it's spiky."
"So am I." The words came out sharper than I intended. I softened my tone. "Look, it won't die easily. She can keep it. It's practical."
Tray was quiet for a moment as we walked toward the checkout. "Youknow what? You're right. It's perfect for her. Resilient. Beautiful. Doesn't need much to thrive, but when it does..." He gestured at the tiny pink bloom.
I felt some of the tension leave my shoulders. Maybe I wasn't completely hopeless at this.
The cashier, a teenager with shockingly lime hair, barely glanced up as she scanned the little plant. "That'll be $4.99. No, sorry, $5.40 after tax."
“Big spender, Dix,” Tray teased.
I tapped my phone against the pay screen. It beeped, the sound followed by a rejection notice.
“Sorry, it’s been messed up all day. If your phone wallet won’t work, just use the chip reader.” The cashier was picking the neon lime polish off one nail, completely disinterested in doing her job.
"So, it’s just the contactless payment system that’s down?" I questioned, fishing out my gold Amex.
“Yeah, exactly. So just pop your card in.” Without looking up, she reached up mechanically and patted the card reader like I needed reminding where it was even though I’d literally just tried to use it.
“Got it,” I managed not to growl in irritation, but I didn’t sound happy.
At the change in my tone, the cashier finally looked up properly. Her eyes widened as she recognized me and Tray.Shit.
“Oh. My. God. You’re Dixon St. James.” Her gaze moved slightly to my right. “And Tray Rivers. Shit. My friends are never going to believe this!”
I glanced at Tray, who gave me a subtle shake of his head. We'd learned the hard way that denying our identities just made things worse. I forced a polite smile and pulled out my wallet instead.
"We just want to buy this and leave,” Tray jumped in before I could, which was probably for the best since I’d say something that would give Catalina more bad publicity to counter. He leaned over the counter, putting on his patented Tray charm. “You’d be doing me a personal favor if you wouldn’t call too much attention to us being here.”
“Oh, right,” she said loudly, then dropped her voice conspiratorially. “Let’s get you checked out.” She glanced at her screen, then frowned. “Hold on, it timed out.” She scanned the plant again.
“Thanks,” I grunted, pushing my card into the reader, following the prompts, then pulling it back out again to shove into my wallet. When the receipt printed, the cashier handed it to me.
"Could I maybe get a selfie?Please?I'm such a huge fan. I’ve gotta have proof to show my friends.” She batted her lashes, which I now saw were thickly coated in navy blue mascara.
"We're actually in a bit of a hurry," Tray said smoothly, dialing up his smile to deepen his dimples. "How about an autograph instead?"
Though I could tell she was a bit disappointed, she nodded quickly, then scrambled for paper. She ended up settling on a store flyer before snagging a black sharpie by the register. Tray signed carefully, ending the ‘s’ in Rivers with a tail that turned into a wonky heart. When he pushed it towards me, I signed with far less care.
“Thank you so much,” she mewled, wide eyes locked on our signatures once Tray handed it back to her. I grabbed the succulent off the conveyer; my fight or flight mode was still trying to decide which direction it wanted to take, so I needed to get the fuck out of the store immediately.
“Have a great day!”
I was already walking away as the cashier shouted the cheery goodbye. Tray was hot on my heels. We walked quickly towards the exit, but I could hear the girl already on the phone behind us.
"Stacey, you're not going to believe who just bought a cactus at my store..."
"Want to bet on how long it’ll take for this to hit socials?" Tray asked as we pushed through the automatic doors.
