“Not so fast, big spender.” I grabbed his arm. “Here’s how it works on a budget. You have to pick your favorite pair and that’s all you get.”
“Really?” he said, giving me the side-eye. “That sucks.”
“Yes, it does.”
“How do you pick just one?”
“When you don’t have a choice, it becomes easier.”
“Huh. Okay.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he stared longingly at his cart full of shoes. “Well…”
He spent the next five minutes agonizing over his choices. In the end he went with a pair of boat shoes and, pleased with his selection, we were off to the Men’s department where the process repeated itself until he had a modest pile of clothing he could be proud of.
While Bodhi was in the dressing room, I wandered the store and found the perfect item to kick off his childlike bucket list.
“Hey!” I called and when he turned in my direction, I blew a wand of bubbles into his face.
He batted at the soapy mess. “What in the hell?”
“Bucket list, baby!”
“You don’t think I’ve blown bubbles in my life?”
“Have you?”
“Well, not directly, but I’ve walked through them on stage a thousand times.”
“That’s not blowing bubbles. Here.”
I dipped the stick back into the canister, then handed him the wand. Pulling down his mask, Bodhi blew the entire load of soapy water into my face. His grin was infectious as he reached for the bottle. But this time, when he loaded the wand, he tipped forward and blew the bubbles straight into my cleavage. Yelping, I ducked behind a rack of clothes. Dropping to his knees, Bodhi sprayed the next assault before grabbing my shirt and dragged me out of my hiding place.
“Did you know there’s no angry way to say bubbles?” I asked as he dipped his head to give me a soapy kiss.
“Bubbles,” he bit out, attempting a hostile tone. But then a wide smile curved his lips and we both laughed.
Until a manager strolled up with a sour expression.
“Off the floor, please,” he ordered, glancing us over with disdain.
“He needs to say bubbles,” Bodhi whispered to me.
I lost it then, squealing with laughter. The manager wasn’t amused.
“Up, now, or I’ll have security escort you out.”
I’d seen their security on the way in—one lowly dude with a crossing guard vest on. I wasn’t too concerned. But then I caught sight of Bodhi’s fully exposed face, and my humor faded. Motioning for him to replace the mask, I nudged him toward the row of registers where we paid as quickly as possible.
I wasn’t sure if Bodhi caught the look of contempt as we scooted by the manager, until he whispered close to my ear, “He must be on Team Jacob.”
On his way out of the store, Bodhi was already stripping off his Twilight tee and changing into a bicep hugging Hurley shirt. I’d barely managed to get him into the vehicle before the yoga pants came off. Clearly he was comfortable with nudity. With his bits and pieces fully exposed, Bodhi took his sweet time removing the tags on his board shorts. My embarrassed giggle was a source of great amusement for the flasher.
Next, we stopped at the pet store to buy a proper cat carrier for Lucy, as well as food and supplies for the rest of the pack. Rounding out our shopping trip, we grabbed some snacks for the road before heading back to my place to pack.
Coasting to a stop in front of the house, I spotted the landlady standing at my front door.
“Oh shit! Wait here,” I told Bodhi as I jumped out of the car.
I made it to her side in time to see her turning the key in my lock.
