AJ looks over and nods. “Hey, if you stand on a beach at night, I think you could safely guide ships to shore in that. Be the beacon to lost sailors. A siren in seasick puke green. What do you think?”
Rolling my eyes, I wander away from her, searching through the safer-colored options. We’ve been shopping for five hours already.
Five. Whole. Hours.
We’ve already made several pit stops to our cars to drop off boxes and bags, and somehow the girls still have the energy to continue. I have no idea where they’re pulling it from, maybe siphoning it straight from me, but they’re like hyperactive little bunnies hopping around every store we stumble across. I mean, we spent thirty minutes in a vape store. None of us smoke or vape. I have no idea why we were in there, only that it smelled like a weird concoction of chemical blueberry and cream.
I, however, am one yawn away from lying down in the middle of the mall and letting the patrons trample all over me. Fuck it, maybe I’ll just let capitalism consume me. It might be the vacation I need at this rate. My lower back is killing me, an ache forming like nothing but shopping for hours can produce, and my arm is about ready to fall off from the three heavy bags I’ve been carting around for three freaking hours.
Why do I always forget how grueling and exhausting shopping with clothes addicts is? It’s like my brain wipes the slate clean after a day at the mall with Henley, AJ, and Zelda, tricking me into doing it all over again. The iced coffee I was bribed with has not been worth the backache.
“I still think it’s weird you haven’t booked a vacation yet,” Henley repeats for the second time today, her voice gentle and charming with her adorable English accent. She’s flipping through a rack of cover-ups, and I spot a pretty cream number that I snag before she moves on.
I head to the mirror nearby and hold the material to my body, shrugging a shoulder. “There’s no point. I’m pretty sure Caiden is planning something.”
“You are?” Zelda queries, eyeing the cover-up and throwing me a thumbs-up of approval.
“What makes you think that?” AJ wonders, meandering over to a different row of swimwear that looks much less offensive to my eyes.
Sliding the cover-up into my basket, I head over to join her and say, “He’s really not as inconspicuous as he might believe himself to be. A few weeks ago, I received a thorough grilling about my past, present, and future travel plans. The guy knows more about what I want out of a vacation than I do at this rate. And that was before we got together. So I think he’s been planning something for a little while now. I’m more than happy to let him, too.”
“Why?” Zelda snorts, pulling out a bikini with the American flag boldly printed over it. The Scottish Rose widens her eyes, shakes her head slowly, and puts the garment back as though she’s touched something diabolical. I’m sure it hurt her British senses, so I don’t give her shit for it, especially since Henley makes a face that matches Zelda’s to perfection.
Drama queens, the two of them.
“Because I’m curious,” I answer, and I expect their groans in response.
“That will honestly kill you one of these days, babe,” AJ reminds me, like she so often does, as though I’m not already fully aware that I will be bested by my curiosity one of these days. It can’t be helped, though. There’s a world of wonders out there, and I simply won’t learn any of it if I don’t feed my curious side.
Flashing her a grin, I agree. “You’re right, but I’m willing to perish at the hands of my muscled golden retriever. He genuinely thinks he’s being sneaky, and I don’t have the heart to tell him I’m onto him. He keeps smiling every time I even mention a vacation. Baxter and Ryan keep sharing weird glancesevery time I mention a country I’d like to visit. And Rayne literally got up and left the room when I started talking about flight prices two nights ago. When he came back, the bastard was shirtless and had no trouble distracting me for the rest of the night. I didn’t even remember I was looking at flight costs until yesterday morning, when I saw the browser tab still open on my laptop. You can’t tell me that isn’t suspicious behavior. Bordering on criminal, if you ask me.”
“Okay, yeah, that’s sus, for sure,” Zelda snickers, venturing off toward a different aisle.
I follow after her, eyeing things as we go, and I mutter, “My only worry right now is that he books some weird form of a couples’ cruise. I’m throwing myself into the ocean if he does. The sharks can have a little snack.”
“Your fear of water is so dramatic,” AJ snickers, and I glare at her.
“You call it dramatic, I call it self-preservation. There are two things in the world that I’m terrified of, and those are the ocean and space. Two vast environments that are still too unknown for me to be comfortable with. The day you get me on a cruise is the day I’ve turned insane,” I remind them all, as though we haven’t had this discussion before. We have, several times, because I’ll be damned if I’m forced onto a ship of doom. I’ve watchedTitanic. I know how that story ends, and I will not be another Jack Dawson, damn it.
Henley, bless her gentle soul, pats my shoulder as she passes and says, “At least you’ll die loved.”
“By four men, no less,” Zelda chimes in. “What a way to go, hen.”
AJ is almost crying with laughter, and I flip them all the bird, carrying my basket to a different aisle and adding several things to the haul.
By the time we finally leave the mall, my arms are loaded down with shopping bags and my feet are considering legal action against me. Which, honestly, is so valid. The ache in several parts of my body calls for a massage, and I’ll be damned if I’m not already thinking of ways to convince one of my lovers to lay their talented hands on every sore spot.
“You look as hungry as I feel,” AJ suddenly points out, and I blink over at her while I register her words.
When they land, I smirk. “Not particularly for food.”
“Oh my God, you slut,” she laughs, linking her arm with mine as we head toward the parking lot. “I’ve never been prouder of you, Mads, and I was there when you finally learned to ride a bike without crashing into that tree that still has a Maddie-sized dent in it.”
Laughing, I bump my head against hers and say, “I am pretty hungry, though.”
“I’m starved. I need food. Like, pronto,” Zelda grouches, rubbing a hand over her flat stomach.
“You say that like you’re being hunted, Zee,” Henley snickers.
