Chapter 28 Thea
THEA
The wheel of this cart keeps squirming something fierce.
It doesn’t help that Taz is yapping away like usual.
To avoid feeling trapped at the pack house now that I’m no longer working at the lodge, I volunteered to do the grocery shopping.
Anything to get out and do something. Don’t get me wrong.
Reading the day away is great but we’re already so remote out here and not leaving the property felt a little suffocating.
It’s not a feeling I’ve ever had before since I’ve never lived somewhere so remote.
Taz is just as happy to go somewhere as me. I guess that’s where we’re similar. Though I don’t completely hate small town life like he apparently does. I keep checking the list, as Taz continues to add whatever he wants to the cart as we go.
“Maybe you should get your own cart?” I ask sarcastically. He turns to look at me, his obnoxious grin stretching across his face. How someone can love getting under people’s skin so much is beyond me. I give him a look as I have many times that screams to put his cocky mask away.
He sighs, his grin evaporating quickly. “You need to lighten up.” I just roll my eyes at him and continue down the aisle. It’s pretty early in the morning on a weekday so the market is nearly empty.
“What wrong? You didn’t have a comeback. Have I exhausted all your retorts?” he taunts, placing another item in the cart.
“I’m not in the mood,” I reply definitively. I want to enjoy being out but for some reason what I’ve been pushing down the last few days wants to break free.
“C’mon, what’s eating at ya?” Taz asks, moving to the front of the cart and holding it in place.
Connor immediately comes to mind. I don’t particularly want to get into the jumbled-up feelings I’ve been having since my heat and the courting gift. I look up at Taz, whose gray blue eyes are filled with genuine concern. With a sigh, I say, “Connor.”
Understanding spreads across his face and sympathy.
He doesn’t say anything but moves and steals the cart from me, running off before I can say or do anything.
That asshole. I run after him, glad that we came during a slow time of day.
By the time I catch up to him, he’s three aisles away from where we were.
When I reach him, I shove him hard, not that it did anything.
“Jerk.” Taking my overloaded cart back, I head back the way we came.
“You know running, in any sense, isn’t always a bad thing.
Sometimes it’s the only way to protect yourself.
” His voices rings out behind me. I don’t turn to look at him, my hands gripping the cart tighter.
It feels like all I’ve done is run, both physically and emotionally.
It wasn’t until I got here and met my mates that everything seemed to catch up with me, forcing me to confront too many emotions.
Can I still run from things? Maybe if it’s only for a little bit longer. Just until I’m strong enough to face it.
I turn finally to look back at him. His head is down, staring at something unimportant on the shelf. It’s clear he relates to what he said on a level I can understand. He’s run from things before.
I reach my hand out to grab his, the rough skin abrasive to mine.
His eyes shift to me, and this time a deep sadness radiates from him.
I squeeze his hand a couple times before I pull him along as I move down the aisle.
“Come on, I don’t think you added enough marshmallows back there,” I say, trying to bring him out of wherever he went.
He always does this. During my shifts at the lodge if I was too in my head, he’d help pull me out. Now it’s my turn to do the same.
A genuine smile flashes across his face before his cocky mask is back in place. “Absolutely correct, we need far more. Don’t forget the lollies as well.” His voice sounds lighter.
I’ll play along. I know all too well the need for an out like this. Though I know now when he says lollies he means some type of gummies. I think back to the candies he was trying to add to cart. They looked so gross. “You have the weirdest taste in snacks,” I say teasingly.
Taz scoffs. “You don’t know true snacks. Next time I’m back in Australia, I’ll get ya the best lollies you’ve ever had.”
I look up at him with my own smile. “I can’t wait.”