CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE #3
I breezed past Theo, ignoring the familiar scent of citrus and the way my body reacted to it like I was a hatchling at feeding time.
He trailed after me until we got to the back of the shop, at which point he started pulling items out and tossing them into my arms. It was a flurry of dark and heavy trousers, shirts, with a few jackets on top.
‘Try these on. See what you think,’ he said once my arms were filled. ‘And come out and show me each time. I don’t trust your judgement.’
‘No offence,’ I finished for him.
He smiled. ‘Offence intended. There’s a reason you came to me for help.’
I grimaced, but took the insult. It was true.
I sorted through the selection once I was alone in the dressing room. Theo had picked out oversized trousers, or at least I thought he had until I realized the waist sizes were just right for sitting above my hips while the wide legs sat just right past my ankles.
The shirts, however, were the opposite. Slim-fitting, cropped and always a lighter colour than the trousers.
To Theo’s credit, it was a good contrast. Nothing was branded either.
I rifled through all the options and the only logo I could find was a big letter H on the interior tags, telling me nothing. I did, however, find the prices.
I whipped the curtain of the changing room open in a panic. Theo was leaning against the opposite wall, hands in pockets.
I side-eyed the attendant before whispering to Theo, ‘Have you seen how much these cost?’
He smirked. ‘Yes, these are from a high-end designer. They’ll be priced to match. Trust me, if Hough made menswear I’d be all over it myself.’
I kept my arms wide to avoid creasing the expensive items any more than I had to, suddenly aware of every sharp angle I could snag them on. ‘I can’t afford this, you idiot! I was only ever on a keeper salary.’
‘Don’t worry about it.’
‘That’s easy for you to say! You were rich before you got into Volitant. I’m cash-poor and asset-poor.’
‘No, I mean don’t worry about it. I’ll cover it.’
That made me pause. ‘No. Absolutely not.’ I closed the curtain again and began taking off the clothes, desperate to not rip or catch any of it. ‘I’m not a charity case.’
Theo’s voice came through the curtain, a lot closer this time. His tone was playful. ‘Consider it a loan then. You can pay me back when you get a job.’
My spine tingled. I had far too few clothes on to be listening to him tease me.
‘For real, Paldon. You asked me to make you popular with Volitant fans and this is the start. The moment you start making headlines you’ll have sponsors all over you and they’ll be sending you free clothes all the time.
Plus, someone else is helping you and you’re telling me they’re not doing it for free? ’
I pulled a new silky grey shirt on before poking my head around the edge of the curtain. ‘Oh yeah, what makes you think there’s someone else?’
He stepped closer, the curtain rippled as he brushed against the other side. ‘Your hair smells like sulphur.’
A heavy silence fell around us. Heat began to build in my cheeks. I ducked back into the changing room, fussing to make sure the curtain was fully closed behind me.
‘Is it Quinn?’ The tone in his voice took me back to our Wyvern racing days. It was the same way he’d asked how I’d pulled off the barrel roll through the old tunnel circuit we raced on. He was grumpy.
He was also wrong.
‘Ugh, fine.’ As long as I didn’t tell him where the ranch was I wouldn’t be breaking Bach’s trust. ‘I’ve been training with Bach all summer.’
There was a distinct pause before Theo replied. I saw his feet shuffling back and forth under the hem of the curtain.
‘For real?’
I nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see me. ‘Yeah.’
‘So you can actually fly now? You don’t suck anymore?’ His energy was back, insulting me a surefire way for him to cheer himself up.
Relief flooded through me. I buttoned up the next set of matte-black trousers and reopened the curtain.
The long-sleeved silk shirt was clingy and flowed nicely over my arm muscles.
It clung to my other curves too. But I was more concerned about looking like I could take someone in a fight than to bed.
Though with my new plan in mind, it didn’t hurt that I looked like I could do both.
Theo stared at me, looking me up and down. His shoulders tensed, like he was bracing himself.
‘I thought this would be a good combination,’ I said, sulking at the lack of immediate approval.
He blinked a few times, his brown eyes clearing. ‘It is.’
My eyes rolled of their own accord. ‘Then why does your face look like it’s just been slapped?’
‘No, it doesn’t.’ He rolled his shoulders and ran a hand into his hair.
‘Yes it d—’
He pushed me back into the dressing room. His hands were sweaty from being stuffed in his pockets. ‘You look fine. We’ll buy them. Get back into your raggedy old clothes so we can move on.’
‘All right, calm down.’ I wasn’t going to argue if it meant the end of shopping. Whatever stick had lodged itself in Theo’s ass was none of my business, not if it worked in my favour.