Chapter Six
“I didn’t think this many stores would be open.”
“Neither did I,” Justice mutters, sounding like he’s regretting his life choices that led him to this moment.
“How cute is this snow globe?” I gush over the cutest one in the entire store. It’s Santa and his sleigh, but instead of reindeer, he’s being pulled by cats.
“I prefer this one.” He shakes the one of Santa on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
“Put it in my basket. I may get that for Dad. He can put it on his desk or something.”
“Because he spends so much time in his office?” He snorts.
“Whatever. You’re just jealous I’m not buying one for you.”
“I don’t need useless shit cluttering up my place.”
“You probably don’t even own a stitch of décor.”
“Women like to decorate. I’ve got my basics and my big screen. What more do I need?”
“Are you two finding everything okay?” A saleswoman asks, interrupting our bickering.
“We’re good,” Justice tells her.
“You know.” She smiles at me, then narrows her gaze at him. “A happy wife leads to a happy life.”
“She’s not my wife.”
“Oh.” Her brows pinch together. “Well, the two of you sure do argue like you’re married.” She laughs and continues down the aisle to the next customer.
“As if.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” his tone comes out accusatory.
“You’ve always said you aren’t the marrying type.”
“I didn’t say never.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You about done in here?”
“I don’t need a babysitter. You can go back to the room.”
“If I were to leave you on your own, who knows what trouble you’d find.”
“I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing just fine on my own.”
“Trouble always finds you.”
“That’s not true.”
“What happened to your car?”
“That’s not relevant. It has nothing to do with that.”
“It has everything to do with it. You’re like a fucking trouble magnet.”
“Whatever. This was your idea.” I strut past him to the front of the store to check out.
Justice pulls his wallet out of his back pocket and has the nerve to attempt to pay for my purchase.
“I’ve got it,” I snap.
“I’m trying to be nice.”
“I don’t need you to be nice to me.” I go to stick my card in the reader, but he taps his on the top before I get it in.
I stomp out of the store while he gets his receipt. He follows me out and licks his lips. “You don’t want me to be nice to you?”
“Nope,” I pop the P.
“What do you want from me?” He gets in my space, standing too close. Smelling too good as he towers over me, staring at my lips. He knows exactly what I want, but he’s a stubborn jerk who would rather deny us both.
“Carry my bag.” I push it against his chest and walk into the next store without reading the sign.
As soon as I look at the first display shelf, I realize I’ve made a big mistake.
In bold pink neon letters is a poster for lube.
The far-right wall is jam-packed with dildos and vibrators of all sizes and colors.
It’s like a rainbow of dicks. I stop abruptly and stare. Justice nearly walks into me.
He snorts. “That what you want for Christmas? A monster cock?”
“Maybe.” I square my shoulders and pretend I meant to come here. I only hope he doesn’t look at my face to see how alarmingly red it has turned. To further prove my point, I march over to the wall and look for the biggest fake schlong I can find.
“What the hell is that?” He reaches over my head and grabs the Mini Weenie Five Thousand.
It’s basically a nipple with balls. “You should know. I’m sure yours is about the same size.”
I move on down the wall, finding a green one that’s called Orc’s Passion. It’s long and thick. Bigger than should be humanly possible to fit inside any hole. My eyes widen, and Justice laughs at me.
“About like this.” He grabs one that’s slightly larger than average.
I roll my eyes at him.
“Don’t believe me?” he undoes his belt.
“What are you doing?”
“Proving how big it is.”
“I don’t want to see it,” I hiss. “They’re going to kick us out and have you arrested for indecent exposure. How will you explain that charge to my father?”
His face pales. There’s one thing Justice fears, and that’s the wrath of Devil Knight.
“Which are you getting?” His voice takes on this husky tone that just does something to my insides as he adjusts his belt.
“This one.” I grab Orc’s Passion. “I’m going to shove it up your ass later so you can go fuck yourself.”
He smiles. “I’m touched you care about my pleasure, sweetheart.”
“Ugh.” I stick it back on the shelf and browse what else they have, trying to find my way back toward the door to get the hell out of here. I was not expecting to find an X-rated store in the middle of this small town.
“What do you think of this?” he grabs a paddle with spikes on one side.
“For what?”
“For when I take you over my knee and give you the spanking your daddy never gave.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Think I’ll get these too.” He picks up black fur-trimmed handcuffs.
I roll my eyes at him again and grab sex dice. “If you want to play games,” I mutter.
“Bite me,” he says, reading the box.
I stick them back on the rack. “I’m leaving.”
“I’ll be out in a minute.”
The back of my neck grows hotter. What’s he up to? “You don’t have to be shy. I won’t tell anyone you want the Orc’s Passion.”
“Keep pushing my buttons, Bean.”
“Or what? You’ll tell my daddy on me. Been there.
” I saunter past him heading for the door.
A few seconds pass, and I see him going to the register.
He’s not really buying the paddle, is he?
I try to see what he’s getting, but there’s a privacy wall at the checkout.
Ugh. Whatever. I don’t care. He’s probably buying something for Tawny or all the other skanks he fucks.
He exits the store with a black bag that prevents me from seeing what’s hidden inside.
We putter around in the thrift store until they announce they are about to close early. The temps are getting colder, and I need to check on my cat. I worry about leaving him for too long in a strange to him room.
“Want to go with me to check out the bar across the street later? The guy at the diner said they have pizza and karaoke tonight.”
“Are you going to be singing?”
“Never know.”
“Hmm.” It isn’t like we have anything better to do, and I am getting hungry. “Why not? I’ll get ready.” I take my time going through my bag to find something to wear.
Justice is stretched out on the bed with Mr. Tinkles on his chest. The two of them are watching a ghost-hunting travel show. Fur ball my ass. I knew he’d succumb to the cuteness that’s Mr. Tinkles. I snap a candid pic of them.
“Saw that. If you make money off me, I’ll expect a payment.” He smiles to himself and continues petting Mr. Tinkles.
“I’m sure we can work something out.” I grab my undies and walk into the bathroom. “I’ve gotta leave the door cracked in case he needs to get in here.”
“What if I want in there?” he says, and my stomach flutters.
Ignoring his comment, I turn the shower on and strip down before propping my phone up on the sink so I can listen to my playlist. I can’t shake this feeling.
An anxiousness. Like I’m getting ready for a first date.
Only this isn’t a date. We’re two people going to dinner together because we’ve been forced into sharing this room due to circumstances out of our control.
Honestly, I couldn’t have planned this better myself, but I didn’t know we would get stuck for the night.
I thought we’d talk on the drive, and I’d confront him. Force him to admit he feels something for me. But now we’re here. There’s only one bed. He’s not going to sleep on that tiny, lumpy couch.
I step under the hot spray of water wondering if tonight will be the night we surrender to fate.
We’ve been dancing around each other since I turned eighteen. He likes to pretend he didn’t notice me back then, but I see the way he looks at me. Justice wants me. He just needs a little push.
Some liquid courage.