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“They don’t hurt — what are you talking about?”
“Yeah, your feet might not hurt, but how sore is the rest of your body when you go to bed at night?”
Well, it was pretty sore, but he hadn’t been willing to admit that to Nicole, not wanting her to think that he couldn’t handle it here.
“It’s been… a bit to get used to.”
“Uh-huh,” she sighed, taking that as a victory.
“My feet don’t hurt, though!” he insisted.
“I guarantee you, if you get some decent boots with actual support in them, that muscle pain is going to be cut in half or more.Afteryou break them in,” she finished, cutting him such a pointed glare that he burst out laughing.
“Okay, okay,” he said, raising his hands in defeat. “It’s good to know that you care about my wellbeing so much, Nicole.”
“Don’t get ideas — I’m doing this for me. Do you know how stressful it’s been to see you wandering around in those things all week? I don’t have first-aid training; I don’t know how to strap up a dislocated leg.”
“I will keep both of my legs located. I will buy some boots in town. I swear.”
He’d thought that might be the end of it, but apparently now that she’d started saying what had been on her mind, it had opened a floodgate.
“And, Brendan, you havemoney— please, for the love of God, would you get some shirts that will actually keep you warm outside? The ones you wear arepretty, but good Lord…”
She shook her head, completely exasperated, as he broke down into laughter again.
“Has it been hard for you to keep all this to yourself?”
“Yes,” she said simply. “Yes, it has.”
“I’m guessing there’s a clothing store in town, then?”
“I will drop you off right out the front.”
He chuckled. So, shedidcare after all. That was promising. If she didn’t, she could have just let him continue on in his apparently unacceptable boots and flimsy shirts.
“Do you need anything?” he asked.
Nicole’s brow creased just a little as she processed what he’d said.
“Yeah, I wrote out my list…”
“No, I mean like new boots or anything? Since I’ll be there anyways, may as well kill two birds with one stone. Do you have enough jeans, or…”
He’d thought it was an innocent enough question, considering they werejusttalking about needing the right clothing for the job, but in between watching where she was driving, Nicole was looking at him like he’d suddenly sprouted a second head.
“You… you’d buy me clothes?”
Her voice was suddenly smaller than he’d ever heard it, so quiet that he could barely hear it over the rumble of the engine and singing from the radio.
“Yeah,” he said, suddenly filled with the ridiculous urge to scoop her up into his lap where she’d be safe. “Like you said, I can afford it. So, if you need something it’s no trouble.”
“I wasn’t, like, angling for you to buy me stuff,” she said, so flustered that her face now shone crimson.
“No, I know,” said Brendan, keeping his voice gentle, like she was a small animal he was trying to coax out. “But the offer stands. Think of it as a bonus for teaching me the ropes.”
Nicole still looked flustered at the offer, like she was embarrassed.
“I’m fine, really,” she insisted.
