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When Victor parked, Gabriel jumped out and opened my door for me. I thanked him and he seemed pleased. As we approached the mall together, Victor strolled ahead and held the door open for me. I thanked him, too, wondering how much longer they would continue to open doors for me. Was I still the new friend they were being nice to?
“Where are we going?” Victor asked me as we collected inside.
I blinked at him, pushing a finger to my lip and feeling nervous now. I knew he intended to buy a couple pieces of clothes for me. I thought about what Mr. Blackbourne had told me about how the boys handled any situation, helping each other. I tried to swallow down my pride. “I don’t know where to start. Any department store ought to have...”
“We’re starting with underwear,” Gabriel said. He grabbed my hand and tugged me down the walkway of the mall.
“Gabe!” Nathan called after us. He jogged until he was on the other side of me, taking hold of my arm. “We can’t take her for that.”
Gabriel rubbed at his temple, looking confused. “Of course we can,” he said. He pointed to a Victoria’s Secret store a couple of shops down the line. “It’s right there and it’s open.”
“I mean,” Nathan said in a lower tone, “We can’t buy her underwear. Come on.”
“What the fuck?” Gabriel blinked at him. “She’s a fucking girl. She needs underwear. And bras that are the right size. Have you seen her bras?”
Nathan narrowed his eyes at him. “I don’t expect you to have...”
Gabriel twisted his lips. He hooked a couple of fingers in the neck of Kota’s shirt and tugged it down over my shoulder to reveal my bra strap. He dug a finger under it, pulled and let it snap back against my skin. I winced, reaching up to rub the spot.
“They don’t fit her right,” Gabriel said.
“How would you know?” Victor asked, standing by with his hands in his pockets. His tone was more curious than trying to challenge him.
“It’s my job,” he said. “What do I do? What the hell am I here for?”
“Okay, shit,” Nathan said. “We’ll get her some underwear.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Guys,” I said. “I don’t think...”
Gabriel hung his arm over my neck and led me toward the store. “If you say something stupid like you don’t deserve new things or try to tell me to shut up, I’m going to spank you in front of everyone here. Now let’s get busy.” He seemed much happier now that he was directing the way this shopping trip was going.
My face was radiating heat as Gabriel hung on to me. We walked through the open doors of the shop. Tables of underwear were out on display and mannequins modeled in suggestive poses wearing sheer lingerie.
“Go ahead,” Gabriel said. “Pick out what you like.”
I pushed my finger to my lower lip as my head tilted from side to side. Where did I start? My fingers traced over the lace of a pink bikini. My eyes flitted from the different pairs. I’d never been shopping before. What did I do?
Nathan stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. His cheeks were red enough to match his hair as he stared at the displays on the walls. To me it seemed like he was trying to avoid eye contact with everyone in the store. Victor merely looked curiously at some of the racks, fingering the material of a couple of the shirts.
Gabriel snapped his fingers close to my face. “Come on, Trouble. Pay attention.”
I flinched at him, blowing out a puff of air. “I’m nervous.”
“Stop being nervous,” he said. He pointed to a pair of pink boy-cut panties. “There. You love pink and that style is in fashion.”
Victor materialized next to me. “She doesn’t need her underwear to be in fashion.” He nodded to some of the more frilly pairs of panties. “Get what you think you’d like.”
“Do y'all need any help?” An attendant in a black dress suit and a heavy gold necklace came up beside us. She was in her late forties, with red hair piled high on her hair. Her skin was heavily tanned and her lips were buried under a thick layer of deep red lipstick. She studied my face and the guys standing next to me.
“Our friend,” Gabriel said, elbowing me, “needs a bra fitting and new underwear. Can you take her measurements and help her pick out some stuff?”
The woman smiled. She reached out her hands to me, wrapping one around my arm. “Come with me, honey. I know exactly what you need,” she said. “You boys want to wait by the registers? How many does she need?”
“Ten of each, at least,” Victor said, the fire in his eyes subdued. “And whatever else she wants. Don’t let her come back until she has enough.”
The attendant smiled a toothy grin and took up my hand to stick it through her arm. “I’ll take care of her.”
I swallowed, allowing the attendant to guide me to the back of the store and out of sight from the boys. I kind of felt relieved to be out from under their curious faces. Why did he say so many? Was Victor serious?
“Don’t worry,” the attendant said. “I know it’s tough shopping with boys when you need stuff. They all have their own opinions.”
I wondered why she didn’t consider it strange for someone like me to be buying underwear with a few boys. Was this normal?
Within a few minutes, she had me measured out and helped me to select a variety of bras to try on. She showed me into the fitting rooms and instructed me on how to ensure the bras were fitting correctly. When she was sure we had the right size, she started a circle around the back of the store. She piled bras and underwear into my arms for me. She would hold up something and I simply nodded at her suggestion. I was too timid to interject an opinion.
She asked my preference on color, and I told her I liked pink. She made sure that every piece of underwear had some bit of pink attached. She had me get a couple of different styles; sporty, vivid, elegant and cute.
I finally had to tell her to stop. I had lost count of how many items she had given me. “I think this is enough,” I said.
“Make sure you get what you like,” she said. “Your friend said whatever you wanted.”
I nodded. “It’s nice of him, but I’d like to keep it simple.”
Her smile took on a knowing glint. “Honey, you’ve got to take advantage of it while you can.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant but she laughed softly at me, removing the collection from my arms and walked ahead of me to the registers.
Victor was standing by the counter. He caught my eye as we approached. The attendant held up the pile. “Is this enough?”
Victor nodded quietly in approval.
I slipped next to him, my cheek hovered close to his shoulder to hide my blushing.
“Where are the others?” I asked him quietly.
“I made them wait outside,” he said. “They wanted to buy half the store for you.”
I turned my face away, rolling my eyes and pushing a palm to my cheek. He found my hand and held it, his thumb smoothed over the skin between my thumb and forefinger and it calmed me a little.
“Add that pile, too,” Victor said to the attendant. He pointed to a small collection of shorts and shirts that were folded nearby on the counter. Most of it looked like clothes one would sleep in or made for exercising.
The attendant beamed. “Would you like to open a line of credit?”
“No,” Victor said. He let go of my hand to take out his wallet. He slapped a black credit card on the countertop.
“You have some very nice friends,” the attendant said as she finished up the order.
Victor sighed, removing his cell phone from his back pocket. As he punched at the screen, the attendant finished ringing up the order and the final price glowed green on the display.
Over eight hundred dollars.
“Victor...” I said nervously, touching his elbow. I hadn’t looked at the tags and I was floored. Was this how much clothes cost? He had to be out of his mind. I felt sure the moment he saw it, he’d refuse and want to send back most of i
t
He glanced at what I was looking at. His eyebrow lifted but he seemed unaffected and went back to typing in his phone as the attendant swiped his card.
“Vic...”
“Just say thank you,” he said calmly.
I sighed. “Thank you, Victor,” I said in a small voice.
He did a half smile, tucked his phone into his pocket, signed the slip and put his card back into his wallet. “You’re getting the hang of it.”
I had two pink bags dangling off my arm when we left the store. Gabriel and Nathan were waiting just outside the doors. They had their heads tucked close to each other as they talked. When they spotted Victor and me, the conversation ceased suspiciously. I half worried for a moment if there was some Academy business that was about to call them off.
“Okay,” Gabriel said, slapping his hands together and rubbing them. “Go put on a new bra and pair of panties and we’ll get started.”
“Right now?” I asked. I was already feeling overwhelmed.
“Yes,” he said. “If we’re going to get clothes that fit you right, you need to be in a bra that fits you. Just slip into the girls’ restroom and go put something on.”
We found the restrooms and I went in to change in the stall. I put on a pair of pink and black striped underwear. Confidence started to thread its way through my skin. I felt daring. I found a white bra and put that on, too. It did feel much more comfortable than my old one. I wondered how Gabriel knew mine didn’t fit. I didn’t even notice.
I stuffed my old things into the bottom of the bag and tossed the tags in the garbage. I met with the others out in the hallway. They all turned to me. Gabriel nodded his head in approval.
