I love them and I love—
No.
It’s way too early for that and we’re not even together.
Nope.
Nu-uh.
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
“These are for you by the way… I hope you like Lily's, I asked my mom and sister to pick between Lily’s and Dahlias and they chose the Dahlias but I felt like you were more of a Lily girl but then again—”
“They’re amazing!” I grin up at him, carefully taking them before pulling him into the most bone crushing hug ever. Blake relaxes into the hug, pulling me closer before letting go.
I watch as his gaze darkens, taking in the full expanse of my outfit. He unconsciously licks his lips before his eyes flicker back up to my own.
“Ready?” He asks, clearing his throat as I nod, stepping out the door, locking it behind me.
On the ride to our destination, we sit in a comfortable silence, listening to a new song by Luka Espinosa, the lead singer of Twisted Vipers. The car ride isso soothing and comfortable that I drift off to sleep with a feeling of contempt and safety over me.
“Princess? Cleo…? Oh my goodness, free donuts and cameras on Highway 59!”
“Where?!” I jump up out of my sleep and immediately regret it as my head collides with something hard.
Blake groans, cursing under his breath from beside me but I can care less as I let my eyes adjust to my surroundings.
“There aren’t any don—Barnes & Noble?!” My disappointment is immediately replaced with excitement as I catch sight of the four-story book store ahead.
“Oh, don’t mind me, just nursing a concussion,” Blake mumbles as I hop out of his Jeep.
“Don’t be such a baby, Boy Scout! There’s probably a book about concussions for you!”
Blake grumbles something incoherent behind me as I skip towards the store. I almost make it into the section where all of the Shapeshifter Erotica novels are when Blake pops up behind me, holding a book with a girl and guy in an ice rink on the cover.
“We should reenact one of these scenes, TikTok said that this book is—what the hell is DVP? Double vag—holy shit.” He grimaces, looking down at his phone before gagging at the sight of whatever he saw.
“Put that down!” I hiss, grabbing both the book and his phone.
It's a good thing he hadn’t looked up the book in my hand though, he’d probably throw up at the mention of knotting and what itactuallyis.
Spoiler alert, it has nothing to do with tying a rope or bondage.
“How about this, Princess. I buy you seven books, and a box of donuts, if you and I can reenact whatever’s in… this book!” He smiles triumphantly, holding up a book about fae, that everyone and their mom, including me, have read and loved.
This sounds like a win-win situation to me.
I nod as Blake fist pumps the air, grabbing his phone back to presumably look up the large book.
We walk around the store, him picking up every book that I put down while I stalk through the fantasy and romance aisles. “Look at this one, babe, TikTok says he fucks her with a… with a gun? Oh my—”
I double over in laughter at the horrified expression on Blake’s face as he lightly puts the dark romance book back in its rightful spot and allow him to walk us to the check-out area.
Note to self: Keep Blake far,faraway from both TikTok and the Dark Romance section of Barnes & Noble.
forty-five
Cleo
