“Nah, try again. You could have let me suffer. Especially since you think I’m an uncontrollable madman.” Jesse walked right up to the young man at the electronics counter who looked like he’d mentally checked out of his shift. Quick conversation and they discovered that this particular Target didn’t have the phones they both wanted.
“Sorry. I thought they would have them. They have everything.”
“It’s okay. We can still enjoy the rest of what the Target has to offer, and we’ll hit up the carrier stores or hit the mall over in Ontario. I think they have have a Mac store. We can grow old together while they make us sit there to activate our phones and upsell us on shitty cases. But while we’re here, I need a swimsuit, and you”—she looked up at him, trying to picture the whole package, naked—“you need condoms.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him in the direction of the pharmacy.
“What do I need condoms for?—Forget I said that.”
Lily-Grace managed to keep her snort of laughter to herself. They stopped in front of the shelves of contraceptive items, which unlike the phones were fully stocked. “Okay, yeah, we are definitely starting your sex lessons right now. Two big things you need for sexy good times: consent and protection. You, oddly enough for all initial impressions, seem to understand the consent side. But if you’re a little out of practice, being comfortable putting on a condom will help ease your anxiety in the moment. Also, they are useful for quick cleanup when you’re alone.”
“Hmmm,” was all Jesse said.
“So. The sizes do matter. Do you think you have more of a slim to average base?” She held her thumb and forefinger up in a little circle before she expanded it to make the circle bigger. “Or a larger base?”
“Uh, a larger base.”
Do not think about his dick. Do not think about hisdick. “Okay. So we’ll grab some of these in latex and a box of latex-free condoms. I personally am allergic to latex. Lots of fun trial-and-error to figure that out, but once I did ... It’s a good idea to test drive a few to see how you like them.” She handed him the boxes and waited patiently as he turned them both over and carefully read every single word written on the backs. She stepped back when he went back to the rack and selected a few more boxes and read those too. Finally he seemed to settle on the boxed she initially handed him.
“Okay. I’ll get these. Should I get some lubricant too?”
“Uh, sure,” Lily-Grace said, trying not to sound too shocked. He was really jumping right into this, taking it seriously. She half expected gross jokes and sly comments, but then she remembered who she was dealing with. Jesse Pleasant. Filled with a little bit of rage, but definitely serious. He picked two different brands of lube that seemed to do the trick, then looked back at her, ready for her next set of instructions. “All good?”
“Yeah. You need anything?”
“Oh no. I’m on a sex embargo right now, but let’s go check out the bathing suits. Let’s go.” She looped her arm with his and guided him to the front of the store for a handbasket before they headed back to the clothing section.
“You never answered my question,” he said when they reached the racks of brightly colored two-pieces. “Why did you jump into the auction last night?”
“I ... I’ve been asking myself the same thing.” She grabbed a lime-green ruffly affair with lemons on it and put it in the basket. “Why didn’t you text me from the wedding?”
“I was busier than I expected I’d be, and I thought it would be rude to sit in a corner on my phone. When I got back, I figured—I had a feeling the fact that I wanted to talk to you was pretty one-sided, so it seemed better to leave you alone.”
“Of course. You’re the one man who actually gets that hint.” When she got her phone back she really needed to block Dane. She dropped a simple black one-piece into the basket, then put her hands on her hips. Jesse had been brutally honest and she could be too. “Though I had vowed to ruin your life and steal your dog, I didn’t like seeing you so uncomfortable up there. It was supposed to be this fun night, and then you got up there and shit got real unfun real fast. Your grandmother was this close to bailing you out, but I think in the back of my mind your Grammy bidding on you would have just made things worse. So I spent a year’s tuition at Harvard to end it. Also you looked really good in that suit.” She mumbled the last bit.
“Wait, say that again?”
“You looked really good in that suit, okay? You’re handsome, Jesse.” She lightly slapped his rock-solid chest with the back of her hand. “Just deal with it.”
“That’s the second time you’ve hit me. I thought I was the one with the anger issues.”
“Sorry.” She curled her fists at her side. She just really wanted to touch him. “I thought I should, like, hug you or something for saving me last night, but slapping you was the natural response. Maybe I should talk to someone about that.” Lily-Grace watched Jesse as he carefully set their basket on the ground. He stood back to his full height, then opened his arms.
“Come on.”
“You sure? I’m more emotionally fragile than I look right now. I might just suction myself to you and never let go.”
He dropped his arms, one eyebrow going up under the brim of his cowboy hat. “What’s going on? You’ve been home for almost a month, but I thought you were just visiting. You made that comment about changing your number, and right now you look like you’re trying not to cry and using really bad sarcasm to do it.”
Lily-Grace scrunched her nose up, a pitiful effort to stop the tears from rushing to her eyes. “How about this? Some stuff is going on, but I really don’t want to cry in the middle of a Target, so let’s put a pin in it. For now. And later, in the cover of darkness, I’ll tell you the whole story. And you”—she reached up and flicked the brim of his hat. Baby steps—“you can tell me why someone who is clearly not comfortable with the spotlight would run for office.”
“Oh that?” Jesse grumbled.
“Yeah, that.”
Jesse pointed to a purple number on the rack before he reached down and grabbed the basket. “You’d look amazing in that.”
