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Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
This was a disaster. He needed to think of non-sexy things. Nothing related to Ryder and what seemed to be an incredibly kissable mouth.
Gideon was wracking his brain when Ryder turned a corner and Gideon suddenly shouted, “There!” He’d never been so grateful for a thrift store in all his long life.
“Got it,” Ryder grunted and hit his turn signal.
They’d gotten all the main shopping done, and Gideon had talked Ryder into visiting one of his favorite thrift stores. Ethan had shown it to him months ago, and they both liked to hit it for weird treasures and unique finds. He wasn’t searching for anything in particular. This was a chance to find something interesting for his place, and maybe even something for Ryder.
Ryder carefully navigated the slushy road and pulled into an open spot that wasn’t close to any other cars. As Gideon unbuckled his seat belt, Ryder leaned forward and glared at the parking lot.
“Wait for me to come to your side.”
Gideon was about to ask him what was wrong, but Ryder was already climbing out of the truck and walking around the vehicle like a man on a mission. Nothing was getting in his way. Gideon released his seat belt and tugged on his bright-yellow knit hat.
After Ryder pulled open his door, he reached in and scooped up Gideon in his arms as easily as if he were picking up a kitten. A tiny “Eep!” escaped Gideon, and he immediately wrapped his arms behind Ryder’s neck to steady himself.
“What are you doing?” Gideon demanded.
“Door,” Ryder answered.
Gideon took a breath to ask what the hell he was talking about when he realized Ryder’s arms were full. He needed Gideon to close the truck door.Duh. Stretching out one arm, Gideon pushed the door closed and returned it to Ryder’s shoulder.
“The parking lot is full of deep puddles and dirty, slushy snow. I don’t want your shoes to get dirty,” Ryder replied as he started forward through the parking lot, Gideon in his arms, as if it were the most natural thing in the entire world.
Gideon might have glanced at the rainbow galoshes on his feet. The very shoes he put on to trek through dirty slush and puddles. Who was he to argue if it got him service like this?
As they reached the sidewalk, Ryder stood holding him, the glow from the lights of the store gilding all the vampire’s harsh features and making his gray eyes seem even paler. Gideon cupped one of Ryder’s cheeks, his thumb caressing his high cheekbone.
“Why didn’t you warn me you’re a closet romantic? I had no idea.”
“I’m not. I’m not any good at romance. You…you need to be protected. Always.”
Part of him wanted to argue that he didn’t need to be protected all the time. That he could make it just fine on his own. But the words never came out because he was drowning in Ryder’s soft gaze. Maybe Ryder protecting him wasn’t about Gideon not being able to do it himself. Maybe it was one of Ryder’s love languages.
He leaned closer, drawn to those parted lips. Ryder’s hands tightened on his thighs and side, pulling him in tighter.
“Get a fucking room!” some asshole shouted from a passing car.
Ryder bared his fangs and growled, his eyes taking on a faint glow as if he were ready to launch himself at the idiot who’d interrupted them.
Gideon tossed his head back and chortled. He could feel the tension instantly roll off Ryder, who carefully set him on his feet on the mostly cleared sidewalk in front of the store. Yeah, he wanted to kiss Ryder more than anything, but he’d never imagined it happening in front of a thrift store.
“Come on, my big protector. Let’s see what we can find in the ‘weird crap we don’t need but gotta have’ category.”
Ryder frowned. “If we don’t need it, why are we getting it?”
Gideon shrugged and led the way to the glass front door. “Who knows? Because it looks cool. Because it’ll make Ethan jealous that I found it first. Because your place could really use some useless crap.”
A half smile lifted one corner of Ryder’s mouth, and Gideon practically skipped into the store. It wasn’t a kiss, but he’d take it as a win.
The thrift store was utter chaos, and he loved it. They tried to organize things according to various categories, such as household items, decorations, clothing, and board games, but people had a tendency to pick things up and walk with them before putting them down in weird places. He found a cute tiki statue shoved in among a bunch of old casserole dishes straight out of the seventies and a rainbow pillow among the shoes.
Nothing was catching his eye yet, but it meant that he needed to search each and every aisle to inspect all the goods. Ethan had taught him that. Finding weird treasures required patience and diligence. Also, the only one of the Varik brothers you could bring shopping at the thrift store was Bel. None of the others had the patience except for the scientist Varik, who was curious about everything.
Ryder appeared to be quite patient. He trailed along after Gideon, not making a single sound of annoyance. Not that he appeared to be perusing the goods much. Occasionally, he’d stop and pick something up to inspect it, but he always returned it to the shelf.
With a smirk, Gideon wandered over to the books. They’d packed the shelves with worn paperbacks and some hardbacks of popular fiction, but Ryder was hooked. After patting Ryder on the shoulder and promising to come fetch him in a while, he left the enormous vampire to pick through secondhand books, allowing Gideon to wander through the rest of the store without a care.
