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“Call me your friend again and see what happens.”
She rolls her beautiful hazel eyes at me and keeps going. “I used to ask my mom for quarters when I was a kid and just kept turning the handle until that machine gave me these. Then I’d make my own little necklaces and bracelets with them. They’re theperfectcolor.”
“I don’t even want to know how much of your mom’s money you spent like that.”
“Too much to admit. Give me a quarter.”
“What’s the magic word, baby?”
She fully turns to me, goes on her toes, and wraps her arms around my neck. I can feel the cold of her milkshake cup on my shoulder. The air around us is electric. The storm is over, but the rain is still drizzling, and it smells of wet concrete.
“Please,” she breathes before giving me a soft kiss.
My heart fucking melts, and I hand her the coins as soon as she steps back. She starts with the gumball machine. She pops the massive ball in her mouth, wincing as she bites it. “That’s much harder to chew than I remember.”
She shifts to the right and puts a quarter in the other machine. She turns the handle, and a capsule falls. Grabbing it, I watch her shoulders deplete.
“It’s a plastic ring.” She turns to me and gives me the little ball. “I’ve got another chance. I want my fuchsia hearts.” She puts the quarter in front of my lips. “Blow on it for good luck.”
I harden my gaze, pretending this isn’t the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. Her cheeks are blowing from that giant gum she’s biting, and I see the inside of her lips is starting to turn blue when she gives me a huge smile. I blow a breath on the coin.
She turns around, lowers herself, and goes through the same process to get a capsule.
“Aw,” she pouts as she turns around. “It’s stars stickers.” She gives me that capsule too. “Oh, well. We tried.”
Her little frown tugs at my heart. The way her smile has fallen off her face reminds me I’m way too fucking deep into this shit.
“Stay here,” I murmur. I walk back to my car, open the back of the truck, grab my duffel bag, and pull out the crowbar.
Her eyes widen as I walk back. “Step aside.”
“Xi,” she says warily. “What are you—” Her voice cuts off the moment I hit the glass of the machine. “No!” she gasps.
The storage box shatters to pieces, and all the capsules fall out. I squat and search through them, finding the little hearts she wanted.
“Here,” I say as I stand back up.
“You didn’t have to do that.” She looks around us, a panicked look taking over her beautiful face.
“Relax, cupcake. No one will arrest us for breaking a machine that hasn’t been used in years.”
“It’s so wrong,” she admits.
“You wanted the pink hearts. You got the pink hearts.”
“They’re fuchsia.”
It’s one of the strangest things; I love when she corrects me about colors. If there’s one thing I know, it’s motherfucking colors. I’ve painted since I was a child. Different shades of pigments are the only thing in the world I can’t be corrected on. And yet, I insist on calling her favorite colorpinkjust to hear her say fuchsia. Just to watch how her brain automatically throws the right color back at me because I know she can’t help herself.
For a second, I don’t reply. I bask in the pleasure of having Alex near me. In the fact that she knows nothing of who I really am and that she can love this version of me.
“Point is when you’re with me, anything you want, you get. Clear?”
She nods, unable to stop a smile from spreading on her face. “You’re crazy.”
“You bet your ass I am. Now let’s get dessert.”
“Mine,” she murmurs as we walk to the car.
