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“Your dress.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I know you’re obsessed with that dress.”
I could almost swear I heard him say “I’m obsessed with you.” But it was so soft, that I was pretty sure I imagined it.
The pillow was extra large. I snatched it from his hands and gave it a small squeeze. “Oh yes.”
“That good?”
“Look at the elegant swirls. Feel the snuggliness.”
“Is snuggliness a real word?”
“Feel it and you’ll understand.”
“I touched it when I pulled it from the shelf.”
I stuck it to his face, and pulled his arm up to position it against the fabric.“Feelit.”
He chuckled softly into the forest green fabric. “This one is acceptable.”
“Acceptable?Psh.”
He lowered the pillow from his face and grinned at me.
“It’s glorious,” I said. “We’ll get two.”
The worker dude appeared from nowhere. He took a second pillow from the shelf along with the one in Gabriel’s hands toward the register.
“Great, with that done, what would you like to do next?” Gabriel asked.
“Done? Oh no, we’re not done.”
His throat worked up and down, the only time that wasn’t a social situation where I’d sensed anything close to fear in him.
I gave his arm a reassuring pat and led the way through the treasury of pillows and throw blankets.
“You never told me about your family,” he said out of nowhere.
“Me? Oh. I’m a boring story. Youngest of four girls, the only one who doesn’t have a high-powered perfect job and life, parents still grossly in love with each other.”
“You’re not boring to me,” he said, his attention on one of the blankets. “What makes it gross?”
“They glommed together as a single unit, knowing every single thing about each other, always agreeing on everything. That’s love for you—basic, boring, and sickeningly sweet.”
“That sounds nice.”
And then I felt like a big fat dick. “I…That was insensitive. I shouldn’t complain about my parents to you. I know I’m lucky to have two of them, to have them still together, and all of that.”
“I want to know you,” he said. “It’s not a competition.”
“Isn’t everything?”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
I considered what he was saying, and immediately dismissed it. “I would never settle for boring.”
Gabriel rifled through the blankets and pulled out a purple and black furry one. “This isn’t boring.”
