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She went wide-eyed as they all hopped the curb and headed toward the brightly lit mall entrance. “Well, Sadie and Caitlin got new cell phones for their birthday last week, and we were just messing with some TikTok videos. Nothing inappropriate, but…I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d have a problem with it, but I shouldn’t have assumed.”
Gavin shrugged. “There are worse things than making silly videos with friends,” he said, holding the glass-paned door open to usher them both into the mall. “Plus, I trust you to make those kinds of judgment calls, anyway. I just don’t want Bree killing your battery or monopolizing your phone.”
Sloane’s pace slowed for a second, and as she scrambled to make up the few strides she’d lost, Bree intervened.
“I didn’t monopolize. I borrowed,” she said, and Sloane nodded in agreement.
“It was fine, really.” She lifted an eyebrow in Bree’s direction and bumped Bree’s hip with a gentle nudge. “You’re just lucky I have a high tolerance for SnapChat filters,kid.”
“Whatever.” But Bree bumped her back with a laugh of her own, and the familiar ease lit something uncontrollably happy in Gavin’s chest. By the time they got a third of the way through the aisles in the Target next to the mall, their effortless banter had turned his mood damn near unbreakable.
Sloane got a wicked glint in her eye as they rounded a huge display of sunglasses, and she snapped a pair of purple aviator shades from the wall. “A girl can never have too many pairs of sunglasses,” she crooned, popping them over her face and fluffing her hair in the display mirror.
Gavin laughed. “Those are totally ridiculous.” And yet she still managed to look irresistible in them.
“Not as ridiculous as these,” Bree chimed in, grabbing a pair of lime green Wayfarers.
“Between the two of you, I think the sun would be tempted to cry rather than shine.” And yet his laughter kept welling up with no end in sight.
Sloane took a step back, propping the purple glasses on her forehead in order to scan the rest of the display. “Okay. Let’s find a pair for you, then.”
His amusement veered toward nervousness, but he had a funny feeling Sloane could smell fear like most people could smell cookies in the oven, so he made an effort to keep his expression neutral. “No, thanks. I’m all set.”
“Oh, come on! You have to play, too.” Bree wasted less than five seconds before gleefully pointing out some of the ugliest sunglasses on the planet to Sloane, and shit, how was he going to get out of this now?
He took a quick survey of the neighboring aisles, noting with chagrin that they were dotted with shoppers all well within sight of them. “Really. Those look so much better on you guys. I’ll just let you have all the glory.”
“Nice try, you old smoothie.” Sloane plucked a pair of huge shades from the rack that looked like they should come with an optional disco ball, and Gavin took a step backward.
“No way. Not a chance those are going on my face.” He gestured to the plastic monstrosity in her hand.
Velvety laughter spilled from her lips. “Relax. These are for me. These”—she paused, reaching around Bree’s shoulder to slip a pair of strangely normal-looking men’s sunglasses from the backlit display—“are for you.”
“Oh, you let him off easy,” Bree complained with a giggle, but Sloane just smiled and swapped her purple glasses for the bug-eyed disco pair.
“What do you say, boss? Do you want to give these a shot?” She held out the pair she’d chosen for him, and even in those completely ludicrous sunglasses she’d pulled from the display, she looked so sweetly endearing, so completelySloane,that he took the purple aviators from her other hand without a second thought.
“Nope. If I’m going to look ridiculous, I might as well go all in.” He shoved the frames over his nose in one smooth gesture, savoring the shock on both of the faces in front of him as he turned to the rack of hats and scarves behind them.
“As a matter of fact, while we’re at it, why don’t we try this?” He skimmed the shelves of hats, his violet-tinted gaze snagging on the perfect example of turnabout being fair play. He placed a floppy, daisy-studded rain hat on Bree’s head, eliciting a fresh round of giggles from her.
“Pick one for Sloane,” she chanted, her girlish face lit up sweetly despite the garish hat-and-glasses combination she wore.
Gavin tapped a finger to his chin, feigning deep thought. “One for Sloane. Hmmm.” He picked up a dramatic bright red fedora and twirled it menacingly in his hand.
“Hey, don’t forget I was nice to you. You’re the one who stole my aviators,” Sloane reminded him with a laugh.
“So I am.” He returned the fedora to the shelf, even though he had a sneaking suspicion it would’ve looked more attractive than comical on her. Finally, out of the corner of his eye, a snippet of color caught his attention. Oh, yeah. Freaking perfect.
He picked up the delicately crocheted sky blue beret, and the soft cotton threads felt just right in his hands as he lifted it to Sloane’s head. “But I think this ought to do it. How about you?”
Gavin slipped the stupid purple glasses off his face at the same time Sloane removed her own sunglasses, both of them staring into the mirror nestled between the shelves. The beret framed her face with just enough color to make her eyes shine, and she blinked first at her own reflection, then at his.
“Wow,” she murmured, and when she leaned against him, his arm went around her as if it couldn’t possibly belong anywhere else. “Thank you.”
“Well, I know you’re a bit partial to the hat you already have, but…”
Her eyes glittered, never wavering from his in the mirror. “It’s perfect. I love it.”
