Page 50 of Obsessions of the Heart

When we parked, the first thing I thought of was sugar. Sugar made everything better. No matter what you were feeling, sugar had a way of curing the brunt of the pain and making it a dull sting instead. That was definitely what I needed. Plus, I’d promised her cookies.

“Which store did you want to start in?” She glanced around like a lost, little bunny, and I was the wolf in sheep's clothing.

“Come on.” I moved away from the clothing stores.

Her light steps sounded behind me as she caught up. “Where are we going first?”

A large group of people crowded the pathway, and on instinct, I moved to grab her. My fingers brushed against her sweatshirt, but I pulled back when her pained face filled my mind. Slow, Ravi. Take it slow. Aim for love, not lust.

Just as I carved a way through the crowd, something tugged on my pants. I glanced back, seeing Rin's finger looped around the belt loop on my jeans. I was glad for the mask around my mouth, concealing my slap-happy grin and the heat beneath my cheeks. Having her make the move first was a different feeling. I felt… bashful.

Growing bolder by her initiation, I snaked my arm back and snagged her hand, giving it a squeeze as we worked our way through the end of the crowd. “Cookies. Nothing says perfect mall trip like cookies. Then we have to end it with Wizzle Pretzels.”

Her brows pinched. “Cookies, I get. I mean, who doesn't love cookies, but pretzels?”

I stopped short, looking at her like she had just taken her head off her shoulders and told me she was the headless horseman. “What do you mean? Have you never had Wizzle Pretzels?” She shook her head, her hair getting in her face, and my heart almost stopped from how adorable she was. How could she be this amazing just by being herself? I wanted to make another shrine of her looking like this, hair messy, cheeks red, and her head tilted in question. It caused shivers to run up and down my spine.

“We are going to fix that today. No buts.”

She shrugged, turning back to the cookie stand as she licked her lips. “Sure, but now that you offered cookies, that's all I can think about.”

Walking up to the cookie stand, something felt off even though everything on the outside was fine. Cookies were lined up in their case while uniformed workers took orders, bagged them up, and handled the cash registers. I kept one eye on them and the other on Rin, noting her struggle to pick out what to eat.

“We should just get one of each.” I wanted to see her face light up when she found the one that spoke to her taste buds.

“As long as you eat them with me, I’m fine with that.” She tapped her finger on her chin. “Oh! And we can save some for the boys.” While I knew my brothers didn’t have a taste for sweets like I did, I nodded anyways because I wanted to watch them stuff their faces just to make her happy.

I gave the clerk our order, but before she was able to open the bag, someone came out with a fresh tray of chocolate chip cookies. When the newcomer said he would bag the cookies for us, my training kicked into gear and I paid more attention to him.

Something was definitely off with this guy. Whenever Rin picked a cookie he would bend down to get it but look at me, almost like he was paying special attention to me. He bagged them all up and handed it to the girl at the register, telling her to check us out, then disappeared into the back.

Nope. I did not like that.

Rin reached for the bag as soon as I finished paying, but I snatched it, giving her a sheepish look. She laughed off my claim about being too hungry to wait and walked away to find us a table while I glared at the cookies. What the fuck is wrong with these? Did they find out about us? Is this a test?

I made a quick decision as I walked over to Rin, purposely tripping on one of the chairs. I caught myself in time to avoid hitting the floor, but I ensured that the bag tipped. The cookies all fell into the ground, and I made a show of being embarrassed when Rin ran to my side to ask if I was okay.

It was kind of nice to have someone fawn over me, so I soaked it in while I picked up the cookies. She helped me up but quickly sped off to get another set of cookies, leaving my protests in the wind.

As soon as she left, I picked up the chocolate chip and sniffed it. We had been trained to not only figure out if something was poisoned, but had also built up an immunity to most poisons by microdosing for a year. Nothing smelled out of the ordinary. I took my mask off and ate a small crumb from the cookie. When sharp pain stabbed my tongue, I knew I was right. The chocolate chip had been poisoned.

Rin came back just as I trashed the poisoned cookie and the rest of the lot. As soon as we sat down, I grabbed the new chocolate chip and took a bite. This one was a normal cookie, so that clerk had been a plant. I would need to tell Rion about this, but I didn't want to ruin our outing so it would have to wait.

After we were done, I made a mental note that her favorites were the sugar cookie and double chocolate. Now, we wandered the mall, waiting for a store to call to her. It took longer than I thought, but she finally went into one, her face tense as she looked around. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her over to the section of the store that looked the most relaxed.

“Let's start here. Does anything catch your eye?”

She carefully wove her way around the racks, almost like she was hesitant to touch anything. I followed behind, noting the items she looked at longer than others. It took a lot of willpower to not say fuck it and buy her everything in her size, but I knew she would get pissy about that. Though I did have a bit of a loophole. I had promised to let her buy an outfit… That didn't mean that it was going to be the only outfit she got.

She held up a set of dark-washed jeans and a flowy white top with the shoulders cut out. It was cute but definitely not enough.

I nodded toward the back. “Okay. Let's have you try them on.” She hesitated, looking like she just wanted to be done, but I wasn't going to let her ruin my plans.

I stuck out my lip, giving her wide, sad eyes. “How do you know if it even fits? Sizes and fits change depending on the brand. You should really try it on.”

Glaring at me, she walked toward the back.

Before she could get too far away, I called out, “Also I saw a few pieces that you might like. That's why you brought me, right? To help?”

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