Page 58 of Strike Zone

“Change of plans. You’re hanging out with me the rest of the night. We’ll go do something fun, grab a bite to eat, maybe watch a movie.”

“I can’t, midterms.”

I should have seen that one coming.

“Forget the movie. We’ll study instead. But you have to eat and doing something fun will reset your brain. You’ll retain more of the study material with a clear head.”

“I don't know how true that really is. We can study here and order pizza.”

I eye her outfit one last time and mask my face of how I really feel about her showing more skin than usual. She is all legs. I long to run my palm over her thick thighs and wrap them around my waist.

“Do you have jeans? Boots? Gloves? Are you prepared for spring break?” As soon as her eyes start bouncing around the room I know I’ve got her.

“I’ve made a list of items I think I’ll need according to the short amount of research I’ve been able to do.” She pads over to her planner that’s sitting on the small peninsula in their kitchen. She fishes out a piece of notebook paper and hands it to me.

“Let’s go shopping. We’ll get all of this and a few other things I think you’ll need,” I say after reading over her very detailed list. “We’ll have a good time.”

“Shopping for clothes is never a good time.”

“That’s because you’ve never gone with me.”

“I thought we were going shopping for clothes,” Wren says, as we pull in front of the farm supply store. It’s the best place to find clothes and everything else she needs under one roof.

“We are. You’ll have to trust me.” I get out of the car before she can start talking. I’ve figured out this is the best way to handle Wren. I open her door and offer her my hand. “Come on.”

“There is a giant iron cow statue on the sidewalk.”

I glance over at the six foot metal cow wearing a cowboy hat. “I know. Isn’t it great?”

She doesn’t get one foot through the door before she is holding her nose. I chuckle at her as I grab a shopping cart.

“What is that smell?” she asks. It comes out nasally with the way she has her nose pinched.

“That is poultry and stock feed eau de parfum.” I attempt a French accent. “You’ll get used to it after a while.” I lead her to the back of the store where they have all the clothing and shoes. There is also a small dressing room if she needs to try anything on.

“I don’t remember it smelling this bad on the farm.”

“You were outside for all of five minutes. Trust me. It smells worse.” Once you get used to it, it smells like home. “Alright. Here we are.” I gesture to the racks of clothing and the back wall of jeans and pants.

She pulls her list out of her purse and starts to look it over. Glancing around the store then back at her list, I can see her mentally plan out the most efficient way to shop. It’s fascinating.

I’ve always gone into things with guns blazing. I get in, get it done, and walk away. If we were shopping for me, I would haphazardly throw things in the cart and hope for the best. Wren walks around the store methodically checking items off her list one at a time.

“Do you want to try those on?” I nod toward the jeans she dropped in the cart.

Her eyes dart toward the small dressing room. “No. They should be okay.” She throws in a second pair then moves on to shoes. “Is there anything else you can think of that I need?”

I pick a random cowboy hat off the rack as we pass and place it on her head. Her eyes slant in annoyance, but fuck me if she doesn’t look like a dream. Even without the jeans and boots, she is a vision that will haunt me for years to come.

“It doesn’t really go with my outfit,” she jokes. A shy smile covers her face. This is the first time I think I’ve ever seen her look unsure about something.

“It looks good on you, birdie.”

“As long as you think so,” she says, then tosses the hat on top of her pile of clothes. She walks away from me in the direction of the shoe department like she didn’t just say something important.

As long as you think so. What did she mean by that? Does she want me to think she looks good? She could be joking but it didn’t have her usual deadpan delivery. It was lighter, happier.

The thought stays with me while we finish shopping and drive back to her dorm.

---