“You ready to Bonnie and Clyde this shit?” Luca asked out of the corner of his mouth as we approached the front door. I stared at his ass as he shifted nervously from foot to foot, then caught himself doing it and stopped, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Bonnie and—”

“Fiiiine, Bobbie and Clyde. There, happy?”

Luca waited—and I snorted. I couldn’t help myself. The laughter escaped before I could catch it.

We were ridiculous.

This was ridiculous.

Absolutely fucking ridiculous.

I’d never had so much fun in my entire fucking life.

“Oh my god, he knows jokes, and he knows how to laugh!” Luca cheered, as he reached over to give my shoulder a friendly shake.

“Alright, Bobbie. Let’s go.” I shoved him toward the entrance, rejoicing when he tripped a little and shot me a glare over his shoulder. His back flexed when he pushed the front door open, the chime above it dinging to alert the store to our presence.

He thought he was real slick.

But I caught the smile he tried to hide when he turned away from me. There was laughter etched in every inch of his gorgeous body, and I couldn’t help but rejoice in the fact that I had caused it.

I’d never rejoiced in anything before.

It was weird.

But I liked it.

Everything went according to plan. While Luca flirted to distract the cashier, I stuffed my hoodie with snacks on the way to the bathroom, pretended to use it, then waved my thanks on the way out the front door. I paused though, the door handle caught in my fist as my attention snagged on a cork board covered in pictures to the left of the entrance.

What…Who was that?

Luca was still using the bathroom—I was meant to head outside without him to wait, but instead I paused, turning toward the friendly cashier who was still bright pink from my man’s attention.

“What is this?” I asked, curious.

“Oh.” She flushed even redder, as if she’d only just noticed me. I shouldn’t have talked to her to protect our anonymity, but I couldn’t help myself, my curiosity burning. “Whenever someone steals, if we get a good pic of them on camera it goes on that board.”

There had to be two hundred people up there.

“All of these people stole from you?” I asked, feigning shock.

“Well, not just from this location.” She laughed, biting her lip, her lashes fluttering as she checked me out. She was young. Which was good. Less likely to notice the bulge of stolen food beneath my sweatshirt. “We print them out from all over the valley and they sit at the exit, just like that, in every location.”

I nodded and shrugged, “Cool.”

She flashed me one last little smile, though her attention was immediately stolen by Luca as he pushed his way out of the bathroom and the door hit the wall with a quiet thump. His full pecs bounced as he strutted his long legs toward her, tiny waist even tinier without his hoodie on. Fuck. He was delicious. I didn’t blame her for staring.

With her head turned, I snatched one of the pictures from the wall quickly, ducking out the front door as I listened to Luca flirt his way toward the exit. The door shut with a quiet jingle behind me as the whisper of a breeze danced between the towering tree trunks on either side of the building. It tickled my fringe away from my face, carrying the scent of pine trees, summer, and pollen. I leaned against the wall, double-checking that Luca wasn’t behind me yet, before I pulled the little picture out of my pocket and stared.

It was…him.

It was Luca.

I was sure of it.

He had to have been in his early teens. He still had some baby fat on his cheeks despite being a tiny, scrawny thing. His eyes were huge, his signature freckles somehow even more crowded and haphazard splattered across his cheeks. Dark blond hair sat in unruly spikes on his head, and he was wearing a hoodie, hands stuffed into his pockets, his eyes challenging as he stared right up at the camera as if daring it to tell him what he was doing was wrong.