Page 47 of Zane

“Are you hoping to wear these after you get the cast off, or are they just for now?”

“I’m not sure,” he said, staring down at the shoe he had on. “Why?”

“If you plan to wear them later, you’ll need more than just them working for the moment. If you don’t like the look of them—even if they’re easy to put on—you won’t wear them again.”

“I think I’d probably wear these again. They’re comfortable, which would be a bonus when I’m back in the kitchen.”

Zane tried on a few more pairs, but none were as comfortable as the first ones Kelsey had brought him.

“So you want these?” she asked as she stood next to the cart with the shoes in hand.

“Yep. I do.” He grabbed his crutches from where he’d leaned them against the shelves. “And now that I’m here, can we check out the gym shorts? I seem to be living in them these days, so I could use a few more pair.”

They left the shoe section and wandered over to the men’s section. Kelsey led the way, though she kept her pace even with his slow steps.

“Do you just want black or dark blue?” she asked when they reached a rack of gym shorts. Right away, she began to sort through them. “Here’s a nice pair.”

She held out a pair of dark blue shorts in his size. It made him wonder if they’d shopped together for clothes a lot.

He took the hanger she held out toward him. After checking the shorts over and holding them up against his waist, he put them in the cart.

“Here’s another pair.” She handed him a pair of black ones. They weren’t silky like the other pair, but the soft cotton felt nice. “How many pairs did you want?”

“Maybe two more,” he said. “I don’t want to have to be doing laundry every day.”

“Okay.” She gave him two other pairs, both of which worked for him. “Did you want more T-shirts?”

“Yeah. Maybe a couple.”

He hadn’t planned to do a major shop when he’d asked to tag along, but now that he was in the store, it made sense to pick up a few things.

“I like this color on you,” Kelsey said, holding up a lavender colored T-shirt.

He stared at it a moment, then frowned. “Uh…”

“You don’t want to look like a flower.”

“Yes. That. Exactly.”

“You never have liked to wear this color,” Kelsey said as she put the T-shirt back. “Even though I do think with your coloring, it would look really nice on you.”

Zane rested his weight on his crutches and watched Kelsey as she sorted through the T-shirts. She pulled out a couple in colors that were more in line with what he liked to wear. Again, the size was correct.

“These are a softer cotton,” Kelsey said as she turned to him. “But they’re a little more expensive.”

“I’ll go with softer,” Zane told her as he took one of the shirts. “Always.”

After a brief discussion about colors, his choices were added to the cart.

“What next?” Kelsey asked. “Do you need any toiletries?”

He thought of the meticulously organized bag of toiletries he’d found when he’d gone through everything that Kelsey had packed from their apartment. “I think I’m good.”

“I need to get a couple of things from the personal care section and then some groceries. Are you okay to keep going, or do you want to find a seat somewhere?”

“I’m fine,” he said. The pain was still there, but he was getting better at ignoring it when he had something to distract him.

In the toiletry section, she went to the hair care products and looked through the shampoos and conditioners. As he watched her smell some of them, Zane wondered what sort of scents she preferred. He should know.

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