Page 84 of Angel
“Because it will stress you out, and you don’t need any extra stress right now.”
“I’malreadystressed out, Angelo. Lia hates me… She’s yoursister.”
“Hey.” He scooted a little closer and slipped his arm around my waist. “This isn’t over yet. We’ve all got years to figure out how to get along. Let’s just enjoy this little bit of alone time you and I are getting. It’ll probably be the only amount we get all week.”
“Mm,” I sighed into his coat. “True.”
We arrived at the mall, a mostly outdoor venue with small trees and pots and cobblestone walkways leading up to the name brand stores. It was definitely the ‘nicer’ shopping center in the area.
Angelo already had a list we’d written back in the city tucked into his coat’s breast pocket. We still yet had to pick up something for Tre or for Sophia. I’d gotten Soph a pretty necklace holder, since she’d run out of space to put her jewels on long ago, but Angelo insisted that he get her something all on his own.
He took me to the most bohemian looking store and had me try on clothes to find the right size. From the slew of options, I picked a skirt and infinity scarf for Sophia.
“Do you think she’ll like this?” he asked as we left the shop.
I guffawed. “Anything even resembling clothing she likes.”
After that we went to a few other stores, kind of at a loss as to what to get Trey. We considered getting him some sort of Louisiana State paraphernalia, but didn’t know what he had and didn’t. Eventually we settled on a nice, complete set of cookware.
“I’ve been to his place,” Angelo explained. “The guy lives on take out and anything that comes in a box.”
“It’s a good present,” I smiled at him as the sales girl wrapped the pots and pans up. “Girls love men who can cook.”
“Oh yeah?” He reached around me and gave my butt a squeeze. I slapped his hand away and quickly looked to make sure no one had seen the PDA.
“Anything else?” I asked as we walked back down the main walkway arm in arm.
“How about in there?” He nodded to a lingerie store.
I bit back a smile. “Who do you need to get panties for? Your mom?”
“No you, saucy vixen.”
This time he slapped my butt.
“Stop,” I nearly shrieked. “People are going to see.”
We entered the lingerie store and unbuttoned our coats. Though it was extremely chilly outside, the inside of each store was superbly warm.
“Hello,” a cheery female voice said.
A tall, blonde woman sidled over. “Can I help you find anything?”
“Oh no,” I quickly said. “We’re just looking.”
“No problem.” Her eyes sidled over towards Angelo, quickly dropping to blatantly study every square inch of his body. The owner of the pupils realized what she was doing and quickly lifted her gaze back to his face. “Let me know if you need any help. All rompers are buy one get one fifty percent off.” She smiled at Angelo, seemingly having forgotten I even existed.
I turned away and bit back the smile. I was used to women fawning over Angelo. It was pretty funny, actually, to see the way people could completely lose their minds in the presence of an attractive person. At first, when it would happen, I would get jealous. Eventually him getting checked out became such a commonplace thing that I expected it whenever we went out together.
“What are we looking for?” I asked in a low voice.
Angelo slid by me and lifted a lacy black garter belt set from a table. “How about one of these?”
I cocked an eyebrow, pretending to consider. “No, too conservative.”
“Just what I’m looking for,” he deadpanned back, selecting my size.
We browsed for a little while longer, collecting a few pieces. The blonde salesclerk arrived once more, eagerly taking flight from where she’d been watching Angelo from her perch behind the counter.
