Page 7 of As Thick As Thieves

“How about we go shopping? You need clothes and girly shit.”

“I don’t have money to—”

“I have money for you. Don’t argue, I’m not taking you to Crestford or anything fancy, don’t panic,” he cut in, reversing out of the parking space and driving towards Ashburn Valley.

“It better be a super cheap store,” I scowled, crossing my arms.

“You’re giving off major bratty princess vibes right now,” he grinned, leaning over to open the glovebox and pulling out a phone. “I almost forgot, this is for you.”

“You got me a phone?” I asked as I took it, looking it over. It looked flashy like the one Stone had given me, but this one didn’t have a parent control on it.

“You need it. Ander isn’t always around, and I don’t live at the house you’re staying at, I’m only there when one of the women are so I can keep them safe. If you’re staying long term, I’ll have to find somewhere else for you to live or you’ll have to stay there alone. I live with Logan, Reid, and Raven, and they’re starting to notice my absence more lately. I don’t want them to know what I’m involved with. You can call me or anyone you want on there if you need help or if you just want to hang out. You’ll make friends the more you hang out at places like the track, or you could even go to school.”

“You’ll let me?” I asked with disbelief, a sigh leaving him.

“Penn, I didn’t actually buy you. I put on a show and those assholes will think you’re mine, but I don’t cage pretty birds, I teach them to fly. If you want to leave right now, I can take you anywhere you wish.”

“I don’t have anywhere to go,” I mumbled, my face heating. “I don’t have family or friends.”

“Then you can stay at the house until you want to move on,” he smiled, telling me all about the track and filling me in on local gossip until we reached the store in Ashburn Valley.

* * *

“I don’t need those,” I scowled as Zavier shoved armfuls of clothes at the lady at the register. He glared at the small bundle in my arms, acting offended.

“You need more than a few shirts and sweats. I saw you looking at these so I got them.”

“You’re going to make a sweet husband one day. An annoying one, but sweet,” I grumbled, making him chuckle.

“I’ll be sure to send my future wife your number to give me a reference then.” He slid a credit card towards the lady and winked. “Are you in the market for a husband, gorgeous? Penn can tell you how perfect I am.”

The woman turned bright red and giggled, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“He has such a charming personality to make up for the lack of dick in his pants,” I deadpanned, and Zavier raised an eyebrow at me.

“C’mon, babe. I know how to use my little pocket rocket. I make women see more stars than an astrology class.”

“I bet,” I snorted, handing my things over to the woman who was looking even more embarrassed. “Don’t listen to him. Size totally matters.”

Zavier’s fingers gently curved around the nape of my neck, easing me away from the register as he smiled at the woman. “Sorry about her, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

I let him flirt up a storm with her, chuckling as we left, and he cursed about having to carry everything for me.

“You insisted on me buying it with your flashy card, so you can carry it.”

“You know, I think I preferred you when you weren’t being a princess,” he grumbled, but his eyes sparkled with amusement. “And the card’s Ander’s. Do I look the type to have one of those?”

“Do I look like a Kingslake princess? Appearances are deceiving,” I said dryly. “Where to now? Or are you done spending time with me?”

“Is there somewhere you’d like to go?” He shoved the bags in the car, eyeing me over the roof. “You used to hang out in Stoneleigh, right? I could take you there?”

The gym was somewhere I definitely wanted to go, wanting to catch up with my gym buddy if he was still there, but I needed my strength back before working out and throwing hands.

“Can we watch movies at home? Or are you busy?” I asked as we climbed in, and he shrugged.

“I need to go out in a few hours, but we can hang until then. You’ll probably end up napping anyway after all this walking around.”

“I am a little tired,” I admitted. “I’m probably due for more ointment too.”

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