Page 55 of Fine, Dork

“What? You want to have babies right now? Kinley, that’s… I mean, I don’t know what to say,” I teased. “I had no idea you wanted to have my babies so bad, but it makes sense because you’ve been obsessed with me all these years.”

“Shut up.” Kinley laughed and pulled away. She picked up her last bottle of apple lotion and studied it for a minute before tossing it in the trash. “Come shopping with me today and help me pick a new signature scent. I’m almost twenty-six goddamn years old. I think it’s time for something different.”

I nodded and stared at the bottle sitting in the trash can. “Okay, definitely, but like…” I stepped past her and plucked the lotion from the garbage. “Don’t throw this one away. It smells like sex, K.”

Kinley threw her head back and laughed. “Oh my god. I love you.” She slapped my ass and said, “Get dressed so we can go, baby.”

???

“No.” I shook my head and folded my arms.

Kinley rolled her eyes and placed the little glass bottle back on the shelf. “But the bottle is shaped like a bow! It’s adorable!”

“It doesn’t smell like you.”

“What do I smell like then? You’ve hated everything I’ve picked up!”

“You smell… warm.”

Kinley laughed. “What the hell does ‘warm’ smell like?”

“You.”

Kinley stopped a store clerk and asked, “Excuse me, can you help us find a warm scent?”

The woman smiled. “Of course! What base notes are we looking for?”

Kinley and I exchanged a look. I shrugged, and K smiled. “Apple.”

The clerk nodded and perused the perfume aisle. She picked up three bottles and carried them back to where we stood. “Try these and let me know what you think.”

Kinley smelled the first one. “Ooooh, I love this one!” She handed the bottle to me.

I took a sniff and shook my head. It wasn’t right.

“Jaxon, you’re ridiculous.” She smelled the second one and passed it to me. “I adore this one, but you’re probably going to hate it, too.”

I took the bottle from her hand and inhaled. It smelled like bike rides, scraped knees, all-night phone calls, and warm summer days. It smelled like unspoken feelings and broken hearts, but it smelled like hot, wild sex, too. It was warm and layered, and it woke up my senses, just like K. It was her. I smiled at the clerk and said, “We need five bottles of this.”

Kinley laughed out loud. “Seriously, you like that one?”

“Yep.”

The clerk laughed. “Do you want five bottles?”

“No.” Kinley shook her head. “That’s way too much to spend today. One will be perfect.”

“Yeah, do five. I’m buying it.”

“J, that’s crazy.”

“K, you’re crazy.”

“Shut up.”

“You shut up.” I laughed and turned back to the clerk. “Five bottles, seriously.”

The clerk laughed and picked up a little basket. She filled it with five bottles of Kinley’s new scent and said, “Right this way, and I’ll get you checked out.”

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