Page 62 of Defend Me

“No.”

When we got inside, he grabbed my bicep and pulled me over to an ATM that looked like it’d fall apart if I touched it. He held out his hand, so I pulled out my wallet without letting him escape my glare.

“They don’t take cards? I knew this place was going to be my worst nightmare.”

“They do, but we’re on a budget.”

“That’s not true.”

“My way, remember?”

It was taking everything I had to go along with this. The whole thing was pointless, but he was getting a kick out of it.

“You’re trying to know me better,” he pointed out. “This is me helping you understand who I am.”

The ATM let him pull out money in increments of ten, which was exactly what he did. One of them. I stared at the single bill with a furrowed brow.

“Let’s go,” he said.

I followed beside him silently. He led us into the candy aisle and started browsing. After scrutinizing some of the off-brand ones, I shook my head and grabbed a few boxes of sour gummies. Dean swiped various chocolates followed by a bag of cheddar popcorn.

We had nine things, so if the math was mathing, we’d be fine. I’d successfully passed this little test and I felt smug, but I didn’t say anything about it. We loaded the items onto the belt and waited as the woman scanned them. I rocked back on my heels with my hands in my pockets while I tapped them endlessly.

I stared at the total with pursed lips. “It’s over ten. How is that possible? Does that say a dollar twenty-five?”

“That it does,” Dean replied.

“But… It’s the Dollar Tree.Dollar, Dean. Do words have no meaning anymore?”

He shrugged. “Looks like you’ll have to put something back.”

I was appalled by the idea. “I’ll just use my card.”

When he gave me an exasperated look, I swore. I opened my mouth, then closed it again. The cashier looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to pay, so apparently, I had to throw my dignity to the wind.

I took a deep breath and pointed at one of the bags of sour worms. “Can you take that one off?”

She did as I asked, then I handed her the cash, grabbed the bags and hurried out of the store, leaving Dean behind. He could stay there for all I cared. Maybe he’d uncover the secret that gave them the audacity to pull some shit like that.

He laughed loudly behind me. I didn’t pay any attention to him until I was safely locked away inside my Audi.

“I fucking hate you,” I groaned. “That was humiliating.”

“Yeah, it ain’t fun. Better than having your card declined. That shit sucks.”

I swiped my hands down my face. Would I ever recover? Maybe being his friend was a bad idea if he was going to put me through traumatizing situations.

By the time we reached the theater, I felt almost normal again. Until he started unloading the bag of snacks. I stared at them while gnawing on my lip.

“What do we do?”

“Put a box in each pocket,” he said. “They should fit. I’ll put the popcorn in my hoodie and if I keep my hands in the pocket, they probably won’t notice.”

“Probably?” I whispered. When I realized I was rocking in my seat, I forced myself to stop moving.

“Chill. They won’t strip search us.”

Once we had everything situated, we headed toward the doors.

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