Page 33 of Deeper

Zander blinked, turning and examining the clothing store near the store that sold classy alcohol. The shop next to it was called Closet Babe, and judging by the fresh white paint on the building, the fancy font used for its name, and the two teen girls waltzing inside—one carelessly holding her cell phone with just her thumb and finger—something told me that even though this wasn’t Rodeo Drive, it could potentially cost just as much.

“It’s not crazy expensive,” Zander said. “Doesn’t matter, I’m buying.”

I gritted my teeth. “No, you’re not.”

“Bia—”

“I can take care of myself.”

Zander released a breath through his nose, practicing patience it seemed. He came closer to me. All traces of humor were drained from his face. “Are you judging me?”

I shook my head, taking a step back. “No.”

“I’m not judging you either. Do you respect me?”

“I guess so, yeah.”

Zander relaxed back. “I’m not judging you and I respect you. Why make this hard?”

“Money makes things weird. Some people, they give a panhandler a dollar and pity them.”

Zander’s expression softened up. “I don’t think less of you in any of this, Bianka. Me giving you money isn’t me trying to be disrespectful. I’m taking you away from your work for two days, let me pay you back your losses. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a fuckin’ millionaire; it’s not going to hurt me to spend a little on you.”

“I don’t want it,” I said firmly.

“Your pride is amazing right now.” Zander scratched at his neck and appeared thoughtful. “Fine, a compromise, I’ll pay for your clothes, and you can buy me whatever item that I like. Fair?”

The place was probably pricey, and even if Zander ended up picking up more things for me, my buying one thing would be a lot for me. Still, it made me feel slightly better.

“Deal,” I said.

Zander smiled as he caressed my cheek. “I think my next tattoo will be Xs.”

“Xs?”

“You and me, and theseexchanges. It’s fitting, yeah?”

I felt myself loosen up. “Yeah, whenever you want me just send a text with an X.”

A gleam passed through Zander’s dark eyes and that half grin took his lips. “Are you feeling crazy?”

“Zander,allof this is crazy,” I said.

The big, sappy grin on his face cooled my senses. “I’m going to wait out here five minutes. You go in there and ask to try something on.”

I didn’t get it, but when he made no move to follow me as I went over to Closet Babe, I let it go. I walked inside the shop, feeling completely overdressed in my trench coat.

Closet Babe was no different from Angles, I realized as I looked around at all the clothing arranged by color and pattern. Pop music was playing, and I recognized the sound of Ariana Grande instantly. Not my style of music, but I could hang as I meandered more into the shop.

“Hi!” a peppy blonde salesclerk greeted me as I walked by their service counter. “My name’s Bailey. Need help finding anything today?”

She was so chipper she reminded me of Holliston. It used to be, where I could tell how long anyone had been working at a place by their demeanor. And then Holliston Simpson applied to Angles and threw me for a loop. I thought for sure after her first month she’d lose her perkiness, but after two years, the girl wasstillall sunshine and rainbows. Bailey seemed no different.

“No thank you,” I told her politely.

The shop was fairly abuzz with other shoppers beyond those teen girls who’d entered before me. No one paid attention to the outsider in the trench coat. It was June, summer, and though the weather was winding down to a cool evening, it wasn’t cool enough for my coat. The AC in the store made up for my heavy apparel.

Thankfully, I came to find, the prices weren’t ridiculous. I plucked up a heathered red T-shirt with the wordsMade in the 90son it in my size and grabbed a pair of denim mid-rise shorts to go try on.

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