“So, what are we looking for here?” Hudson asks.
Holly and I both whip our heads in his direction. “We aren’t looking for anything,” Holly tells him.
“What?” His brows furrow in confusion. “What are we doing here then?”
“We like to come to places like this and see what calls to us,” I explain.
“That’s ridiculous.” He’s looking at us like we both just sprouted a second head.
Holly shakes her head. “You’ll see.”
We walk in, and the familiar musky scent of a thrift store hits my nose. We wander around for a few minutes, trying to get our bearings in the store before Holly and I really dig in.
“Look at this,” Holly squeals, holding up a purple lamp shaped like a mushroom.
“Oh my God. Your mom would die if you plugged that in the living room,” I say with a laugh, just imagining the scene unfolding.
“It looks like it belongs inAlice in Wonderlandor something.” She twirls it around in her hand, debating if she wants to buy it or not.
“You know you can’t buy the first thing you touch,” I remind her.
She sighs. “I know. I know. There’s always something better. Just like men.” I laugh but notice Hudson doesn’t. In fact, he looks absolutely miserable, and I’m starting to wonder why he asked to come with us if he was just going to be in a bad mood about it.
Holly puts the lamp down, and we keep moving down the aisle, picking up random things and coming up with stories for why someone would buy each item.
When we’re about to start on our first rack of clothes, Hudson wraps his hand around my shoulder. “I’m going to go look over there.” He points to the section of toys and random knick-knacks. Nodding, I watch him walk off. There’s hardly anyone in here, but he still keeps his head down so no one recognizes him. It’s peculiar that he does it automatically. I can’t imagine what it must be like for him to live in the spotlight like he does. Constantly feeling like someone is watching me. I’d probably feel paranoid too.
Holly and I find some serious steals, including a sequin romper, a yellow cardigan, a small gold mirror with a gold unicorn on it, and a giraffe tea kettle that I absolutely couldn’t put down. I mean, the handle was the giraffe’s neck.
With full arms and a smile, I wander over to where I last saw Hudson. He spots me and quickly walks my way. “Come look at this.” His voice is laced with excitement. I set my stuff down on a nearby kids’ drawing table to make walking through the overflowing aisles easier. Hudson wraps his hand around mine and pulls me toward whatever he wants to show me.
I don’t see anything we pass because my eyes are zeroed in on our hands.He’s holding my hand. His long fingers are linked with mine.
I inhale through my nose and let out a slow exhale to calm myself. This is normal, right? It’s not like we’re walking down the sidewalk skipping and holding hands. He’s just guiding me to something he wants to show me. No big deal.
I slap a smile on just before Hudson turns for the big reveal. We’ve stopped in front of a giant LEGO set of someStar Warsship that I only recognize because the box is clearly labeledStar Wars.
“Babe, do you know what this is?” Hudson asks.
I shift on my feet, confused about how to answer his question and stunned that he just called me ‘babe.’ “Um, a LEGO set?”
“Not just any LEGO set. This is the Millennium Falcon, and it retails for almost 700 bucks. They’re selling it for seventy-five dollars, and it’s never been opened.” He looks back to the box.
“Wow, that’s really cool. You should get it,” I encourage.
“Oh, I am.” He takes his hat off and runs his fingers through his hair, and I notice how young he looks with excitement lighting up all of his features. He puts his hat back in place. “And I’m getting this sweetBack to the Futureskateboard.” He holds up a very used skateboard.
“Do you know how to skateboard?”
“I’m from LA, babe. Of course, I do.” There’s that name again. I’ll just continue pretending like it doesn’t make my stomach flutter every time it passes his lips.
“Well, ok then. I think me and Holly are done. Are you ready to check out?”
“Yep.” He tucks the skateboard under his arm and lifts the LEGO box. “You going to build this with me?”
“You want me to build a LEGO set with you?” I ask in disbelief.
“Yes.”