Chapter Seven
Errands
“Our shoes are squishy.” Adrian could hear each of their steps as they walked through the muddy woods. He had only the one pair of reasonably presentable shoes, and Justin had left his extra duffle bag in his truck.
“You need more shoes.” Justin wasn’t wrong.
“These are really good when dry, and it’s not as if a witch-induced storm is a normal occurrence, not even in Three Rivers.” Adrian didn’t want to get into money. Justin had a butt-ton, and any comment Adrian made would only highlight that discrepancy.
“But you should have at least a pair of muck boots for when you have to travel through the mud.”
Yeah, Adrian wasn’t about to tell him he had a pair currently held together with duct tape.
“Normally, I would just stay home when it’s like this.” Normally, he would just stay home period.
“Not today, though.” Justin wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and Adrian nestled into his side, looking down the entire time to avoid tripping on one of the plethora of tree limbs scattered in the clearing they entered.
“Oh no, not today.” He kicked a larger limb from their path. “Today, I have an errand that needs a-runnin’.” He would have been all for skipping the errand and staying home, but he understood Justin’s rationale and would never push him, just as he was sure Justin would never do it to him.
“Errands.” Justin emphasized the final S as he pulled Adrian to the left so they could avoid one of the larger limbs. “We also need to pick up new shoes.”
“Oh, I assumed you had a second pair in your truck.”
“I do.” He pulled Adrian to the right. “Darn branches,” he mumbled as his foot sunk into the mud in his maneuver to avoid yet another branch. “I meant we need to get shoes for you.”
“Yeah, that’s not on my list for today.” It wasn’t actually on his list for the near future at all.
“Are you seriously going to let this turn into a silly argument?”
“I didn’t realize that was the direction we were heading.” He pulled his foot from the mud…again. Adrian couldn’t wait to get to the pavement. “In all seriousness, do you want to drive to the next town to get shoes?”
“In a car with you?”
“That’s not my point.”
“Oh, I think I got your point, but my mind was just wandering…elsewhere.” Adrian knew where, because his was visiting there also.
“Well, bring your mind back. We are just about to town, and I kind of would like to keep that”—he stopped and cupped his erection, which had to be painful pressing against his fly—maybe that was why he used button-fly jeans instead of zippers—“to myself. I’m not one for sharing.”
“That works for me because I’m not one to share, either.” Adrian’s own erection pushed against his zipper fly. Great, now they were both on fire for each other, and they’d be in town before they knew it.
Again, Adrian dragged his attention to their errands. “So, aside from Cramer’s and getting your truck, do you need anything else while we are here?”
“Cramer’s?”
“The grocery store.”
“No, I think that works, unless you wanted to grab a bite to eat while we are here.”
He was hungry, but that could wait. “I say we just grab a rotisserie chicken and call it good.” They would have to eat it on the porch, but sometimes sacrifices needed to be made. He would make clearing the kitchen counter and the table a priority tomorrow. Today, he was making naked time tops on his list.
“Impatient, are we?” Justin teased.
“You have no idea,” he growled. Wait…was that? Justin pulled him into a hug. It was. His bear had just growled.
“I’m impatient, too,” Justin spoke into his ear, the heat of his breath bringing all of Adrian’s lust back in full force. “Your bear, too.” Heck yeah. Adrian felt it, too. He still didn’t stay long, but he made a noise, and that was a first.
“Your truck…” The darn man had him panting with just the heat of his breath—oh, tonight was going to be fun. “Your truck is closest, so let’s go snag it.”
They raced toward the truck. When they got to Burger Dan’s, however, all they saw was a crowd of people, a fire truck, and some construction vehicles. They rounded the corner to where he’d left the truck, and the cause for the commotion became clear. The truck was sitting exactly where they left it, but, unlike when they left, it was now under a telephone pole.
“Fucking witch,” Justin mumbled. His truck was a mess.
“Hey, this your truck?” a guy in a hard hat and orange vest called out.
“It is,” Justin answered. He seemed far less pissed off than Adrian felt—or than he’d seemed when he’d cursed under his breath.
“We are working on getting the pole off of it. It looks like the side of the diner took more of the brunt of the fall, so it’s probably drivable—but your camping shell is pretty much toast.” The man was talking a mile a minute and gesturing to the pole, diner roof, and truck as he did.
“What kind of time are you looking at?” Justin still sounded beyond calm.
“Not really sure. We are trying to figure out how to remove it without increasing damage to either Burger Dan’s or your truck. The sheriff is in a meeting, or I would ask his advice on the best way to make a start. I just really don’t want to make things worse.” The poor man seemed so nervous. It was nice he cared, but honestly, the damage was going to be severe either way.
“This was only a telephone pole, right? No electricity?” Justin inquired, keeping his eye on the back of his truck.
“Yeah, what a mess that would have been.”
“So I can try to grab my bag from the back of the truck?” He said it as a question, but with such authority, Adrian knew he was going to try regardless and was just asking out of politeness.
“I would prefer you didn’t.” It wasn’t a no.
“The tailgate is already down.” Down, fallen to the ground, same thing.
“Fine, just be careful.” The man knew he was going to lose and was a hot mess of nerves before they had even asked. He must know more about the meeting than he let on. Maybe it wasn’t a lovers’ quarrel. Not that it was his business.
“Will do.” Justin grabbed the bag with ease and was back at Adrian’s side in moments. Adrian really preferred him there. “See, no harm, no foul. Here’s my card. Call me when it’s available to move.” The man took the card, and his eyes bugged wide when he read it. Adrian would have to see what was so intriguing about it later.
“Yes, sir, will do. I hope it’s soon.” Adrian was good with either really soon or much, much later. He had already been cockblocked multiple times. Getting a broken truck out of a parking lot instead of getting it on was something he hoped to avoid.
“Ready?” Justin sounded more than ready. He must have been having similar thoughts. They were worse than horny college kids.
“Ready.” Adrian grabbed his hand and led the way. He felt bad Justin had to carry his oversized duffle, but he knew even if he tried to take it, there was no way Justin would allow it. He came across as pretty old-fashioned.
The grocery store was farther than he remembered and seemed to take even longer than usual, thanks to his soaking-wet feet. It must have been worse for Justin, though you would never guess it by the spring in his step.
“Hey, want to sit down and swap out your shoes?” He should have thought of that a few blocks ago. Poor guy was suffering for nothing.
“No.” Justin kept walking and didn’t skip a beat.
“But your feet are wet.” Obviously he knew that, but his answer made no sense to Adrian.
“And so are yours.”
“Your point?”
“I’m not going to be walking around all warm and snug as you suffer.” He stopped at the corner and looked both ways before crossing. “What kind of a man would that make me?”
“A normal one with dry feet.”
“No. It would make me a jackass.” As much as Adrian wanted to argue, Justin was kind of right. In fact, if he had done it without Adrian offering first, it would have been a complete dick move.
“Not changing after I suggested it makes you a stubborn one.”
“I’m really okay with that.”
Stubborn man. Adrian gave up. “Turn left here. There it is.” He pointed and was shocked at how oddly empty the parking lot was.
“The store’s larger than I thought it would be,” Justin mused.
“It is, but don’t let the size fool you. It’s fairly limited in its selections.” Coming from a larger city, that was what he had initially missed. Many of his favorite foods simply were not available. They did have an amazing butcher, though. Catering to a town with a high percentage of carnivorous shifters had its advantages.
“We don’t really need a wide variety.” Justin used a fake sexy voice as he spoke. Even in soaking wet shoes, with a damaged truck, and carrying a duffle bag that could probably fit a body, the man kept his humor.
“I didn’t mean that.” Adrian gave him a light shoulder bump as to not throw him off balance while carrying his belongings. “I meant in general.”
“I knew what you meant.” Justin shoulder bumped him back. “So chicken, condoms, home?”
“Maybe a side dish or two also, but yeah, that’s basically all we need.” If they were lucky, they could be back at the cabin in less than an hour and before it got dark. Not that he minded walking in the dark, but walking through the mess the storm left in the dark wouldn’t be fun.
“Perfect.”
The store was more crowded than he would have guessed, given the empty parking lot. They were lucky there was still chicken left so late in the afternoon. “Lemon pepper or traditional?”
“Traditional?”
“Sounds good.” Adrian liked both, but the lemon pepper did sometimes approach the salty side. He gave a quick scan of the prepared foods. It was pretty bare. “Salad and cornbread work for you?”
“Sounds perfect.”
They walked down the main aisle, and Justin pulled him to a stop. “Look over there. Garden clogs are on sale in the seasonal section.” He failed to mention they were big ugly garden clogs.
“So?” He knew where Justin was going with this, but he wanted to be wrong. They were twenty bucks of ugly and probably uncomfortable, to boot.
“They’re shoes. You need shoes.”
Adrian gave him his best stink eye.
“They’re designed for mud.”
He might as well give up. Justin seemed to be determined, and they probably would come in handy during mud season.
“If I agree to a pair, will you be happy?”
Justin smiled and walked closer to the display. “Immensely.”
Adrian snagged a pair in his size and threw them in the cart.
The condoms were, of course, on the most embarrassing aisle ever. On one side they had the baby diapers—you know, to let you know why you needed the little raincoats. Below them were hygiene products, including creams for unwanted itching, and to the right, they had all the medicines and supplements you would ever need to make you regular. Yeah, merchandising was not really wanting people to buy condoms.
The placement didn’t seem to bother Justin at all, though. He grabbed the biggest box on the shelf and held it out. “Here.”
“Seriously, did you just snag the mega variety pack?”
“Yeah, so?” He seemed confused, as if it were completely logical to grab a bulk pack of things you have zero intention of using.
“They’re thirty-six dollars.”
Justin leaned over, dropping them in the cart and whispering in Adrian’s ear as his lips passed. “And for your pleasure.”
He was not playing fair, nor was he being at all logical. Not only was the “your pleasure” a crock of shit to get alphas to spend more, but the multipack had a hundred condoms. “My pleasure would be to grab the three pack for a couple of bucks and to throw them in the bathroom drawer and forget about them.” There. He’d said it.
“And if you change your mind and we run out?” Considerate Justin was coming in for the kill.
“I won’t.” It was true; he had zero plans to even open the stupid box finding a new home in the cabin.
“But if you do?”
“Fine.” He waved him off in defeat. “Waste the money, but you are carrying that thing home.”
“Asshat.”
Adrian smiled at Justin’s teasing return of his word, but shit, Justin was right. He was being an asshat to the nth degree.
“Your asshat,” he conceded and stood on tiptoe to kiss Justin’s cheek, his shoe making a sucking sound.
“Yeah, mine.” Justin turned his head. “Home,” he mumbled against his lips.
“Yes. Now.” Adrian led him to the register as quickly as possible.