I looked around at the parking lot, which was the size of our Walmart at home, and shook my head.
“How many gas pumps do you think they have?” I asked as I looked down the long row of pumps.
Surprisingly, there was a person at every single one of them.
Jesus, they had to be making a killing here every day.
“At least a hundred,” she murmured as she looked with me. “Jesus.”
I agreed. Jesus.
This place really was massive.
“Let’s go inside,” I told her eagerly. “I want to see.”
We got out of the car, and I pocketed the keys again, knowing that she’d try to steal them—and possibly leave me behind—if I didn’t take them.
Getting out, I waited at the hood of the car for her and grinned when she gave me a glare.
God, she was beautiful.
Today she was in a pair of worn-out jeans. Ones that were likely manufactured to look worn out, but still. They were cute on her. They hugged her body in all the right places, molding to her ass, thighs, and crotch to the point that I could tell that she was wearing a thong with them.
She had on a black silky-looking shirt that flowed off one shoulder, showing off the wide band of a tank top that she had on underneath.
Her hair was down around her shoulders in black waves, and when the wind caught her locks, it blew it out of her face, allowing me to see the birthmark on her neck that I always wanted to kiss.
She stepped up onto the curb, which was when I saw her shoes.
“Oh, those are cute.” I grinned. “Nightmare Before Christmas Vans? Where did you get those?”
She held her foot out in front of me with a small smile. “I got them online. Dad actually ordered them for my birthday. He gave them to me last week because he and Mom are going out of town on my birthday.”
I frowned. “What?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get bent out of shape about it. Reagan and I went in on a cruise package for them for their Christmas present last year. Wade bought their drink package.”
Wade was her brother and in the military. I was surprised he had the money to pull that off.
“Impressive,” I said. “But why did you do it for your birthday?”
She shrugged. “At the time, I wasn’t really thinking about it being my birthday when I booked it. I was just thinking that I really wanted them to go on vacation to the Bahamas like they’ve always talked about doing. Reagan and I figured that they would do it if we paid for it.”
That made complete sense.
Grabbing her hand when a big man rolling out a barbeque smoker came out of the front door, I pulled her into my chest and then guided us backward so he could get out.
He nodded his head at me in thanks, and I reluctantly allowed Calloway to pull away from my body.
I didn’t let her hand go.
Which she didn’t seem to notice mostly because when we got inside, her eyes were rounded to the size of small saucers when she looked at the ‘gas station.’
“This isn’t a gas station,” she murmured as she looked down the length of the store. “It’s… Walmart on steroids.”
I chuckled and guided her to the half of the store that had all the fun stuff. The other side really was a gas station-type place. With the rows and rows of candy, coolers of drinks, and random things one might need while on a road trip.
“I just… they have a bakery,” she murmured as her eyes took in all the danishes, cookies, and other fun, fattening things. “I think I need to try one of those cinnamon rolls.”
I agreed with her. They looked delicious.
“As long as they don’t have nuts, I’m down. Nuts are gross when they are in baked goods,” I told her. “But let’s go look at all the shit they have here first.”
Still, she allowed me to hold her hand.
Inwardly, I was counting it as a win. Outwardly, I tried not to tighten my hand in reaction. I really, really wanted to squeeze her tight, show her that I loved holding her hand. But I was afraid as fuck to remind her that I was there.
It was a vicious cycle that replayed in a loop in my head as we browsed Buc-ee’s wares. It was as we were getting to the sparkly belts that I reached for one and showed it to her.
“Look,” I said, grinning when the light from above caught the gems on the belt. “You like these, remember?”
She rolled her eyes and plucked it out of my hand with her free one. When she went to grab it with her other hand to loop it around her waist, I winced when she glared at me and pulled her hand away.