I bristled at the fact he was talking about them out loud. “Yes, please.”
“We have the Kulti 10s on sale for women,” he offered, pointing at the shoes on the opposite side of the store.
“Just the men’s,” I smiled at him.
“The 9s are buy one, get one half off,” he kept going.
“I’m all right. Thanks, though.”
He shrugged. “I’ll be back, then.”
Thank God. I turned around to see the German holding a running shoe up to his face with interest.
“Those are nice,” I chipped in.
Those green-brown eyes flicked up to mine and he nodded in agreement. “Did you find what you wanted?” he asked, setting the shoe back on the rack.
“Yes.” I scratched my cheek and his eyes immediately narrowed. “The employee is getting them for me right now.” Knowing I needed to change the subject, I asked, “Are you getting anything?”
“Here you go,” the unfamiliar voice said from behind me a second before the employee walked around and held out the box.
The big swoosh mark on the top of the box wasn’t a big deal, but the guy pulled the lid and tissue paper back and there they were. The Reiner Kulti 10thedition in black.
“Perfect,” I sort of choked out, avoiding the gaze that had locked on my face. “I’ll take them.”
“Absolutely not,” the German snapped from right next to me.
“I’m taking them,” I insisted, ignoring him.
“Sal, you are not buying those,” he insisted.
The employee looked back and forth between us, his expression confused.
“I buy my dad shoes every birthday and I’m getting these for him. This is what he’d want,” I gritted out, still avoiding his gaze.
“Sal.”
“Rey.”
His hand touched my elbow. “I can get these for you for free,” he said in that exasperated tone he used when his accent really began to bleed through. “In every color. Next year’s edition.” His fingers pressed into the soft indent of the inside of my elbow. “Don’t buy them.”
“Do you work for Ni—“ the employee started to say, his eyes wide and way too interested. Thankfully he wasn’t paying enough attention to the man standing in front of him, otherwise he would have known.
“You mind giving us a second?” I cut him off with an apologetic smile.
What was he going to say? No? Grudgingly, he nodded and turned away.
I finally cradled my guts to me and faced Kulti, who had put his hands on his hips looking just shy of exasperated.Patience, Sal.“Tell me why you don’t want me to buy them.”
“I don’t want you to spend the money.”
Oh dear God. “Rey, I’m going to buy my dad shoes regardless of whether they’re yours or not.” Later on I could dwell on the fact I was hanging out with a man that had his own signature shoe line, but now wasn’t the time. “I’d rather you make… what? How much do you make, five dollars a pair? Anyway, I’d rather get yours and you make my five dollars than someone else, all right?”
That didn’t seem to help matters at all.
If anything, Kulti’s jaw went tight and the corners of his mouth pulled down flat. And his shoulders and biceps might have tightened, but I wasn’t positive. “I can get every shoe in this store for free. I haven’t bought a pair of shoes in over twenty years. You shouldn’t have to pay for shoes either. You’re the best player in the country—“
Every cell in my body froze.