Page 24 of Desire Him

CHAPTER NINE

After lunch at a cute cafe by the University that is flooded with college students, the girls and Logan head into the mall. The mall is massive, but a few of the stores with entrances facing outside have closed down and have signs that proclaim ‘space available.’ Val remembers going to some of those shops as a teenager. She’s sad to see them gone. She didn’t even know they closed. If she had, she would have gone before so.

As they enter, Logan trails behind, letting the girls take the lead. The entrance faces a food court, and since it’s past lunch, only two couples are eating at the tables. As they continue to walk past the food court, Val notices that there are not that many people here, much to her surprise. Obviously, malls are becoming a thing of the past in some areas of the country. Not many people in the area go to them anymore, preferring the strips of shops in the newer parts of the city instead.

A big map is lit up behind a glass case in front of them, and Eme and Val step before it. It’s been a long time since Val has been to the mall, so she doesn’t remember where everything is. Luckily, the map can direct them to the right place.

“Where to?” Val asks her.

“Hmm,” Eme hums, putting her pointer finger on her top lip. “Lingerie?”

Val looks over at her and smiles as Logan makes a pained sound behind them. Eme laughs out loud and then grabs Val’s hand and pulls her toward that shop’s direction.

Val has never shopped for lingerie. She doesn’t even own much past a lacy bra and matching panties. This will be a new experience for her, and she has to admit she’s looking forward to it. Lingerie will make her feel sexy, and feeling sexy is something she needs right now.

Once they reach the store displaying the shop’s name in bright pink that pops with the black background, they enter. The shop smells like the most alluring perfume and clothing dye, and Val inhales deeply. Whatever scent they’re selling smells like something she might buy but couldn’t afford.

They take another step in, still hand in hand, but turn around when they notice Logan isn’t following them. “Aren’t you coming?” Eme asks with a frown.

He glances at her, only to grimace when his attention turns to the inside of the shop. “No thanks.”

“Afraid you might have to turn in your man-card, Logan?” Val teases.

Logan crosses his arms and widens his stance but says nothing to dispute her clear accusation. She honestly doesn’t understand why it’s emasculating to help women shop for undergarments. If Val saw another man in the store, she’d probably think it was sexy that he was helping his woman pick out what she’d wear for him in bed. Hell, if one stud was shopping alone, it would be even sexier.

“Don’t you want to see me in it?” Eme asks, wiggling her eyebrows.

He smirks, his lips finally stretching into a knowing smile that causes Eme to chuckle under her breath. “Fine,” she says. “Where do we find you when we’re done?”

Logan points two stores down to a sporting goods store with black letters and a green background hanging above the door. The store is easily four times the size of the lingerie store, a perfect place for a man to wander and feel manly while he’s doing it. “I’ll be in there, but I’ll come get you.” Eme and Val nod, and they both turn, but before they can get lost inside, Logan adds, “And Eme? Ten minutes or I come hunting you down, man-card or not.”

Val giggles behind her hand. She can just imagine him trying to find them through all the lace and string contraptions. Though she understands why he’s being so controlling, she doubts they’ll find any trouble in this store. Still, it’s sweet that he cares about his mate so much. Val kind of wishes she had that for herself.

They begin running their fingers over the thin-fabrics and colorful items, trying to find the ones they want to try on, and while they do, Val reflects on last night with some unease.

The sex had been mind-blowing, even more so than the first time because Wayne actually remembered every single detail. She’s going to have to talk with him about it though. She needs to know where they stand. Right now, she has no idea. She loves him, but he doesn’t love her, and she can live with that because she’s loved him for half her life, whereas this is still new to him. She isn’t expecting much from him though. She can’t. She has to protect her heart, but that still doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a conversation about what, exactly, this makes them now. Are they dating? Casual sex? Was this a one-time thing? She doesn’t know.

Eme slides up beside Val and plucks a red garment from the hanger. “Here, try this one on.”

“This one?” Val takes it from her and holds it up. She looks at it skeptically. There’s barely anything to it, and it’s way overpriced.

“Yes!” she proclaims in an excited voice. “You’ll look gorgeous in it for Wayne.”

Val blushes and swivels her gaze to anywhere but Eme.

At Val’s silence, Eme jumps up and down. “I knew it. He walked you home, and you two fucked.”

“Shh!” Val hisses. She peeks around to see if anyone heard her, but thankfully, the other patrons are too busy picking out their own stuff to pay any attention to their turn of conversation.

“Oh, come on. You were sad yesterday, and now you’re not. What changed between you two?”

Val shrugs as her hand reaches for another hanger holding a black garment. She likes this one, and it’s in her price range. “I honestly don’t know. I was drunk, and I said things, and things happened.” She’s not ashamed of any of it, so why is her face so hot?

Both of them head to the dressing room with their lingerie, getting rooms side by side with each other. The rooms’ walls don’t reach the ceiling, so they’re able to carry on the conversation with ease.

“So he knows?” Eme asks. “About the sex.”

Val hangs up the lingerie on the hook and starts getting undressed. She folds her clothes and sets them neatly on the plush leather chair that’s inside the changing room. She removed the black garment from the hanger and starts to slide it onto her body. Butterflies flutter in her stomach as she says, “Yes, I told him.”