The pair pulled into the parking lot of the local mall on Vinny's bike, its engine rumbling happily beneath them. Now that he had it back, the guy seemed eager to take every possible excuse to ride his prized possession. He'd steadfastly insisted on driving, and Kaitlyn hadn't seen much reason to refuse. It wasn't like they'd be bringing the bed home themselves.

  Not like I mind either way. I'm actually having a lot of fun with it now that I'm just a little more used to it. It really is like a rollercoaster or some kind of amusement park ride.

  It wasn't that Vinny had become any safer of a driver—far from it. In fact, today in particular he seemed to revel in pushing the boundaries of how fast he could go and what kinds of stunts he could pull. No, even though riding with him still made her fear for her life, she had more or less decided to trust that he knew what he was doing. Mostly.

  They stepped through the sleek glass doors of the furniture store. Before them sprawled a veritable ocean of chairs, couches, beds, and tables, all clustered together in bite-sized displays meant to show them off. It was like someone's designer mansion had been lifted off its foundations by some giant, leaving only the vast expanse of precisely arranged decor behind.

  A group of employees near the door perked up at their entrance. One of them—a dimpled woman with a bun—smiled cheerfully in their direction. "Welcome in! How can we help you today?"

  "Oh, don't mind us," Kaitlyn waved the implied offer away. "We're just looking at beds."

  "Beds? Wonderful! Those will be over this way and to the left. Here, let me show you…"

  "No, that's really ok." She tried again to turn down the offer as the woman came closer. "We can find our way around ourselves. Thank you though."

  The woman's smile remained in place, though Kaitlyn could have sworn it became just a little more stiff. "All right—feel free to let us know if you have any questions! And just so you're aware, we are having a sale today. Up to twenty-five percent off select armchairs! There are some on display near the beds, if you're interested. Oh, and also…"

  The woman continued on for another minute or so, extolling the different sales and offerings of the store. Her bullish demeanor left Kaitlyn little room to extract herself from the conversation without seeming rude. Luckily, Vinny had no such compunctions.

  "Cool. Don't need it." Vinny interrupted the woman as she was explaining the different add-ons that came with each purchase. He tugged at Kaitlyn's arm, practically dragging her along as he started walking. "C'mon. Let's get this over with."

  Kaitlyn blinked in surprise, offering the woman an apologetic smile as she allowed herself to be pulled away. Thankfully, none of the employees followed as they made their way toward the beds.

  "Damn sales people," Vinny grumbled as they retreated deeper into the store. "They're like fuckin' vultures."

  "They're not that bad," Kaitlyn tried. "They're just trying to be helpful. Aggressively, yeah, but still…"

  "Yeah, right. If I wanted help, I'd damn well ask." He shot a dirty look at one of the patrolling sales associates, warding him off before he got too close. "They just want a commission. It's why they'll try sellin' you the most expensive shit they can."

  "Well, yes, that too. But can you blame them? It's their job."

  "I'll blame em' all I want. If they don't wanna find a different job, that's their own fuckin' fault."

  The bed section took up a solid quarter of the store, with one part dedicated to mattresses and the other to bedframes and the like. Thankfully, they managed to move through the area relatively unmolested. How much of that was due to Vinny's surly looks warding people off wasn't entirely clear. But only a single other sales associate dared to approach them, and the interaction remained pretty brief.

  He pointed at a mattress. "That one."

  "Really?" Kaitlyn peered at the description. "Why that one? You haven't even tried laying on it."

  "Don't need to. It's cheap, and it's a mattress. That's all I need."

  "You sure? You don't want to even try the others?" She bounced on one of the nearby display mattresses. "This one's really nice! It's got some fancy memory foam thing—"

  "Nope." Vinny crossed his arms. "You know damn well what I sleep on. Fancy shit like that's just gonna keep me up."

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  "How? That doesn't even make any sense!"

  "I don't want some cushy-ass cloud of a mattress. Weirds me out."

  "It doesn't have to be a cloud. These ones have adjustable firmness, so you can customize exactly—"

  "Look, you're the one who wanted me here to give an opinion. That's my damn opinion. Gimme the basic one or lemme stay on the floor."

  After a bit more bickering, Kaitlyn finally relented. She had planned on taking a few hours at least to try out different options and settle on a few finalists. However, Vinny clearly had other ideas for this trip.

  Selecting a bedframe went much the same way. They passed up the varieties of fancy poster beds, bunks, and upholstered frames in favor of a basic metal one. On some level, Kaitlyn couldn't help but feel a bit put out about that.

  Honestly, though? I should've expected this much. That's totally on me for being unrealistic. The fact that he's even getting a bed at all will have to be good enough.

  As they checked out, Kaitlyn couldn't help but notice the looks that they were getting. Not just from the cashiers, but from all the employees. There was something there other than hunger for a commission or wariness of her blonde guard dog. They'd all been treating the pair as a single unit. It was fair, given that they were shopping together, but still. It felt more than a little strange.

  …They totally think we're a couple, don't they?

  It was hard to blame them. Now that she gave it some consideration, shopping for a bed together did have some implications—ones she hadn't really considered when dragging Vinny along for the ride. It made her realize how lucky she was that the other guys hadn't been around for that particular conversation.

  Although they WILL be around when the bed gets delivered… Oh, boy. What have I done?

  She thanked the cashier as they turned to head for the door. The realization of just how much teasing she was in for settled on her like a physical weight. Still, even after realizing how deep a hole she'd dug herself in, she didn't regret the bet. If that was what it took to get the blonde into a real bed, then she would gladly endure.

  They stepped back out of the furniture store not long after they'd entered. Kaitlyn took a deep breath of the fresh air, stretching. Their main task was over and done with, and they'd managed it pretty painlessly.

  "So… now what?"

  Vinny glanced at her. "Whaddya mean, 'now what'? Aren't we headin' home?"

  "I mean, yeah, we could. But we could also grab dinner or something while we're out here."

  "Dinner? Lynn, it's like 3 PM."

  "I know, I know. I honestly figured this would take longer…" She scratched her cheek in thought. "It just seems like such a waste to come out here and go straight back."

  "Why? We got what we came for."

  "I dunno. This isn't exactly close to home, right? And I mean, I've never actually been to this mall before." Kaitlyn waved a hand toward the assortment of storefronts sprawling before them. "I wouldn't mind looking around a little bit first. If you're ok with it, I mean."

  Vinny snorted. "Not like I got anywhere else to be. But malls ain't really my thing. They're all clothes and shoes and overpriced bullshit that no one really needs. The only thing this one's got goin' for it is an arcade."

  Kaitlyn's eyes lit up with interest. "Wait. There's an arcade?"

  "Yep. Pretty big one, too. Why?"

  Excitement welled up from within her. An arcade… I don't even know how long it's been since I've gone to one of those!

  Growing up, she'd always loved the things. She, her dad, and her sister had spent no shortage of hours wandering around their dim interiors, darting from game to game and trying their luck at winning the various prizes. Of course, that all had fallen by the wayside a bit as they'd grown up—even more so after she'd left for college—but the memories still held a precious place in her heart.

  I wonder if they have any crane games? Who am I kidding—they HAVE to.

  Already sold on the idea, she began bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Can we go check it out? At least for a bit?"

  Vinny eyed her skeptically. "Really? You wanna go waste more money?"

  "It's not a waste to go relive my childhood. In fact, I think it might almost be more worth it than the bed. And besides, what do you care if I'm paying?"

  Vinny let out a long-suffering sigh. "Right. Forgot I've got Miss Moneybags with me. Fine, fine, let's go."

  The blonde turned to lead her deeper into the glass and tile architecture of the mall. The arcade wasn't particularly hard to find. It was a large storefront nestled at the far end of the complex between a swimsuit store and a candy shop. The blaring of canned sound effects and game jingles poured out from the wide-open entrance. Massive blue and pink letters identified the place as Blaize and Duster's.

  Nostalgia wrapped around her like a warm blanket. Despite never having been to this place, the sounds, the lights, the atmosphere—all of it felt so familiar. So comforting. It made her heart ache for home in a way few things had lately.

  Not a place I expected to get all feely about, especially not at this point… Guess it's bound to happen sometimes.

  Kaitlyn stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath to center herself. Then, she quickened her pace. "C'mon, let's go!"

  "Alright, alright!" Vinny groused as she overtook him. "Geez. What are you, a kid?"

  "Of course not!" She turned back, her eyes sparkling. "I'm a mature, employed, fully-functional member of society! Which is exactly why I'm going to play everything in there!"

  The guy rolled his eyes as she practically pulled him into the arcade.