Kreed dug his keys from his pocket, going around the hood to the driver’s seat. Once inside the car, he put the key in the ignition and waited for Aaron to get settled in the passenger seat.
“How was your coming out?” Kreed asked.
Aaron laughed a humorless chuckle. “I never hid it. My parents knew before I did, but they still don’t really think it’s real. They call me rebellious.”
“Really? That surprises me,” Kreed said, putting the car in drive, but he didn’t pull away. Aaron didn’t talk about his family, but he assumed with as confident as Aaron was that he’d have been supported.
“Why?” Aaron kept his eyes forward and pointed out the front windshield. “Shouldn’t you be driving?”
“You don’t seem destructive. You seem self-assured and strong in who you are.” Kreed finally did start driving forward, his gaze shifting between the road and Aaron.
“I guess I am. I don’t know. My family’s pretty accomplished.”
Kreed picked up the hint of pain in Aaron’s words. That was even more surprising. Aaron was so bold. Hell, he’d had blond spikey hair tipped with black and purple when he’d picked him up from the airport. He seemed fine with who he was as a man. After making a quick U-turn in the road, Kreed took Aaron’s hand again, drawing those knuckles to his lips.
“Well, I’ve got a special treat. You get to go to a small town Walmart. Lucky,” Kreed teased.
“I keep telling you this town isn’t that small,” Aaron shot back. No matter what he’d said earlier, Aaron wasn’t a fan of the area.
“And I keep saying it’s not the people count that matters. The town thinks they’re small. That’s enough.” They drove the rest of the way to Walmart in silence. The store was right off the highway in a prime location. He’d been in enough of these kinds of places to know the Walmart was everything to a town—a social meeting spot, a political hotbed, or a place people gathered to get the latest gossip. Like normal, the parking lot was packed.
Kreed parked and headed inside with Aaron right on his heels.
“Now, why are we here?”
“I need to grab something,” Kreed said vaguely, looking around the store until he saw the signs for the electronics department.
“I’m going to the health and beauty section,” Aaron said, studying the signs at the ceiling.
“No, you gotta come with me first.” He grabbed Aaron’s arm and took off toward the area he intended. Aaron trailed a little behind, looking around amazed. Clearly the kid hadn’t spent too much time in a super-store, but Kreed was at home here. He grew up going to Walmart. He took a turn and went to the back of the store, scanning the aisles until he found what he was looking for.
“Pick what you want,” Kreed said, once he got to the row of earphones.
“What do you mean?” Aaron asked, somewhat confused. He’d been so busy people-watching that he hadn’t paid attention to anything else.
“What headphones do you use?” Kreed asked patiently, pointing to the brightly colored packages, drawing Aaron’s eyes to the selection.
“Bose, why?” Aaron asked, his brow furrowing as his gaze drifted back to Kreed.
“Okay. Well, I don’t think Walmart carries those. What can get you by until I can get some of those?” Kreed asked, lifting the most expensive ones he could find. Of course, the kid would have something pricey instead of just the five dollar earbuds off the shelf. “Will these work?”
“Still asking, why?” Aaron said, his eyes on Kreed, waiting for an explanation.
“I was making the bed this morning and they fell off as I was moving. They didn’t hold up too well under my boot. I tried to put them back together, but, yeah…just get something here and I’ll replace those. It’s cheaper than a store at the airport.” Kreed gave a small smile and tried again to hand Aaron the earphone box.
Aaron just stared at him. He didn’t look too happy, especially not with the scowl that was slowly forming on his usually handsome face.
“I’m sorry, but I’m trying to make up for it, so that should count.” Kreed gave him his biggest smile and nodded his encouragement for Aaron to agree.
“Do you have any idea how much those cost?”
“Umm…probably not, but I said I’d replace them.”
It still took a second, but Aaron finally turned away and scanned the choices, grabbing a cheaper version than Kreed had in his hand. Okay, maybe those Bose weren’t so expensive. He placed his choice back on the rack and followed Aaron, catching him just as he turned out of the aisle. His guy was angry, leaving Kreed confused. It was just a stupid pair of earbuds.
“You should’ve told me when it happened,” Aaron said over his shoulder. Kreed trailed behind him, staying quiet. Of course he should have told Aaron, but they were in that tense place and he didn’t want to add to it.
“I’ll replace what I broke,” Kreed finally grumbled. “Where can I get them? Maybe we can stop some place on the way up.”
“They were a thousand dollars and custom made,” Aaron tossed back over his shoulder.
“A thousand dollars for earbuds? Are you kidding me?” Kreed barked out, stopping in the middle of the main aisle, blocking traffic. It took Aaron a few seconds to realize Kreed wasn’t following him. A thousand freaking dollars for earbuds that break so easily? Who did that? Those would have lasted about a day in his life before he tore the hell out of them. It was just too shocking to continue to move.
“Come on,” Aaron called out, motioning him forward. “I’ve got a backup pair. I just packed them with my equipment so I’ll need these for the flight.”
“You have two pair of thousand-dollar earbuds?” Kreed called out, barely able to move one foot in front of the other. Could the guy be serious?
“They’re the best,” Aaron said once Kreed had caught up. “Come on. I need hair dye.”
“What color are you going for now?” Kreed finally asked after he processed the amount of money being spent on something so ridiculous. Thank God his subconscious was working, and he was able to add, “I like the dark.”