The Hookup Pact

29| Atlas

I shrugged. "Won't even cause a dent to my account. Relax, Rosy."

She made an irritated sound. "That does not mean you'll splurge. And it's not even on yourself."

"I want to splurge on you," I said, looking down to meet her gaze. She seemed so genuinely bewildered and vulnerable that it melted my heart.

With a sigh, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her to my side. "I'm happy to pay for it. After all, I have torn quite a number of your panties and bra."

She gasped and smacked my chest, looking around to see if anyone had heard us. "Can you try not to scandalize people around us?" she mumbled and my lips twitched to make yet another scandalous comment but I refrained. "Also, those weren't expensive at all."

"Well, since these are expensive, hopefully they'll last longer," I said.

Evelyn stayed silent, watching the saleswoman pack our stuff. But I could feel her twitch beside me, almost hear the cogs in her head turn to calculate the cost of everything.

The saleswoman lifted the red corset to ring it up and looked at Evelyn and me with an amused smile.

Evelyn immediately whirled around and buried her face in my chest. "You bought me a fucking corset?" she grumbled.

I grinned, patting her back. "I thought it'd look good on you. You don't like it?"

She whined and pinched my side. I caught her hand, still smiling in front of the saleswoman.

"All done. Thank you for shopping. Hope you have a great day." As soon as the saleswoman said so, Evelyn dashed out as if the store was on fire.

Grabbing the bags off the counter with a quick thank you, I ran after her. I found her standing near the store's entrance and as soon as I came into view, she immediately launched her rant about how embarrassing that was. By the end of it, Evelyn's cheeks were flushed and she was breathing hard.

"You still didn't answer my question. Did you like the corset?" I asked, trying hard not to laugh.

Evelyn groaned, stomping her foot, and then grabbed my hand. "Forget it. We are going home. I have had enough embarrassment for one day."

I laughed as she tried to drag me away from the store but couldn't move me even an inch. It was cute that she wanted to try. "Wait," I said, making her stop. "We haven't gotten anything for me yet. Won't you help me get clothes for myself?"

She squinted her eyes at me. "What are you playing at?"

"Nothing. I have a few formal events coming up and I need to get some new shirts and ties. I promise I'll behave. Just help me out."

She stared at me for a beat before sighing. "Fine."

Grinning, I led her to a few more stores where Evelyn helped me select clothes. She was surprisingly good at it and saved me a lot of time. And it was ten times better to listen to her rather than to a salesperson. By the time we were done, our bags had doubled and Evelyn was smiling, the events of the lingerie store all but forgotten.

It was one of the first genuine smiles I had seen on her face in days. Ever since she'd received that call last Wednesday about her dad's debt, she had been stressed. She wouldn't allow me to help and refused to tell me what she had decided to do about it either.

And although she was adamant about denying that the news had bothered her, she wasn't convincing anyone. Least of all me. Any time she wasn't spending in the studio or attending classes was going to one of her four jobs. Yeah, she had four jobs now.