Looking To Belong (A Runt's Story)

Chapter 18

Tiffany held up a skimpy black object for me to see. I looked at her in disbelief. "For stores that are supposedly family rated, how on earth do you keep finding those things?"

She grinned at me. "This is exactly why they are called family stores. These lovely little objects help people increase the size of their family."

Shaking my head in disbelief, I said, "I will never be able to look at half of these stores the same way again..."

Tiffany replied, "Oh, if you enjoyed this sort of clothing, I know several stores with a special display in the back."

I shuddered lightly, I was beginning to think her mind traveled into the gutter more than mine did - and she hadn't found her mate yet! Tiffany said, "Well, I forced you to get one set, so I won't bother again. Let's see what else we can find."

So far, I had three small bags. One of which was tucked into the bottom of a larger one. It held the silvery pieces of clothing that I hadn't immediately objected to the instant I saw them. I had been three seconds too slow, and Tiffany had ignored my protests as she deposited the lingerie in her basket. I had found two pairs of jeans and a light jacket. Tiffany had whisked the items out of my hands and used Will's credit card to pay for them. I didn't have half a chance of sneaking to the till to pay for them myself.

I glanced at the contents in the half-hidden basket that Tiffany had found with ease. I shook my head as I muttered, "The less material they have, the higher the price tag. That is just unbelievable."

Tiffany laughed as she kept leafing through the racks of clothing. She was the kind of girl who loved shopping and was somewhat put-out that I had no real interest in it. We managed to leave this store without buying anything.

We walked down the street, and I paused as I looked at the seafoam green shirt in the window. Tiffany was quick to grab my hand and drag me into the store as she muttered, "Finally, a proper reaction while shopping..." I laughed since her low grumbling tone was at complete odds with the excitement bouncing off of her as I finally took interest in a piece of clothing.

Less than a minute later, I came out of the dressing room in the green top with silvery flowers peeking out from among the darker vines and leaves. Tiffany whistled quietly at my choice of clothing. "Well, if they ever made a top for you, we just found it. Poor Will's heart is going to stop before going into overdrive."

A quick walk around the store revealed that the store owner had the same kind of taste in clothing that I did. I picked out two more tops that I just couldn't resist. I had plans to come back here one day and buy a few things with my own money.

We left the store and kept walking. Tiffany refused to give in until I had at least five tops. Three down, two to go... Tiffany stopped to look into a window that had dresses on display. I had no interest in dresses and gazed around in boredom. My attention was drawn to two men who were approaching us. I pulled up my passive stance ability in hopes that they would keep going as I turned back and pretended to be interested in the dresses. These men did not belong to this pack; their scent was of the forest.

My hopes were in vain as they paused behind us. The taller guy spoke first, "I bet that dress would look pretty good on you."

Tiffany looked up and gave a low growl as she realized that the comment had been directed at me. It looked like she was taking Will's request seriously since her mindset shifted to less flattering emotions.

The other guy grinned at her reaction, thinking she was jealous. He said, "No need to get jealous. I can buy you some clothing as well." Their flirting comments were halfway idle, hoping for interest without being too pushy.