Always There

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine:

Lexi's POV

"What's next on the list?" I ask, looking over my shoulder at Bryce, who is directly behind me as we walk through the aisles of the large grocery store.

Though I'm technically pushing the cart, Bryce has his hands on the handle on either side of mine so that I'm sort of trapped against his chest like a little kid. I know we probably look like a ridiculously cheesy couple right now, but I feel safe being this close to him, and we are sort of a cheesy couple after all.

When Bryce announced that he was about to head to the grocery store, he didn't necessarily invite me to come along. Nonetheless, when I stuck out my bottom lip and gave him puppy-dog eyes, he couldn't possibly say no.

There's something about grocery shopping together for the first time—purchasing groceries for our apartment—that makes my heart happy. I can't help but to feel like our relationship has matured a great deal since we got together.

This time last year, we were still growing into adults, but now, it feels as though we've finally made it.

"We just need eggs and then we're good to go. Is there anything else that you want, baby?" Bryce asks, steering the cart to the right as we exit one of the aisles.

I grin over my shoulder at him. "Hm . . . Perhaps a hug. Or even a kiss. If you're feeling extra generous, I would also enjoy a massage. My shoulders are kind of stiff."

Bryce is silent for a moment before he lets out a deep chuckle that makes his chest rumble against my back. "Is there any food that you would like to eat?"

We reach the refrigerator storing eggs and Bryce picks up one of the cartons, checking that none of the eggs are cracked before carefully setting the carton down in his cart. He then places one of his hands on my shoulder, forcing me to turn around to find him smiling down at me with his eyebrows raised in question.

I grin back at him. "Can we get some ice cream? Please?"

He kisses the side of my head before gently pushing my shoulder to turn me back around. "Of course. Three isles down."

Once we locate the freezers filled with pints of fancy ice cream, I duck under Bryce's arm to grab a small tub of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, tossing it into the cart. Bryce is unable to stop me from spinning around to wrap my arms around his waist for a hug this time, instead embracing me immediately.

"When you said that you wanted a hug, I hadn't thought that you meant a hug in the freezer aisle of the grocery store," he whispers into my ear, his tone teasing and soft.

I can't stop a giggle from escaping my lips as I squeeze Bryce tighter for good measure. "Well, surprise, I guess."

He laughs again and my smile grows so wide that it almost hurts. I can't believe how damn happy he can make me even as we're doing something as plain as grocery shopping.

Honestly, there's just something extremely appealing about seeing Bryce do domestic things such as shopping for groceries and cooking. When he showed up in the cafeteria that day last October, I took one glance at him and automatically assumed that he had become the 'bad boy' who had people do everything for him. Needless to say, I m beyond pleased to find out that those early assumptions of mine were entirely wrong.

We begin to head down the aisle and in the direction of the checkout. When we pass an aisle in the drugstore section filled with condoms, Bryce rolls his eyes at the way I cringe.

Once we eventually make it to the cash registers, Bryce in decides to head to the self-checkout stations. He gives me the job of handing him the grocery items before he scans them and places them in the bags, and working together like this, we manage to scan everything quite efficiently. I roll the cart back into its place as Bryce pays for the groceries, and once I return to him, we lift up all of the bags and head out of the store.