Apparently, I didn’t do that great of a job of whispering because Stone steps in front of me. He pierces me with one of his stone-cold gazes, and it hits me then that I can’t help but wonder if his parents named him Stone because he came out of the womb looking like this. Or maybe they were just preparing for the kid they wanted. The one with the heart of stone who would be just like them.
He takes my chin in his hands, making me look into the bottomless pit of his eyes. “I am buying you what you need. I will buy you the whole damn store if you want. Do you hear me?” He steps closer, making my neck arch back. “Anything. Everything.”
My breath gets lost somewhere between my mouth and my lungs. It just disappears into a void until he steps back, then I gulp in air easily. The way he controls my body is disconcerting, and it makes me salty. “I don’t need you to do that.”
“Dakota Wilder.” The look he gives me slices me to my core. It feels like he wants to say so much, but instead, he drops his stare to my shoes. “You want to walk up into the mountain with those? You want to follow the trails with the clothes you’re wearing? Put aside the stupid pride bullshit for one second. You know you need those things. Get out of your damn head and let me do it for you.”
Everything in me is telling me not to give in to him, but I really don’t have a choice. I don’t have the money. I probably never will have the money. What’s most important now is that we find my father and the treasure. “Fine,” I seethe.
“Follow me,” he demands. We all do as he says because, well, he’s Stone Jacobs. He stops in front of a bunch of shoe boxes that all look the same. “This is a good brand. Find the style and the fit you like, and we’ll get those. And actually, get a couple of pairs. Lucas, come with me. We’re looking at tents.”
Lucas’s hand tightens around mine as he gives Stone a perplexed look. “I thought you said—”
“Just fucking come with me,” he growls out.
A woman who walks past us at that exact time places her hands over her son’s ears, as the son gazes up at Stone wide-eyed. Stone has the decency to apologize in his most well-mannered good boy voice, and the woman smiles back. Stone just has that kind of look when he wants to. He can turn on the charm in an instant which makes him almost like a snake in the grass. Just biding his time.
I shake my head as I watch Stone and Lucas walk away in the opposite direction of the mother and son. Their heads are together as they walk through the store like they own the place.
Wyatt gazes at my feet in my ratty pair of sneakers I’ve had for at least five years. I’m good to my things. I wash them when I get them dirty, but it’s obvious they’re old as shit. They’re just clean, old as shit shoes that are out of style and fraying along the edges. “Do you know what size those are?”
I sit on a nearby bench and take them off, feeling the loss of Lucas next to me. I peel the tongue back and look but the label is faded. “Nope,” I say. “And in any case, these have always been a bit too tight.”
Wyatt’s jaw ticks. He points at an employee and crooks his finger at him, beckoning him toward us. The guy comes right over, and Wyatt says, “We need her sized. Also, I need a cart.”
“Excellent,” the guy says. He’s all smiles. “I can size her, and the carts are at the front of the store.”
“I said I need a cart,” Wyatt snaps.
The guy, who already dropped to his knees, preparing to put a metal contraption on my feet, glowers. “Of course,” he says through clenched teeth. “I’ll get you a cart when I’m through.” He slides my foot on to the metal then makes me stand. “Looks like you’re about a seven and a half. Depending on what you’re getting, the sizes could run up or down, so just make sure to try everything on. After I’m done getting your cart,” he says flatly. “I can get any size in the back that you need.”
Wyatt nods at him, and when he walks away, he gleams at his back. I switch my gaze between the two. “You’re such a jerk.” My first experience in a store like this and it isn’t going all that well.
Wyatt shrugs. “With the amount of money we’re going to drop today, they should be handing us a fucking gold cart, Tits.”
I shake my head and scour the line of hiking boots at the top of the brand Stone picked out. I pick out a pair I like and try on the seven and a half. I take them back to the seat with me and slip them on. I almost cream my underwear when my feet slide inside. They fit like a glove. And the cushion? It’s like I’m walking on a cloud.
Wyatt chuckles. “If you like them, wait until you try on sneakers.” I take the boot off to throw it back in the box, but Wyatt stops me. “Whoa, whoa. You’re missing the most important part of trying on shoes.”
“I’m not buying sneakers, too,” I snap.
He narrows his gaze at me. “No partner of mine is walking around in frayed shoes that are too fucking tight for her, so yes, Tits, you’re going to suck up your pride and accept the fact that you’re getting new shoes.”
“Stone—”
“I
