when I didn’t see Grayson until the next morning, looking more tired than ever until he had a cup of coffee. I was still struggling with the nightmares, but I was a little bit better at coping with them now so I respected Grayson’s wish to not have us sleep in the same bed for the time being. I didn’t really see the point in it as we were continuing to grow closer and closer, but I was sure he had his own reasons for wanting it that way. For the moment, I wasn’t much up to questioning it.
On Saturday, Grayson informed me that he wanted to spend the whole day together and that he intended to start things off by taking me on a shopping spree. I definitely wasn’t opposed to this, but was perhaps a little surprised. I hadn’t necessarily expected anything like this from him, as it didn’t seem to fit into our kind of relationship. But it was a good chance to spend some time with him, and I wasn’t going to say no to that.
I got dressed in a cute pink dress with a matching cropped sweater, and slipped on some long socks and flats as it was colder today than it had been this past week, and I had no idea where Grayson intended to take us. Then I headed downstairs to grab some breakfast.
Grayson was already sitting in the kitchen, a muffin on the plate in front of him and a cup of coffee in his hand. “Feel free to take what you want,” he said, gesturing to the spread in front of him. I grabbed an orange and a croissant and took a seat across from him, looking up at him with a smile.
“Any plans for where we’re going?” I asked.
“I figured we would just go to one of the malls. There are some shops that I want to take you to, but I’m also open to suggestions if you have any. I want to make sure you have your share of LA experiences.”
I shook my head. “No, that sounds lovely.”
He smiled. “Good, because I’m looking forward to spoiling you.”
I squirmed in my seat and looked down at my hands. I’d never really had anyone who wanted to spoil me before, so this felt nice. It was a way that Grayson was showing me he cared. “Thank you, but you really don’t have to.”
Grayson came around the table, grabbing my hand and making me look up at him. “But I want to. Believe me, I’m not doing this out of any feeling of obligation. I want to make you happy. I want to buy you things and see you shining and looking as lovely as ever. Can you accept that?”
I nodded, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. “Yes, I can.”
We finished our breakfast and then headed out to the car. I strapped in and Grayson turned the key, the car humming to life beneath us.
“You hungry for anything else?” he asked. “I can pick you up some hot chocolate if you want.”
“That would actually be wonderful,” I said. “Is there somewhere we can get peppermint hot cocoa?”
“I think Starbucks has some around this time of year, and there’ll definitely be one at the mall.” Grayson laughed. “They’re everywhere these days, really. Sometimes you can’t go two blocks without seeing another one. Almost like they’re breeding them.”
“They’ve even reached our town now,” I said, chiming in.
“And that is how you know they’ve gotten fairly influential. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a Starbucks there when we were growing up.” Grayson was speeding down the highway now, and I settled into my seat, watching as the Los Angeles cityscape passed by me.
It wasn’t long before we arrived at our destination: a large outdoor mall that made me glad I had worn a cozy sweater. There were strings of lights draped over every storefront and the Christmas greenery abounded as decoration. A lot of the shops looked incredibly high-end, but I didn’t get much of a chance to look at them before Grayson was dragging me along to the coffee shop to order me a hot cocoa.
“Thank you,” I said once it was handed to me, warming my hands against the cup.
“Don’t mention it,” he said, his head tilted in a kind smile. “I don’t know how many of the shops will want you to have a drink while we’re inside, so let’s go find somewhere to sit.”
“Can