“Hang on there, chica.”
He threw his arm tight around my neck and my front was pinned against his side. I started up again, walking like a crab for a few paces then his arm loosened and I could walk normally. Even so, I walked normally with his arm wrapped around my neck, his hand dangling down and my shoulder and part of my body tucked into him.
He had his mirrored shades on but I could tell he was scanning. I realized he was being watchful and the way we were walking made him the easier target. This made me feel warm in my belly. He also smelled good which helped that warmth to spread.
By the time we got to Walgreen’s and went inside I was in a little Eddie Daze.
See what I mean? Eddie didn’t need to sweet talk you or toss you a line, Eddie was just… Eddie. That in itself was potent stuff.
He dropped his arm and took off his shades when we went inside the drugstore and I shook off the daze.
I roamed the aisles, trying to remain focused on my task and thus ignore the cosmetics and candy aisles.
Then I found what I wanted and I came to a halt.
I turned to Eddie. “Okay, I’ve never done this. This is the guy’s department. What do I do? We need to get Lee’s size and we need industrial strength. Show me which ones to buy.”
Eddie looked at the display and looked at me. “You’re askin’ me to help you buy condoms for Lee?”
“Industrial strength condoms,” I reminded him.
Eddie stared at me like he was re-thinking his crush on me.
“Okay,” I said, trying to be helpful, “we’ll break it down. We’ll start with the size.”
He shook his head. “First, I’m a little worried you’re lookin’ to me to tell you Lee’s size. Lee es mi hermano, but we aren’t that close. Second, they don’t come in sizes.”
I couldn’t believe it, that couldn’t be true.
“You mean it’s one size fits all?” I asked.
He didn’t bother to answer.
“That’s impossible,” I said, and it was. It wasn’t like I’d seen millions of them but I knew they weren’t all one size.
He remained silent but his eyes got kinda scary.
Yikes.
“All righty then, let’s go on to the next category, strength, durability, that kind of thing.”
Eddie walked away.
My cell rang, I grabbed it and saw it was Lee.
“Where are you? The guys said you freaked out about a baby shower and took off with Eddie behind you,” Lee said by way of greeting.
“Your mother is planning a baby shower.”
“Where are you?”
“You have to call her.” I told him.
“Where are you?”
“Lee!”
“I’ll call her, where the f**k are you?”