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“Hey Miss Zoomie, what’s the rush?”
I bring the huge cart to halt and look back over my shoulder with a huff.
“I need to find the new limited pink Ninja smoothie maker before it sells out!” I whine. “Stop stalling already and hurry up!”
I catch Valko’s smirk as he purposefully stops to look at a robot vacuum with sudden avid fascination. This is his first ever visit to Costco and he has already spent ten minutes in the snack aisle, filling our cart with every brand of protein bar they have. I admit his initial awe at walking into the huge warehouse was adorable at first but now the big dummy is gonna make me miss out on the last smoothie maker!
I huff again and start to march off in search of said smoothie maker and I hear him chuckle behind me before the sound of his heavy footsteps move to catch me up. It takes him all of five of his long strides to reach me.
“I was just teasing you, Pancake,” he says as he gently budges me to the side so he can push the heavy cart instead.
I pout at him but my gaze snags on his flexing biceps as he pushes it. He notices immediately, tensing them to make them bulge even more. He levels me with innocent look and I roll my eyes.
“Yeah, yeah,” I sigh before he can call me out on my staring. “You work out, we get it. Now come-on Tree-trunks-for-arms.”
His deep laugh follows me as I lead us to the kitchen appliances and start scanning the shelves for my prize. Eventually I find it and… it’s the last one! As I start to run toward it, I spot a middle-aged woman also making a beeline for it.
“Shit,” I hiss under my breath and I up my pace. The woman notices me and also starts marching faster toward the smoothie maker.
A few steps later and I realise she’s going to beat me to it when suddenly a metal cart stacked with kitchen scales rolls out from the shelves and blocks her path. She nearly runs headlong into it and I cast a look over my shoulder to see Valko smirking to himself.
I snicker loudly as I reach the smoothie maker and grasp it possessively. My competitor rounds on me, her face red and indignant. She opens her mouth to no doubt scold me but her face drops as I feel a presence walk up behind me. Her gaze lingers on Valko for a few seconds before she thinks better of it and huffs, turning on her heel and marching away with her nose in the air.
I giggle as she retreats and I lift the heavy box into my arms. “Thanks,” I say as I look up at him and bite my lip.
“You’re welcome,” he replies in a flirtatious tone, his gaze lingering on my lips for a beat before he meets my eyes with his golden ones. “I can’t have my girl go without her pink smoothie maker, can I?”
I blush at his flirting as I start to waddle over to the cart. “Remind me to thank you properly later,” I reply.
He comes up behind me and bends, his hard chest pressing against my back as he places his hands over mine to ease the weight of the box. I feel his face dip into the crook of my neck, his nose gliding up to behind my ear before he sniffs. My skin flushes an even deeper shade of red and I gulp hard.
“Oh, I know you will.” His voice is low and verging on a growl, the sound setting my skin alight like a match to kindling.
Honestly! We are in public!
Despite that very obvious fact I can’t help the breathy sigh that leaves me and I can practically feel the smugness radiating off of him.
“Valko!” I hiss under my breath. “Not here!”
My boyfriend takes every opportunity to get close to me and take in my scent. I usually melt into a horny puddle every time he does it but I steel myself and clear my throat as we place the box in the cart with the protein bars. Another low chuckle in my ear followed by a warm kiss to my neck sends goosebumps rising on every inch of my skin.
“Later then,” he agrees before pulling back and allowing me to breathe.
I put some distance between us before he can find an excuse to sniff me again. “Come on, let’s go checkout the furniture.”
We wonder around the extensive furniture section of the store for a while and as we head toward the checkouts, I stop in my tracks when I spot a ginormous plushie on display. I squeal and dash over to it, the giant wolf the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. Even if it is the same height as me.
“I need it!” I exclaim, turning to Valko. “He’s so cute!”
Valko joins me and levels the giant plushie with a sceptical look, his eyebrow cocked.
“But you already have a big bad wolf in your life,” he says, his hand snaking around my waist to pull him against his side.
“I know,” I agree, patting his chest. “But… I need something to keep me company whilst you’re off doing pack stuff.”
I bat my eyelashes for good measure, not that I need to. Valko may look stern on the surface but inside he’s softer than butter. Especially for me.
Predictably he caves immediately and reluctantly nods. “Alright, Pankcake. As long as he doesn’t take up my spot in our bed.”
“Of course not,” I laugh. “There’s barely enough room for me as it is.”
I wrap may arms around the giant wolf’s neck and try to lift it but the thing weighs a ton. I grunt with the effort before Valko puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Lemme get it.”
I step back as he bends before he lifts the plushie with one arm and up onto his shoulder with ease as if it were a bag of feathers. My eyes widen at the ridiculous display as he tilts his head and pulls a cocky grin that has me blushing all over again. I glance around us nervously. Oh god… people are staring!
I grab his other arm and usher us toward the checkouts just as a group of teenage girls look over and start giggling, their eyes roving hungrily over my man. I throw then a threatening glare as I grab our cart. Keep your eyes to yourselves, he is MINE!
At the checkout we wrack up an eyewatering total that would normally make my bank account weep. I blame the protein bars. Thankfully Valko does like to spoil me and he scans his card without a second’s pause and gives me a playful wink.
Yep, I’m blushing. AGAIN.
“This place is awesome,” Valko says as we head toward the exit, the huge plushie still on his shoulder. “I hope you realise that I will be bringing you here every week.”
My heart jumps with absolute joy.
“No complaints here!” I giggle.
We’re close to the exit when Valko suddenly stops in his tracks and I look back at him inquisitively. I watch as he turns his head, lifting his nose up to sniff the air.
“What is it?” I ask just as the smell hits me.
Hot dogs.
Valko’s gaze follows the scent over to the food court where people are lined up to get the famous $1.50 hot dogs. I laugh and poke his ribs.
“Do you wanna get one?” I ask. He gives me his happy puppy look and I almost melt. If his tail were out, it would be wagging like crazy right now. “Okay, come on.”
I find a table and guard our cart and the giant plushie whilst Valko goes to the counter. A few minutes later he returns with not just one hot dog each like I expected but with a tray of about twenty of them. I look at them in wide eyed astonishment before I remember that Valko has the appetite of ten men. You would think he had been starved for days, and that’s after he’s eaten his weight in fries.
“I can’t believe these are only $1.50,” he says as he sits down and picks up one of the hot dogs and starts digging in.
I chuckle and pick up one for myself. “I know, most people come here just for them.”
Valko nods in appreciation as he tastes the hot dog for the first time. He hums and in the next second a pair of ears pop out the top of his head followed swiftly by his tail that wags frantically behind him. Oh my god, he is so adorable sometimes, the big dumb doggie!
We eat and talk about all the things we are gonna buy on our next visit and soon it’s decided that a weekly visit to Costco has become our new ritual. The twenty hot dogs included.
I only manage three of them before my stomach starts to protest but Valko of course manages to polish off the rest. Well, I suppose he needs fuel for all that damn muscle.
As I finish my last bite, a bit of ketchup falls onto my finger. Without thinking much of it I put it into my mouth to suck it off. A low and ominous growl reverberates from across the table and I look up to see Valko staring at me, his eyes glowing with a new kind of hunger. His gaze is fixated on my finger still in my mouth. I realise then that my cheeks are hollowed as I suck on the digit.
Oh…
Valko stares a second longer before he suddenly stands and hauls the plushie back onto his shoulder and grabs the cart with his other hand.
“Time to go home, Pancake.”