Sang's Freedom (Original And Rewritten)

Chapter 83: Shopping Hell

-Chapter 83-

Matthew Eli's POV:

I was so fucking wrong. This was not fun. This was a god damn nightmare.

Gabriel tossed another armful of clothes over the top of the changing wall. For fuck's sake!

I looked around at the piles upon piles of mismatched clothes and then to my own dismayed reflection in the full length mirror. In my hands were two shirts. One purple. One green. My blue eye had taken on a shine of exhaustion and terror as I awaited the next Gabriel onslaught.

I yanked the purple shirt down over my muscular chest. This one was too tight across the chest. The green one was no better. "These don't fit!" I called. "Can we leave now?"

There was a dark laugh from behind the door. God, Gabriel was freaking me out.

I banged my head against the mirror in protest, but the connection made pain spike up my cheek and behind my wounded eye.

I swore.

"Matt?" Sang's voice sounded from behind the door. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..."

"You sure?"

"I don't see why all of this is necessary. It's not like I travel around with a big suitcase of clothes in my line of work."

"Meanie is just trying to bond with you, if that makes it better? He shops for everyone on the team, even Mr. Blackbourne sometimes though I don't think Mr. Blackbourne wears any of it except on the rarest of occasions."

Sang was rambling. It struck me as sweet. Comforting, almost.

"He wants to bond with me?" I asked.

"That's right!" Gabriel's voice sounded muffled.

"That's too much," Sang whispered.

"Oh, Trouble, we are just getting started."

***

I sat with my head pressed against the table in the food court. The smell of burgers and fries wafted through the air as I sat surrounded by eight bags of clothing.

Gabriel and Sang sat across from me, recharging with some soda and pizza. Sang had found a little Mexican place and was working on a quesadilla.

"You need to eat up!" Gabriel ordered, poking a ketchup covered fry my way. "There's a store that sells leather jackets here, and you need a comb for that mop you call hair."

I jerked upright. "Fuck that! No!" My hands went down the front of my leather jacket. "This is, I don't need a new one. Sang patched the shoulder and it's fine. Perfect, even, and as for my hair, how the hell do you expect me to brush it with this shit wrapped around my head?"

"That shit is called gauze, and you could undo it for five minutes to fix that nightmare." Gabriel sniffed, before giving my untouched cheese burger a pointed look. "Don't tell me you're another North. Fucking eat something."

I lifted the food to my mouth. Fuck I was actually starving.

Gabriel spoke as I ate. "And just so you know, the leather jacket store isn't for you. I brought some of my own money so that I could get one for Trouble."

Sang's eyebrows went up, though I was confused for an entirely different reason. Who the hell was funding the his expedition?

"You want me to wear leather?" Sang asked confused.

"Black and worn," Gabriel purred.

I will never admit to shuddering at the thought of Sang in leather, but dammit, I did.

As we walked back towards the shops, Sang nearly lost her balance again on her high shoes. She reached out and caught my hand and I couldn't bring myself to let go.

I liked Sang. She was small and beautiful and strong. I still had trouble processing how someone like her had managed to end up in such an awful situation.

She didn't deserve what she got from her mother and no one deserved the same fate as those trapped in the sex ring.

But Sang was beautiful despite it all. She walked with her head held high and looked people straight in the face when she spoke. Dr. Green said that confidence was new to Sang, but she wore it beautifully.

The Blackbourne team and I were not the only ones who noticed that Sang was special. More often than the girl would ever realize, men watched her.

There was an unmistakable hunger in their eyes. Curiosity and intrigue found in the others. Boys and men turned their heads as she walked by.

At one point while I was swapping clothes I heard someone start talking to Sang outside the dressing room. Gabriel had walked away, and I couldn't prevent myself from stepping out to stop the onslaught of sexual innuendoes pouring from the man's mouth.

'Hey, Beautiful," I had called to my girl. That was all it took to chase the other man off. And when Sang's green eyes fell on me, I knew my heart had betrayed me.

She was too much.

Everything I could ever want, though she would never feel the same about me.

That was why the idea of the Blackbourne team sharing her pissed me off. I didn't want to share. I wanted all of her.

I swallowed hard. Fuck.

Fuck.

I couldn't think like this.

I really couldn't.

It will make it hurt worse when I have to leave. I have to protect my heart. I have to...make Cynthia's sacrifice worth something...

Fuck.

***

Sang Sorenson's POV:

I was having a really good time, but nothing prepared me for the moment Gabriel said he was going to buy me a leather jacket.

I wanted to thank him, but he was about fifty paces ahead of Matt and I and I would never be able to keep up in these shoes.

We found Gabriel in the store he spoke of and he already had an arm of jackets. "Trouble!" He was grinning, waving me over.

I dropped Matt's hand and 'hurried' over, throwing my arms around his neck, because I could in these shoes! He caught me around the waist. "Thank you for today, Gabriel. I'm really enjoying myself. And the jacket--"

"Don't you try to talk me out of it, Trouble! I've been dying to see you back in black since you and Ghost Rider over there came waltzing out of the forest. I can still see those long bare legs of yours just barely covered beneath that leather jacket." Gabriel winked. "Look, I think this is the one."

Gabriel held out a jacket that was almost identical to Matt's. Big silver zippers. Lined pockets. Raised collar. Except mine was a woman's cut and, you know, actually fit.

I grinned, taking it into my hands. It felt nice. The scent of it reminded me of Matt.

"It'll get more worn if you wear it a lot, Trouble. Try it on. I want to know if the fit is good."

I did and I knew.

I didn't even have to look in a mirror.

"Damn Trouble. That is fucking perfect."