Marrying The Beast

Chapter 36

We drive to Dylan's Candy Bar and when we arrive Willard drops off both me and Blayze including Easton. When we step inside my eyes widen in astonishment. I have never seen so much candy in my life. "This is so cool," I exclaim. Blayze says nothing but when I take a peak of his facial expression he is in absolute awestruck. I grab his hand and we make our way to the stairs. We each decide to get as much as candy as we like. I get so many different kinds of candy and treats. They even have desserts. I pack up on bubble gum since it is my favorite and chocolate. They have a special section just for chocolate.

I see Blayze checking out some lollipops. He catches my eye and walks over to me with a big chocolate bar in his hand. "I know how much you love chocolate so..." I laugh and kiss his cheek a lady nearby snaps a photo but I decided to ignore it. Blayze, however, doesn't miss a thing and he looks right at the lady. She becomes startled and speeds walk away to some other part of the store. "Let's go, I think we have enough candy to give us diabetes." I joke. When we start to pay Blayze and I bicker about who is paying. Blayze beats me to it and I pout with defeat as we drive off to our next location. "Come on Suzette. Don't be upset because I paid." Blayze says boastfully.

"No, I wanted to pay," I whine. He pokes my cheek and I swat his hand away fighting my smile. "I know where to go next." He whispers something to Willard and he looks at me through his review mirror before looking back at the road. "Where are we going?" I ask him curiously. He smirks and says, "You'll see." We drive for a couple minutes and the car comes to a stop. "Blayze just tell me," I whine. He shakes his head no stepping out of the car and tells me, "I'm not going to tell you. I promise it's worth it." He insists and I follow him to a building but he covers my eyes with his hands.
"I'll uncover your eyes when we enter." I feel the cool air of the store hit my skin and I wait for Blayze to remove his hands from my eyes. "Ready one, two..." he removes hands at three and my eyes widen when I see it. The beautiful books all around me.

There are books everywhere and I can't help but feel the tears trying to escape my eyes. I look at Blayze he gives a concerned look. "Suzette, what's wrong? You don't like it?" I shake my head no and say, "I don't like it...I love it Blayze. I'm trying not to cry." He gives me a funny look but I don't miss the relief in his facial expressions. "You know me so well," I tell him before I take a step to an aisle filled with adventures, romance, and fantasies. "Here's a fun fact about this place. It's called Strand bookstore and it has 18 miles of books — new, used, and rare." I stare up at Blayze fascinated with the new information about this place. "18 miles?" I stutter and he nods yes as a response. "Go crazy." He whispers and I smile wide and whisper back, "You really do know me well." I sprint off running down the aisles giggling like a little school girl.

I roam through the aisles looking books and choosing which one I wanted. Time flys by so fast because next thing I know I see Blayze sitting on a chair with a bagel and a cups of water reading a book with his ready glasses and it's dark out. "Blayze?" I squeak. He looks up and he eyes the pile of books in my hands. "No way are we getting all of those." He tells me and I put on my best baby face and beg, "Please, I promise I'll never ask for anything again just please buy me the books." He rolls his eyes and stands up. He grabs the pile on the floor that I have been pushing around with my foot. The clerk eyes widen from the sight of books that I have and she says, "Bookworm?" I nod my head yes with a wide grin. She laughs and starts to ring up the books.

"I was looking through the aisle trying to find the book Little Women but I couldn't find it anywhere. That's my favorite book of all time and I always wanted my very own copy but it's hard to find the original, you know." I explain sadly and she tells me, "Little Women, huh, that's a classic. I'm sure it'll turn up in here someday." Once we are done we exit the bookstore and my eyes land on more book carts outside. "Ooo they have more." I say and Blayze quickly shouts, "No! No more books. I'm starving." I sigh disappointed that I didn't check out every single book or aisle of books within the bookstore. "You're right I'm hungry too." my stomach starts to growl and I agree with him. "I say we head to Chinatown and it some dinner." I clap with joy from his suggestion and participation on this small outing. "Let's do it." We step into the car and start to make our way to Chinatown.