Echo Book 2

44. Can't Help Myself

I try to sneak out of bed in the morning, but Tim wakes up. "Where you going, baby?"

"I want to go for a ride."

"Use the suppra and let's take a shower first." He goes to the bathroom.

I throw his shirt on and run for it. Tobias, Zion, and Malax are in the dining room. They watch me.

Tim yells, "WOMAN, YOU HAVE TO EAT."

I grab a handful of cereal and stuff in my mouth as I run through. "I AM EATING."

"WOMAN."

I run all the way to the suppra lab and lay down fast. Then Tim picks me up. "Shower, dress, food, then you can go."

He makes sure I'm clean and dressed. Then we go to the dining room again. The same people are in it.

I plop into a chair. "Cereal in a bowl with milk and a spoon, please."

"Yes, ma'am." The brain gives me blood and orange juice first.

Tobias finishes his blood. "Who texted me last night?"

"Me. My phone burnt up so I used Scotchs."

"Why did you text?"

"I wanted to keep riding, and she wanted to kiss every boy in the city. I figured I would give her you to kiss. Then I could ride."

"I guess that did work."

"Did you have fun at the party?"

"They were teenagers with a bar. It was interesting. Zion put on a stunt show right in the middle of the suburb. They thought that was fun to watch. I did get kissed a lot though. It was worth it."

"You're welcome."

Malax puts a new phone in front of me. "So, what's going on with you and Scotch?"

"Nothing."

Zion shakes his head. "You went to his party, and you were close when I walked in."

"I was yelling in his ear. It was loud in the house. And that wasn't his house. Eriska and I were riding around and saw the party, so we stopped. He let me use his phone, so all was good."

"What did he say to you at your bike?"

I glare at Zion. "You are worse than my boys. But while you were off making out with some dumb girl who still wasn't your girlfriend, he helped me with my gloves and helmet. Then he told me to be careful. Then I left."

"You didn't kiss him?"

I throw my cereal bowl at Zion. "NO. AND IT'S NOT YOUR f*****g BUSINESS. THE ONLY PERSON I KISSED YESTERDAY WAS TIM. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?"

"It seems like you 2 are close."

"I'm not happy now." Tobias holds up his fork. "Why does my woman want to kiss every boy in the city?"

"Because we can. She's never had a boyfriend either. We always had to keep up with school and then get ready for college. We were going to have an amazing summer. Go out on the suppra's and kiss boys. Figure out what life is actually like. But we got the suppra's and got invaded. I never had a boyfriend. I tried to date. It was horrible. Then I got a fiance that wasn't even who I was dating. Eriska pretty much did the same damn thing. We went from boys who didn't see us or like us, to married in 1 second. IT'S A LOT OF CHANGE, ASSHOLE." I throw my spoon at Tobias. "We still want to live and get chased by boys. But it's different now."

Malax nods. "They're young. It's best to give them space. They're still figuring out life. And apparently they like getting chased by boys."

"We did figure that part out." I smile. "Tim chased me last night."

Tim winks. "And you called in Tobias to chase Eriska."

"I guess. She's safe with him. I can leave."

"Yea, you girls are safe with your mates." Malax gets a paper out. "And according to the police report it seems like Tim chased you right onto the lookout over the city."

I put an eyebrow up.

Tim loses it. "How the hell did...?" He can't finish.

"Everything up there is recorded."

I dive under the table.

They crack up laughing.

"I'm sorry, babygirl. I didn't know. Come here." I shake my head.

"I had them destroy the footage. But do not go back up there. That lookout is monitored for drug issues."

Tim pulls me out. "I'm sorry." He puts me in my spot. "It's ok. They deleted it." He sits back down. "Are any of them safe for me to chase her to?"

Malax nods. "That's the only one that's monitored."

I stand up and brush the cereal piece off my shoulder. "Time to go."

They lose it.

"Seriously boys, wrap it up. Time to go."

Malax shakes his head. "I need a couple of hours in the office. Go for a ride. Use your suppra. You'll be fine. Take Zion with you."

"No." I want to ride by myself. I like that.

"I'm sure she'll call Scotch."

I glare at Zion and my eye twitches. "No. I just don't want to get thrown off a bike again."

I transfer to my suppra and put on my riding gear. Then I take Malax the helmet to make the visor dark again. Tim braids my hair while he fixes it. Then Tim walks me out.

"I didn't know it was monitored up there, woman. I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I had fun. Next time you can chase me to a different one."

"Want me to chase you right now?"

I laugh and give him a kiss. "I want to ride for a bit. Maybe go to the mall. You can chase me later."

"Sounds fun."

An hour later, I park at the mall. I love riding this thing. I walk through and find a purse I need to have. It's f*****g $5,500 though. I realize I have no money. I am stupid to come to the mall with no money. And of course, it's the last one. Son of a b***h.

I take it to the counter. "Can you hold this for me for 1 hour?"

"If you're on the approved list, what's the name?"

"Octavia Kinnik."

"You're not Octavia."

I rub my face. "She is the one who wants it. She will be coming to get it."

"I'm sorry. I can't do that. I'll put it under the counter here for 1 hour, but if someone asks about it, I have to sell it. I'm sorry."

"Good enough. I'll hurry."

I get almost out the backdoor and nearly run right into Scotch. "HOW DO I RUN INTO YOU EVERYWHERE?"

"This is the closest mall to our houses and it's the weekend. Why are you running?"

"I forgot money, and they're only holding the purse for an hour."

"I'll buy it. How much was it?"

"$5,500."

He laughs. "Never mind. I don't have that much on me."

"I need it. They're not holding it cause I'm not me. I need to get money."

"Do you have it at your house?"

"Yes."

"Get in my car and disconnect. Then fly the money here. Lay in the back seat. I'll lock the car."

I dive into his backseat and disconnect. Then I run around my house and find 8k. I land beside his car and throw my purse at him. I fly back home and reconnect. Then I climb out of his car. "This is the most I've ever done for a purse."

He laughs and walks me to the store.

The lady pulls it out. "That was fast."

"I love this purse."

"$6, 112 is the total miss. And you can get 1 of our perfumes half off with this purchase."

"I do like your perfume." I pick out a bottle of my favorite.

"$6,394 is the total now."

I pay her. "Thank you so much."

"What's your last name? I will add you to our hold list."

"Popclaire."

"Wonderful. And yours, sir?"

He shakes his head. "I can't even afford the air in this place."

She laughs. "Well, the air is free, sir. And you're always welcome to come in and look around."

"Thank you."

I step out and twitch at the jewelry store. I haven't checked it in a long time. "You need to have an appointment, ma'am."

"UGH." I stare at the ceiling.

Scotch cracks up laughing. "You are bad at being normal."

"I've never been told I need to have an appointment to shop."

"Text Malax."

"That could work." I get out my phone. -Call the jewelry store in the mall and tell them I'm the personal shopper for Octavia Kinnik.-

-What name?-

-Echo Popclaire. I'm outside the door.-

Not even 60 seconds later, the manager runs out. "Welcome. Take your time. The entire store is open to you."

"Lovely." I give the guard a dirty look as we walk by. We look at jewelry for a long time. "Everything seems so basic."

The salesman smiles. "If you want to step into my office, I can show you a new set we just received. I think you'll like it."

"Sure." I sit beside Scotch and the man gets into a safe.

"It's too valuable to even put it on the floor." He pulls out a necklace that is black. Then it has black stones that surround a ruby.

"I am in love."

"We have 2 sets like this. This is the first set. The 2nd set is very similar, but the ruby is in the shape of a skull."

"I need to see that."

"I need to pull it out of the vault. I'll be 1 minute."

"Of course." I look at Scotch. "I think I'm going to need more money."

"Yea. This is not going to be cheap."

I wait as patiently as possible for 2 guards and the salesperson to bring it in. He lays it out. It's 6 rings. A bracelet that connects to another ring. 2 arm bands. An ankle bracelet. 4 stand-alone bracelets. 4 pairs of earrings. And 4 necklaces.

"You could wear them however you wanted. They match each other. However, 1 necklace, 1 ring, 4 earrings, and 1 bracelet have skull rubies instead of the tear shape. How are you feeling about it? It can be separated if you only like certain pieces."

"How much is it all?"

"Just shy of $22,000,000."

"Does that count resizing? That 1 ring is way too big for me."

"That is a thumb ring. But yes. We can resize it."

"I'll take it."

"I'll package it for you right away. I knew you would like it. We will need Octavia to come in so we can size that to her finger."

"Wonderful. Can I disconnect the suppra here?"

"Yes, that's fine."

I jump off the lab bed and grab a tablet from the ship. I find a dress with jewelry and hair done and put that on. Then I call for the Phade helicopter, but it's busy, so I call for the Kinnik helicopter. It lands as I run out the door.

I get back to the mall and run into the jewelry store. I didn't shut the store down. So the press shouldn't know I'm here. I run to Scotch. He's looking at more jewelry. "I think I pulled it off. There is no press outside."

"Malax shut the store down."

"I guess that's why I didn't see anyone."

He laughs. "You made good time though."

"I tried."

"Let's get that ring resized for you, ma'am."

"Thank you."

They do the measurements and take the ring away. The salesperson boxes up the rest of it. I can't help but smile.

"Try this."

I put it on my thumb and smile. "I'm so happy I came in today. I absolutely love this set."

"I'm glad you like it."

The outside door opens, and I hear someone yell, "MALAX, LOOK HERE."

I turn around slowly. Malax, Tim, Rye, and Zion are staring at me and Scotch. Zion is pissed. Tim rubs his eyes. Malax laughs.

I go over and hug him. He kisses my cheek and whispers, "Flaunting money in front of him now?"

"I was going to, but then I fell in love with this jewelry set. You have to see it."

"For that price, I'll have to put in a jewelry vault at the house."

"That's not a bad idea."

We go to the counter and he takes the bag. "You are not riding with this much jewelry on a bike. Where is the suppra?"

"In my office, sir."

"I have a couple of purses and some perfume too. I didn't think about how shopping on the bike would turn out."

"Yea, no more shopping on the bike. I'm going to put this on the ship. Give me the rest of the bags." He follows me into the office and takes my stuff. "Where's your helmet?"

Scotch laughs. "It's in my car."

I shrug my shoulders. "There was a purse emergency. I had to get money fast."

Tim smiles and kisses my head. "Go to the suppra lab on the ship. Connect in from there. Then get your helmet and stuff and take the bike. Never mind. I'm sending a shuttle here. Shuttle your bike stuff, the bike, and your suppra back to the house. Then disconnect. We're leaving the planet now."

"I can do that. You have my stuff?"

"I have your jewelry and purses, woman." Malax shakes the salesman's hand. "She'll be back in a few minutes on the suppra. Then we'll be out of here. Thank you for everything."

"Thank you, sir. I'm glad we had something she liked."

Malax walks me to the roof and puts me in the Kinnik helicopter. It takes me to the ship, so I connect to the suppra from there. I walk out of the office and Scotch is still standing there. "You waited."

"Figured I better, so I can let you in my car."

"Thank you for that. I'm not sure what I left there."

We get to his car and he finds my gloves and helmet. Then he puts them in the shuttle while the brains pack the bike in it.

"Thank you for helping me today. It was a disaster."

"I guess that can happen. Probably shouldn't shop on the bike anymore though."

"Yea, lesson learned."

"When will you be back?"

"No idea. Probably a week or two. This job is a lot."

"I bet." He opens the door for me. "Be careful out there. Never know what will happen."

I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. I can't help myself. I get tingles from his kiss even as the suppra. I always liked kissing him.

He pulls me against him and deepens the kiss.

Then I get in without saying anything and the shuttle takes off.