And then, of course, going shopping meant that there were plenty of changing rooms for the two of us to hide away in while Molly and Orla were preoccupied with something else, and I doubt Connie would have traded away those stolen moments for anything else I could have offered her. She waited for the others to avert their attention and then she grabbed my wrist, dragging me into an empty cubicle before shoving me up against the wall, our moans silent and our mouths eager and our panting heavy. Or she picked out as many outfits as possible and forced me to stand and watch as she tried each of them on, making a show of stripping and forcing me to zip each dress up. I caught a glimpse of my own reflection in the mirror and saw the unbridled impatience in my own eyes staring back at me, dark and dangerous, and the way she smirked, expression oh, so alluring, almost made all of my moaning about being brought on those shopping trips worth it.

Or she found the most ridiculous and unflattering outfits she could and bullied me into trying them on for her because I was crushed under her heels and couldn’t say no to anything when Connie pouted her lips and batted her eyelashes. And we hid away in a cubicle, Connie giggling and me frowning, before she finally caved in and gave me what I wanted, pulling me in for a well-deserved kiss where nobody else would find us.

And then on another trip, possibly my favorite trip to the center, Connie took us to a jewelry store where I took to standing in the middle aisle scratching my head and looking undeniably out of place. Connie watched as I strolled over to look at a row of childish animal pendants and couldn’t help but snort audibly from behind me.

“Here,” she said, holding out a box. I peeked inside at the diamond-encrusted circle hanging from a delicate silver chain, almost as beautiful as it was expensive. She gestured for me to turn and we both watched in the mirror before us how I inhaled sharply as she pressed up against my back, leaning forward to drape the necklace around my neck. We both stared straight into the mirror, eyes locked, before Connie smiled devilishly.

“Beautiful,” she whispered, close enough to my ear that I shivered in response. She paid for it and tossed the box to me as if it wasn’t worth more than my entire house, both of us avoiding Molly’s curious eyes when I put it on before Connie snapped at her to take a picture, it’ll last longer.

I wore the necklace every day and Connie was right; it was beautiful. Sometimes I would find myself toying with it, a small smile playing about my lips, before our eyes met across the table or across the room knowingly. Just another hidden moment, another secret gesture that nobody else managed to see.