Cuffing Season

ONE

ONE

The cold weather bit at me as I made the trek into the grocery store. All the close parking spots were filled, so I was forced to park as far away from the store as possible. I was bundled up in a trench coat and scarf. The cold was coming in quick as it was the beginning of November.

As much as I said I liked this type of weather, moments like these ones wanted me to take that all back. Luckily I was able to quickly make it into the building, the heater in the front of the small store welcomed me as I entered. I let out a sigh of relief and was greeted by the manager of the store. It was a locally owned business, so I knew about almost every employee in here. 

I grabbed a small basket by the door and made my way through the aisles, grabbing some essential items. I had just made it through the bread aisle as I turned down the breakfast one. There was only one person standing in that aisle, and I didn't recognize him one bit. I've been coming to this specific grocery store ever since I could remember so I've seen pretty much everyone who comes here. However, he looked out of place in this store, in fact, he looked out of place in this entire town. 

I tried to ignore how silently loud he was being as I slowly made my way down the breakfast aisle. He was too busy examining boxes of breakfast bars to notice me. As I neared him, I noticed that he definitely didn't look like any other guys who lived in town. He looked too... foreign. 

As I walked by him I tried to get better glances of him. He had an obvious big muscular build and was decently tall, which was intimidating. His jet black hair was cut pretty short, but it accentuated his naturally tan skin. The white tee shirt he had on looked dirty, as well as the light blue denim jeans he had on. What made him even more interesting was the tattoos on his bulky arms. I hadn't ever quite seen anyone like him. It made me even more curious as to who he was. There was an aura of mystery surrounding him and I wanted to know more. 

It was rare for me to come across someone in this small town who I didn't know or hadn't seen before. Especially with my dad being a retired sheriff. I continued to make my way down that aisle and grabbed what I needed, he still seemed interested in the granola bars. It was then that I realized I actually needed something that was in front of him, the peanut butter honey granola bars. 

Now I didn't want to awkwardly try and squeeze myself in front of him or anything like that, but I didn't want to interrupt him either, for he looked really interested in the nutrition facts on one of the boxes. 

I sucked it up though and hesitantly walked up to him. When I was standing next to him I noticed he had greenish eyes, and I came up to just about below his shoulders. That just made me even more intimidated by him. 

"Um," I meant for it to come out a little louder but instead it sounded like a weak cough. However, it was enough for him to pull his gaze away from the box he held close to him and look down at me. It was a look that said 'what are you doing this close to me? Please step twenty feet back.' It honestly just made him look scarier and even more unapproachable. 

"I just need to grab something," I managed to mumble out and avoid eye contact as I reached my arm in front of his large body and quickly grab a box of the granola bars that I needed. Mystery guy didn't say anything back, just watched me with his piercing eyes and a tense jaw which only added to the annoyance that was present on his face. 

"Okay," I said drawing my arm back. "Sorry," I mumbled before walking away. He didn't say anything back but as I practically sped walk away I glanced back to see him still staring at me. It just made me feel insecure. 

I frowned at that as I made my way to one of the registers to check out. Beth, an older woman who's worked here for years, smiled at me as I set my stuff on the conveyor belt. "Hey, dear." She greeted as she started to scan my items.