Honey Drip // Danny Wagner

IX

My prediction about work had been right--Jason, the owner, left 10 minutes after I showed up, leaving a huge mess of children's books to go through, organize, and somehow find places for them on the already-overflowing shelves. I really didn't know how the store made any real money--I honestly wondered if Jason was paying me from his own pocket half the time--considering that we were always getting books in, but never really getting any out.

I sat down on the slightly grubby green carpeting and started to go through the books, first sorting them by general topic and then by author's last name. It was tedious work when you got down to it, only made tolerable by the merchandise being, in fact, books. I even liked looking through the kids books--it brought me back to my own childhood, before I ever had to read things like A Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich. Children's books were fun, not bleak and depressing.

I had to remove and move around a lot of other books to make room for the kid's books, but I had maybe half of them in order and on the shelf when I heard the doorbell chime. It brought me out of my colorful, alphabetical trance and I looked up to see Danny in the doorway.

"Hey," I said to him, a huge smile already on my face, the giddiness of someone, anyone, let alone Danny, walk through the door overwhelming me. "What are you doing here?"

He looked down at me, then scanned the piles of books. "I got out early," he explained. "It's been slow today."

"Here too," I told him. "I've been working on this since I got in. You're my first customer."

He handed me the Dr. Pepper that was in his hand as he sat down on the floor with me. "Glad I can offer my patronage," Danny joked. "Man, a lotta kid's books."

"Seriously. All from one person. I think Jason should've told them to bring them to a library or something."

Danny picked up a copy of a book of dinosaurs and started to flip through it. "Did anything else good come in?" he asked.

"Just you," I said and, when he looked up, I winked.

He smiled and leaned forward, kissing me softly on the lips. "What do you think I'd sell for here?" he teased.

"Hard to say," I replied, smirking a little. "I don't think I'd be able to give you up, personally."

Danny smiled again and moved closer to me, cradling the side of my face in his hand as he pressed me back against the bookshelf. He kissed me again, slowly and softly, though his other hand quickly moved to between my legs--he grabbed my inner thigh as he slid his tongue into my mouth.

I allowed him to press himself into me, his chest firm and warm, and I met his tongue with my own, our muscles rolling over one another's. We stayed like that for a minute before I realized again where I was.

"Danny," I said, placing my hand on his chest. "We can't do this now."

"I thought you were gonna make it up to me," he replied slyly, going in for another kiss.

I relented for a moment, kissing him back, and then pulled away again.

"Can't do this here," I told him again. "I work here. What if someone came in?"

"Alright," he said, leaning back on his palms. "That's fair."

"But I promise you," I said, crawling in between his legs. "I will make it up to you tomorrow. I don't have class." I kissed him, my hand against his chest once more, my fingers laid over his sternum.

"If you gave me a key," Danny said, lacing his fingers with mine. "I could just come over after practice and spend the night."

"I'd be asleep," I protested. "So that wouldn't work. I'd see a tall, dark man in my bedroom and freak the fuck out."