Caffeine | PUBLISHED

16. Iced Coffee

1 6 .

iced coffee

DESPITE IS NAME, Marty's Mini Mart on Hayes Street was huge. It had over twenty aisles and a dozen check outs filled with bored looking cashiers.

The white tiles glared in the fluorescent lighting and the air conditioner blasted cold air at full strength. I shivered, wrapping my arms around me and rubbing the goose bumps from my skin.

Isaac came to a stop beside me and I tried not to think about how close he stood to me – how his heat radiated off his body, how he was so close I could smell his cologne. My body stiffened, feeling uncomfortably aware of myself next to him.

"So," Isaac began, looking around the mostly empty supermarket. "What are we getting?"

"Well, first things first," I said, rubbing my arms in an attempt to warm myself up. I turned, catching the sight of colourful packets of candy lining the aisles. "Skittles."

"Skittles?" Isaac sent me a look of confusion, quirking a brow at me. He followed my gaze, blinking.

"Skittles," I confirmed, moving towards the candy aisle.

He raised his brows, following me as I grabbed a basket and began the hunt for Skittles.

"Skittles aren't even that good," he said lightly, his voice amused and teasing. "You should try Warheads. They'll change your life."

"Trust me," I began, my voice grimly serious. I sent him a pointed look, and he raised a brow. "You don't want to see Riley at a movie night without Skittles."

"What happens?" he asked, his voice piqued with curiosity.

"Two words," I said lowly. "Hunger strike."

"Hunger strike?" he echoed.

I nodded firmly. "You should be glad you weren't there."

He narrowed his eyes at me, twinkling with mischief. "I'll take your word for it."

We made our way down the aisle, scanning the shelves for the familiar red packet of Skittles.

"Skittles," Isaac hummed, his head spinning left and right as he scanned the aisle. "Skittles... Skittles..."

Quiet piano music played over the speakers as I continued to look through the aisle. I forced myself to focus on the packets of candy on the shelves, and not on the cute boy beside me. I had to be cool. I had to stop thinking so much.

Oreos, Starbursts, Jolly Ranchers. I kept walking. M&Ms, Twizzlers, Nerds.

"Aspirin!"

My head snapped up to spot Isaac on the other end of the aisle, two middle-aged couples standing between us. I blushed as the strangers looked up to stare at the yelling boy with a packet of Skittles in his hands. He grinned at me, shaking the packet in the air, his eyes mischievous and playful

"Go long!"

My eyes immediately widened. I was torn between telling him to not even think about it and calmly walking away as if I didn't know him when the packet of candy came soaring through the sky.

I squealed, squeezing my eyes shut and holding my basket out. The Skittles landed with a thud in the basket.

"Goal!"

My cheeks grew hot under the gaze of the middle-aged couples, but before I could run away, Isaac jogged up to me and threw an arm around my shoulder, scanning the aisles thoughtfully. I wasn't sure if I was blushing from his arm around me or the embarrassment that was Isaac Hensick.