Taming Arrogance (MalexMale) 《COMPLETE》

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Can I help you with anything else, sir?" I ask after hauling the final load of lumber into the back of his '94 Ford F-150.

The customer gives me a toothy grin, patting my shoulder with wistful gratification. His gray hair falls in thin waves across the top of his wrinkled scalp, and he smacks his dry lips together, leaning closer to tell me something I'm sure isn't worth hearing.

"You know, boy," he says, coughing directly into my face, "when I was your age, I used to work in the fields. I had me some hard working hands, just like you do."

Well hey – that's a great story, old man. Not only does it have zero point, but also you've managed to cough God-only-knows-what type of disease into my face while telling it. Awesome.

I shake the man's hand away from my shoulder, forcing a tight smile across my lips.

"Is there anything else I can help you with, sir?" I ask for the second time, doing my best to comply with my work's motto of 'the customer always comes first.'

The man gives me a throaty chuckle. "That'll be it, sonny. Next time I'm in, I'll be sure to tell that boss of yours what a great job you're doing."

"Thank you, sir," I say, not bothering to mention that since we're getting a new boss it really won't matter.

In fact, the old CEO of this store – The Great Outdoors - has turned the entire business over to some new yuppie with a shit-ton of money and probably no sense of how to run a business. If my mom wasn't so adamant about me having a job, I'd throw in the towel too. It's not even that I don't want to work for someone new; I simply don't want to work. At all.

I mean, c'mon. Can you blame me? My focus shouldn't be on working. It should be on important things - like upholding my reputation of being the school's biggest play boy for one final summer.

Scratch that. The school's best looking play boy. Yea, that has a much better ring to it.

The old man gives me another pat on the shoulder before hobbling to the driver's side of his car. I wait until he's safely inside, giving him a final, congenial wave before jogging back into the store. The automatic doors open for me, giving way to a woosh of cool air. Immediately my arms break out into dozens of goosebumps.

While rubbing away the harsh change in temperature from my forearms, I start making my way towards the back of the store to unload the new shipment of rain coats onto the racks. Because it's a Monday evening, the store is fairly sparse. Most of our business occurs near the end of the week or beginning of the weekend.

Not that I'm complaining though. I'd rather work on my own, doing my own thing as opposed to dealing with annoying ass customers. In fact, it's safe to say there's nothing worse than dealing with a clueless customer, someone who –

"Excuse me?"

My fingers tighten around the metal hanger in my hand. What are the odds? Sonuvabitch. I smack the hanger back onto the rack and turn in the direction of the masculine voice from behind me. Bold, dark eyes stare back at me, their gaze so intense that my fake smile is replaced with a hesitant frown.

"Can I help you?" I ask.

The customer eyes me from head to toe, a very unnerving gesture that leaves me more unsettled than I care to admit.

"I'm looking for coal," he says, and although the timbre of his voice is gentle, there's a demanding urgency beneath it.

"Aisle five," I answer automatically, pointing over my shoulder towards the front of the store.