Chapter One - 10:47
I looked up at the clock. 10:47pm. Only another thirteen minutes to go and my shift at this damn gas station would be over and I would be free for the weekend.
I sighed as I looked out of the window with still no sign of anyone. I wasn't expecting any customers to turn up anyway, I was just waiting for Tom to turn up, he was the guy that ran the night shift there at the gas station. Through out the whole 8 hours I had been there that day, only around 10 customers had come in total, but what else can you expect for such a small town? I guess...scratch that, I knew that job was pretty boring to say the least but hey, the pay wasn't all that bad for an 18 year old girl who didn't really have much of a social life or much to do in her spare time anyway I suppose.
I sat down and glanced down at my phone to check for any messages and surprise surprise, there were none. Same as usual. It wasn't like I had many friends to bother with me anyway. If anything I'd usually just get the odd text from my mother during the day asking what I fancied for dinner.
I looked up from my phone a couple of minutes later when I noticed a car pulling up outside to get some gas out of the corner of my eye. I rolled my eyes a bit, it was typical - I'd been here literally all day and this idiot decides to turn up just as my shift is finishing.
I decided to just carry on with looking down at my phone, although this wasn't the usual smartphone that the majority of the worlds population used these days, instead it was a simple flip phone, only good for texting calling and taking pictures. I looked up again as I heard the little ring of the bell situated above the door signalling someone had come in.
A young guy walked in, he looked around 6ft or so. He was dressed in a pair of black tight skinny jeans which seemed to make his legs look even thinner and longer. He also wore an open brown coat, accompanied by a thin white t-shirt beneath it. I looked down his legs looking at the dark brown leather boots, similar to a Chelsea boot on his quite large feet. The boots were pointed at the toe and had a small heel with a buckle on the side. They looked quite expensive.
I watched as he looked around the small store taking a look at the alcohol that was for sale. Why we even sold alcohol was bizarre to me, it was a gas station surely we shouldn't be tempting people into drunk driving..
His eyes scanned the large refrigerator which contained the cans and bottles before I saw him smile to himself when his eyes came into contact with what must have been one of his favourite types of beer. I hadn't noticed that I had been staring at him, pretty creepily the entire time until just then. I quickly looked away after that and carried on looking at my phone sadly pretending to send someone a text, hoping he wouldn't take too long since I just wanted to get home.
After a few minutes, there was a sudden loud bang on the counter in front of me. It startled me and I jumped slightly before looking up again raising an eyebrow at the young man before me who had slammed a six pack can of beers down onto the counter along with a chocolate bar and a large bag of tortilla chips.
"Can I help you?" I asked him since he just looked at me smiling slightly and staying quiet which was a little strange.
"Yeah, just the gas and these. Thanks." He said taking out his wallet to pay. As soon as I heard his accent I realised he wasn't from around here. He looked way to young to be drinking, maybe he didn't understand the US law.
"Can I see your I.D?" I asked him and he furrowed his eyebrows, his slightly creepy smile fading when he heard that.
"My I.D?" He asked. "I'm over 18." He assured me and I rolled my eyes slightly.
"Yeah sorry buddy, the rules around here are a lot stricter than good old England or wherever you're from." I said making sure to add in a posh British accent at the good old England part before pointing to a poster pinned to the wall behind me which read '21?'
"See, the law here is you've gotta be 21 to drink or purchase any alcohol so if you want some I'm gonna have to see your I.D." I told him and he groaned a bit and rolled his eyes.
"I know the law." He huffed a bit. "C'mon babe, can't you just give me a break? I just got here two days ago." He grumbled.
"What did you just call me?" I asked him as I furrowed my eyebrows. The look I gave made him chuckle lightly. Okay, he was definitely full of it. What did he think? Just because he was good looking I was prepared to sell him some booze? I could loose my job for that.
"Can't you just let me off this once?" He asked with a small smirk. "It'll be our secret." He winked ignoring my question as his deep green eyes gazed into my hazel ones.
Something about him was intriguing. Perhaps it was his deep accent, or his cool dress sense. Maybe it was the fact he was so much taller than me that it was slightly intimidating or maybe it was the mysterious vibe I got from him as we made eye contact. I didn't know what it was, but something about this boy had certainly piqued my interest.
"Our secret?" I laughed slightly and shook my head. "I don't even know you.." I mumbled before heaving a hand through my thick light brown hair that came just past my shoulder blades.
"Then get to know me.." He said with a shrug as he cocked an eyebrow looking at me. "What's your name?"
"Riley.." I told him and leaned against the counter looking up at him since I was stood up now. I didn't understand why I was even telling him my name, but it rolled off my tongue before I managed to tell him to shut up instead.
"Nice name, I like it." He winked at me and I raised an eyebrow. He was quite forward and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. "Um..thanks?" I spoke which just ended up sounding more like a question. There was then a moment of silence which felt a little awkward so I cleared my throat.
"You're welcome." He said as I glanced up at him with my eyes for a second and I saw a smug smile on his lips. Okay, he was kind of creeping me out but he was kinda hot.
Everything was quiet for a moment as I opened the cash register, ringing everything up and then looked at him. "That'll be Twenty dollars and sixty-eight cents for the gas, chocolate bar and the chips." I said after that.
"And the beer?" He asked and I let out a deep sigh.
"Look, I already told you that I'm not selling you alcohol until you can prove you're over 21. Which you probably can't because you only look around my age anyway.." I mumbled.
"I'm twenty actually." He told me. "And how old are you? 16?" He asked.
I couldn't help but scoff at that. I mean yeah I was sort of baby faced but did I honestly look that young, or was he just teasing me? "No. I'm eighteen actually." I shrugged with a slightly sassy tone.
"Nice." He said before clearing his throat. I cocked an eyebrow slightly when he said that before a car coming past outside the window caught my attention.
"That'll be Tom." I said more to myself before looking at him. "Look can you just pay up because my shift is over and I wanna leave." I said and looked up at the tall brown haired man standing before me.
"Okay, but are you gonna let me have the beer?" He asked.
"No!" I said after that. "For the last time no, now just give me the $20.68" I said beginning to get annoyed.
He sighed deeply before taking out 30 dollars from his pocket and slamming it down then saying. "Keep the change." I put it into the till then went out the back to put my coat on but to my surprise when I came back out he was still standing there with his chocolate bar and chips in his hand.
I said hi to Tom and then handed him the keys to lock up before walking past him to leave. I opened the door and sighed when I saw it was raining. I pulled up my hood to keep my hair dry and then walked out.
"Hey!" I heard the British voice call from behind me as I walked out, that voice was getting a little too familiar for my liking now.
"Wait up!" I turned around and saw him walking over to me and I stopped and sighed.
"What is it now?" I asked folding my arms.
"you didn't even say goodbye." He said with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
"Goodbye." I said Simply and then turned on my heel before continuing to walk.
"Wait.." I heard his voice again. "You're really going to walk in the rain?" He asked me cocking his eyebrow again.
"Well yeah I mean it's only a twenty minute walk." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Why don't you let me give you a ride?" He asked. "C'mon it's dark, late and raining." He said and looked at me.
"No thanks, I don't take rides from strangers."
"Why not? I promise I'm not some psychopath whose going to kidnap you and dig your eyes out with a fork." He said causing me to laugh a bit.
"Why a fork?" I asked him and he shrugged again.
"Sounded like something a psychopath would do." He said.
I shook my head still laughing slightly. I thought about it for a moment, I knew getting a ride from a stranger wasn't a smart idea, but the rain was beginning to come down harder.
"Okay, fine, you can drop me home seeing as you annoyed me so much back in the store." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Great. Well seems like all that effort I put into pissing you off was actually worth it." He said before pulling his car keys out of his pocket then leading me over to his car.
"Pissing me off was worth it? What do you mean by that?" I asked as we headed over to his car but he didn't say anything. "What? Pissing off a girl is your way of trying to get into their pants or something?" I asked as he unlocked his car and I stood at the passenger side waiting to get in. "You know most guys would just use a pick up line." I said and shrugged.
"Well I'm not most guys." He said flashing me a quick wink. "And oh, so are you implying I'm going to get into your pants then?" He raised his eyebrows and I shook my head. "Certainly not." I said laughing awkwardly now. He laughed himself and I couldn't help but smile slightly as he did.
I heard him mutter something under his breath which wasn't completely clear but sounded something like 'oh, we'll see about that'
I felt my cheeks heating up at that but I decided not to say anything before we got into the car and I pulled my seatbelt on.
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A/N:
Hey! So If you're reading this thanks for reading the first chapter :) I've been wanting to post this for a long time now and I'm glad I finally got around to it. If you enjoyed then please stick with it as I will be sure to upload chapters as frequently as possible! Please vote and comment and let me know what you think so far! ❤️ x