the stranger laughed together. Well, Sprocket would happily oblige him. “That’s not what he said…”
The man cocked his head to the side, studying Sprocket from head to foot and back. Sprocket practically felt the man’s gaze linger on his eyebrow piercing before skittering across the collar of his shirt to glimpse the ink just slightly poking out. From there his look darted directly to Sprocket’s wrists where the edge of his tattoo sleeve peeked out from under his long-sleeve tee. All the while Sprocket simply stood there with his hip popped out against the waist-high counter.
“ Hey,” the guy asked, “are you dating Xander?”
Oh boy, no taking an idiot question like that back. “Let me guess, Xander’s the only gay guy you know?” Sprocket countered.
“ Um…I’m gonna say the answer to both our questions is no?”
“ Ooooh, you’ve got brains with your brawn. Nice.” Sprocket winked, trying to show no hard feelings.
“ Why do I feel like I’ve made a complete ass out of myself in less than two minutes? Sorry about that. My name’s Craig.” He stuck his hand out in greeting.
Craig… Sprocket had heard Xander and Shawna bring that name up a few times, perhaps an ex-boyfriend of one of them? He’d guess Shawna considering… Either way, Sprocket figured he better start playing nice. Damn, there was more than one reason why they didn’t put him on the register. “Nah, you’re good. I’m just a shit.” He took the hand and shook it three times before they both let go. It was a decent handshake. Not one for dominance, which was a good thing considering this brute could’ve put a hurting on Sprocket.
“ But not a small one?” Craig raised his eyebrow.
Sprocket laughed. “You know, you’re not the first man to say that to me.”
“ Okay, before we go for round three, can you tell Shawna that I will eventually find her?” Craig crossed his arms, but Sprocket got the feeling it was out of habit more so than intimidation.
“ Do you mean her bodily harm?”
“ I’d love to redden that perfect backside of hers,” Craig admitted.
“ Wow, we jumped at least three friendship checkpoints with this conversation and landed straight on best buds. So, no…technically no bodily harm. You’d make a great daddy.” Sprocket hit the button to advance the register tape and tore it off, putting it on the counter in front of Craig with a pen.
Craig caught on with what Sprocket wanted and accepted the pen. “That’s what my mom keeps saying, evidently her grandma time clock is going berserk.”
“ Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant.” Sprocket bit the inside of his cheek to keep his lips in a straight line.
Craig handed the paper and pen back, and they said goodbye, with Sprocket promising to give Shawna the note. Craig had to stand sideways at the door as another customer made his way in.
This new customer didn’t have Sprocket grinning like Craig had. This person had trouble written all over him. His dull green eyes were sunken in their sockets, his cheeks looked gaunt, and his arms kept twitching.
Sprocket tried to be fair to everyone—profiling customers was wrong—but this man screamed bad news from the get-go.
“ Hey, man,” he whispered. Sprocket could tell this wasn’t the type of whisper where he didn’t want anyone to hear, this was the type where the man didn’t have the lung capacity to project his voice to a normal level of talking.
“ Hello, how can I help you today?” Sprocket asked, not caring whether he was alone in the store or not, this guy was not going to walk around Craft Time by himself.
“ Spray paint. I need…” The guy narrowed his eyes at Sprocket, studying him for a few before he stepped even closer and lowered his voice even more. “Doing some painting around the house, need spray paint.”
Painting the house, Sprocket’s ass. This guy whiffed from the aerosol cans, and the proof was around his nose and mouth…a faint metallic shine
The man cocked his head to the side, studying Sprocket from head to foot and back. Sprocket practically felt the man’s gaze linger on his eyebrow piercing before skittering across the collar of his shirt to glimpse the ink just slightly poking out. From there his look darted directly to Sprocket’s wrists where the edge of his tattoo sleeve peeked out from under his long-sleeve tee. All the while Sprocket simply stood there with his hip popped out against the waist-high counter.
“ Hey,” the guy asked, “are you dating Xander?”
Oh boy, no taking an idiot question like that back. “Let me guess, Xander’s the only gay guy you know?” Sprocket countered.
“ Um…I’m gonna say the answer to both our questions is no?”
“ Ooooh, you’ve got brains with your brawn. Nice.” Sprocket winked, trying to show no hard feelings.
“ Why do I feel like I’ve made a complete ass out of myself in less than two minutes? Sorry about that. My name’s Craig.” He stuck his hand out in greeting.
Craig… Sprocket had heard Xander and Shawna bring that name up a few times, perhaps an ex-boyfriend of one of them? He’d guess Shawna considering… Either way, Sprocket figured he better start playing nice. Damn, there was more than one reason why they didn’t put him on the register. “Nah, you’re good. I’m just a shit.” He took the hand and shook it three times before they both let go. It was a decent handshake. Not one for dominance, which was a good thing considering this brute could’ve put a hurting on Sprocket.
“ But not a small one?” Craig raised his eyebrow.
Sprocket laughed. “You know, you’re not the first man to say that to me.”
“ Okay, before we go for round three, can you tell Shawna that I will eventually find her?” Craig crossed his arms, but Sprocket got the feeling it was out of habit more so than intimidation.
“ Do you mean her bodily harm?”
“ I’d love to redden that perfect backside of hers,” Craig admitted.
“ Wow, we jumped at least three friendship checkpoints with this conversation and landed straight on best buds. So, no…technically no bodily harm. You’d make a great daddy.” Sprocket hit the button to advance the register tape and tore it off, putting it on the counter in front of Craig with a pen.
Craig caught on with what Sprocket wanted and accepted the pen. “That’s what my mom keeps saying, evidently her grandma time clock is going berserk.”
“ Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant.” Sprocket bit the inside of his cheek to keep his lips in a straight line.
Craig handed the paper and pen back, and they said goodbye, with Sprocket promising to give Shawna the note. Craig had to stand sideways at the door as another customer made his way in.
This new customer didn’t have Sprocket grinning like Craig had. This person had trouble written all over him. His dull green eyes were sunken in their sockets, his cheeks looked gaunt, and his arms kept twitching.
Sprocket tried to be fair to everyone—profiling customers was wrong—but this man screamed bad news from the get-go.
“ Hey, man,” he whispered. Sprocket could tell this wasn’t the type of whisper where he didn’t want anyone to hear, this was the type where the man didn’t have the lung capacity to project his voice to a normal level of talking.
“ Hello, how can I help you today?” Sprocket asked, not caring whether he was alone in the store or not, this guy was not going to walk around Craft Time by himself.
“ Spray paint. I need…” The guy narrowed his eyes at Sprocket, studying him for a few before he stepped even closer and lowered his voice even more. “Doing some painting around the house, need spray paint.”
Painting the house, Sprocket’s ass. This guy whiffed from the aerosol cans, and the proof was around his nose and mouth…a faint metallic shine
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