60 Second Boyfriend

Maddie sucks in a breath and fumbles with the bag of apples she’s ringing through for a customer. Her eyes lock with the next shopper in her checkout lane, and she feels her heart flutter. Damn, he’s cute!

The tall blond hunk flashes her a smile, and Maddie gulps, wondering if he read her mind or if she had actually said the words out loud.

Her cheeks flame when she realizes she’s staring at him, and she returns his grin before shifting her focus back to the customer in front of her. She was working the express lane, but the woman she was helping had way more than the ten items specified.

Taking a quick second to tuck a flyaway strand of her dark hair behind her ear, she wishes she had done more to it than the haphazard bun she favored when working.

Sneaking another glance at the hot guy in line, Maddie sighs. She was pretty sure he didn’t go to her school because she would have definitely noticed him. He was slim, with the messy hair style most guys were wearing lately. He looked close to her seventeen years, maybe a year or two older.

I should do something crazy and ask him out when I ring him through! She thinks, her stomach clenching with excitement at the idea.

Her mind picks up the fantasy without effort and runs with it.

“Uh, hey! My name’s Maddie. I know this is pretty forward, but do you want to grab a coffee sometime?”

His grin lights up his face. “Hi Maddie, I’m Kyle. I’ve never had a girl ask me out before, but it’s kinda awesome.” His face reddens cutely. “Coffee would be great.”

The two would exchange numbers, and he would wave awkwardly as he leaves. Maddie would wait a day before calling him.

“Hi Kyle, it’s Maddie. From the grocery store,” she reminds him.

“Maddie! I’m glad you called instead of texting. I’m old-fashioned that way,” he laughs.

Their conversation would last for hours as they discover all the things they have in common. He loves she collects vintage comics, and his passion for dirt biking makes her swoon. She always loved an outgoing guy.

He’d invite her to the dirt bike races on the upcoming weekend, suggesting they hit Ida’s, a popular roadside burger joint first.

They chat and text several times that week, and both would be eager as the weekend approached.

Kyle picks her up twenty minutes early on Saturday, his car a vintage thing he fixed up himself. The day is perfect, and he’s a total gentleman. They laugh and chat over their burgers and milkshakes before heading to the track.

He’s like a kid when they get there, pointing things out and gushing over the bikes and their riders. But he doesn’t neglect her or talk down to her. He includes her in everything, even holding her hand halfway through the day.

By the time he drives her home, they’ve made plans to visit Maddie’s favourite comic book shop the following weekend.

Sitting in his car in front of her house, Kyle’s awkwardness would reappear, charming Maddie even further. He would hesitate before leaning in, and she would need to encourage him by moving closer. Placing his hand at her nape, his mouth moves closer to hers and….

“Ah, excuse me? Earth to… Maddie, is it?” The blond guy asks, glancing at her nametag.

“Oh, god, sorry! My brain was elsewhere,” she stammers, thinking his voice didn’t sound as warm as she had envisioned.

He shrugs, pulling a pack of gum from the nearby shelf and adding it to his pile of groceries. “Must be mind numbing working in a shit hole like this, hey?” he smirks.

Frowning, Maddie purses her lips as she rings through his few items. “Actually, I kind of like it here,” she mutters. Mom and Pop’s was a small grocery market, and run by a fabulous couple that treated their staff like family.

“Really? Huh,” he grunts, watching her bag his items with a detached sort of cockiness that wasn’t at all charming.

“Card or cash?” Maddie asks, noticing the way his eyes move over her. Her stomach clenches, and not in a good way.

Grinning, he flashes his card at her.

Turning the debit card machine towards him, she glances away as he enters his information.

“Say, you want to grab some food sometime?” he asks, his eyes once more raking over her.

“Oh, uh, no. I have a boyfriend,” she lies.

He tsks, grabbing up his bags. “Too bad. See you around Maddie,” he says with a wink.

Maddie shakes her head as she watches him leave. “Kyle was so much hotter,” she pouts, turning to help the next customer.