Page 1 of Kitten Kisses

Chapter One

Alex ground his teeth as he watched three guys and a girl get out of a silver Lexus by the pumps then toss their trash onto the ground. He’d just finished cleaning up the parking lot not twenty minutes prior, putting in hard work to make sure Bigman Gas Station looked presentable. But now there was trash scattered around, as if he hadn’t done any work at all.

The driver shoved the nozzle into the tank, joined by the girl a moment later. Leaning into each other at the rear of the car, the couple started making out like the parking lot was their private bedroom.

The other two were heading toward the store, laughing and playfully bumping into each other, looking like rowdy teenagers. Alex watched them warily, hoping they wouldn’t cause any problems.

There wasn’t a lot of traffic at two in the morning. The last customer was half an hour ago. Alex didn’t particularly enjoy working third shift. In the dead of night, it always made him feel like the gas station was on a desolate road in the middle of nowhere, the nearest hint of civilization a hundred miles away.

The automatic sliding glass doors swished open as the pair walked in, their voices drowning out the music playing from the speakers in the ceiling.

One headed toward the cooler, while the other browsed through one of the snack aisles. Alex tried to appear disinterested but secretly kept an eye on both of them.

The blond at the cooler, who looked like he could have been prom king, had one hand braced against the next fridge over, the other holding on to the handle as the cold air escaped.

Alex had encountered their type before. They lived on the upscale side of Midnight Falls and were privileged, treating hardworking people like himself as if they were beneath them.

The blond sauntered confidently toward Alex then dropped a twenty-four pack of canned beer onto the counter. With a flick of his wrist, he said, “Give me a pack of spearmint gum. It doesn’t matter what brand.”

Somebody hasn’t heard of the word please. Retrieving the gum, Alex set it on the counter. “I need to see some ID.”

It would be shocking if Mr. Prom King was old enough to buy alcohol, let alone vote. The guy would probably whip out a fake ID, which Alex was pretty good at spotting.

“Hey, Chase. He wants some ID,” the blond called out to his friend, his arm hanging over the case of beer as if to protect it from Alex.

Chase didn’t even look up from browsing before responding nonchalantly, “Hold on, Mike. I’m still deciding.”

Alex remembered his boss, Gary, warning him about the previous employee getting arrested for selling alcohol to minors. This guy was definitely not worth losing his job or facing legal consequences. “I’ll still need to see both of your IDs since you’re together,” he stated firmly.

Mike’s lip curled. “Are you serious? As long as someone shows you an ID, it doesn’t matter who it is.”

This prick was not worth Alex’s job or getting arrested. “If he buys it, he’s furnishing a minor with alcohol. And since I’m ringing up the sale, I could get in trouble too.”

“’I’m not a fucking minor,” Mike argued indignantly. “I just forgot my ID at home.”

Alex wanted to cuss out the arrogant prick, but since there were two of them, and he couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag, he gritted his teeth and kept his choice words to himself.

The doors swished open, and the guy who’d been pumping gas walked in, his girlfriend now sitting in the front seat of the car. He stopped just inside the door and asked, “Dudes, what’s taking so long?”

It was still uncertain whether or not they were underaged. Chase could have easily presented a fake ID. However, the newcomer appeared to be in his early twenties, not much older than that but definitely older than the other two.

“Because this prick won’t sell us the beer without seeing my ID,” Mike complained, jerking his head toward Alex.

And you’re acting like a tantrum-throwing toddler. He’d been right. Privileged and condescending. Mike had probably never been denied anything in his spoon-fed life.

The third guy let out an exasperated groan and pulled out his own wallet. “I’ll just show him mine.”

“He says he can’t do that.” Then Mike used a high-pitched falsetto to explain why, clearly trying to imitate Alex’s voice but doing a piss-poor job of it.

“Damn it, Mike. They’re counting on us to bring more beer.” The guy was clearly irritated. “Why in the hell did you leave your driver’s license at home?”

“I was rushing out before my dad got back,” Mike defended heatedly. “If he’d seen me leaving, he would have crawled all in my ass. Fix this shit, Chadwick.”

Chadwick walked over to the counter, lightly shoving Mike out of the way. He rested his arms on top of the case of beer and smiled.

From the corner of his eye, Alex saw Chase heading their way, a gummy worm dangling from his mouth, the open bag in his hand.

All three men now stood in front of the counter. Alex breathed out slowly, trying to calm his racing heart.

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