Page 5 of Stuck with the Grump

“Lucky for you, I’m a cannibal.”

“Funny,” I said, pulling into the parking lot of the only store near the lake house. There were only a couple spots open, and a line was out the door. Clarke sighed and raked his fingers through his closely groomed beard.

“This is going to be a nightmare.”

“Think of it as bonding time,” I said, hugging my jacket closer to my body as the autumn breeze became icy. Stars twinkled above us, and the moon hung behind the clouds. “It’s a beautiful night, and we have nowhere else to be.”

“As true as that might be, I want to get back to the house before the storm starts.”

I bit my bottom lip and nodded, thinking of the last time I had to drive in a storm. A chill raced up my spine, and I held the keys out to him.

“If it’s raining when we leave, I need you to drive, please.”

His stare burned holes into the side of my face, but I refused to look at him as I marched to the back of the line. Clarke followed after me, saying nothing when he finally caught up. Without a word, he reached down and took the keys from my hand, sliding them into his pocket.

I felt a little lighter the moment the keys were out of my hand. The sick feeling in my stomach dissipated as I nodded.

“Thank you.”

“I hope you know that I want to know why but I’m not going to press you to tell me.”

“Okay.”

As the line shuffled along, I tried not to think about the man standing next to me. Unfortunately, with not much else to do, all I could do was think about him and his little scene in the shower. For the briefest of moments, I considered stripping down and getting in there with him. At least, until I started thinking with my head again and left before I did something I would regret in the morning.

Finally, we entered the small store and saw the barely-stocked shelves. Clarke took my hand, towing me through the crowd to the canned goods aisle. To my surprise, it hadn’t been picked clean yet. However people were standing pressed against each other, reaching for anything they could grab.

“I can’t breathe in here,” I said, looking up at Clarke as my heart started racing.

A woman bumped into me, and the aisle seemed to shrink to half its size. People were pressing closer and closer to me, and there was nothing I could do to make them back away. My palms were sweaty as I wiped them on my jeans. Trying to make myself as small as possible wasn’t working. I looked around the store, trying to steady my breathing. The store was shrinking, and the air was getting heavier. I couldn’t breathe. My chest was constricted, and it felt like the world was going to end.

“Leigh,” Clarke said, warm breath fanning across my neck as his arms wrapped around my waist. “It’s okay, Leigh.”

“What are you doing?” I asked, my words stuttering and slurring together.

“Tyson told me you get panic attacks sometimes. Says your mom has had to stay up holding you all night before.”

“Yeah.”

Clarke’s arms tightened as his lips skated across my neck. All thoughts came to a standstill as his mouth brushed against my pulse. He trailed another kiss along the base of my throat, close to my collarbone.

“What are you doing?” I asked, pushing away from him.

“Keeping your mind off of it.”

“Well, don’t.”

Clarke laughed and grabbed several cans from the shelf behind me. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” I shook my head, trying to clear the fog in my mind that had formed at the feeling of his lips on my neck. “We need to stop playing around and start gathering supplies.”

“Good, now hold these.”

I held my arms outstretched as he piled more cans higher. He was counting as he took cans, only taking what we would need to last a few days. Disappointment flooded me at his agreement, especially when he didn’t say anything to me as he stacked some cereal boxes on top of the cans.

When we reached the checkout, I helped the girl bag our items while Clarke paid. He balanced most of the bags in his arms as we walked outside only to be greeted by the screeching wind and the first signs of rain. I shivered and followed Clarke to the car. After all the groceries were in the trunk, he ushered me around to the passenger side, opening the door and holding his coat high above my head to block the rain. As soon as the door shut behind me, the skies opened, and the rain started pouring down.

“Are you okay?” Clarke asked as I leaned back into my seat. I nodded stiffly, my hands becoming fists in my lap. “Leigh, you don’t look like you’re okay.”

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