Skyler had exactly nine minutes left on his shift, and if one more customer walked through the doors of Rewind Video, he was going to lose his fucking mind.

Not because he hated his job. Embarrassingly enough, he actually liked working at the little rental store, even if the polyester uniform made him look like somebody’s divorced uncle. He liked arguing with customers about films, getting first dibs on new releases and occasionally watching the security-camera footage of people walking directly into the glass doors.

But tonight was Friday, and Ziggy had found an abandoned motel off Route 6 with a drained swimming pool practically begging to be skated.

Skyler had priorities.

he announced, leaning across the checkout counter to check the clock for what had to be the twelfth time.

Winona, who had spent the last half hour occupying the employee stool despite not actually being employed there, barely looked up from her celebrity magazine.

Skyler grinned when she finally looked at him, then reached over and flipped a page of her magazine.

Nona rolled her eyes and smacked his hand away, while Benny, sitting cross-legged on the carpet near the horror section, made a disapproving noise without looking up from the DVDs he was sorting.

Their manager had explicitly forbidden Skyler’s friends from hanging around during closing shifts. Technically, they weren’t hanging around.

Benny was doing unpaid inventory work, Nona was keeping him company, and Ziggy was outside waiting with Tommy and the car. Calling that loitering felt unnecessarily dramatic.

Skyler pushed his dark fringe out of his eyes, exposing the silver bar through his eyebrow before letting it fall right back where it had been. His black Rewind Video polo hung open over a faded band shirt, a wallet chain rattling softly against his loose jeans whenever he shifted. The black polish on his fingernails had been chipped since Wednesday.

He was reaching for his skateboard under the counter when the entrance chimed.

Nona looked toward the doors, then slowly lowered her magazine.

Skyler followed her gaze, already preparing his usual speech about closing hours, and promptly forgot whatever he had been about to say.

Well, shit.

You had just walked into Rewind Video.

He knew you, obviously. Not personally, but Bellcross University wasn’t exactly enormous, and it was hard not to recognize somebody who seemed to appear at every football game, every decent party and roughly half the photographs circulating around campus.

You belonged to the popular crowd. The sort of people Skyler generally encountered when somebody needed to borrow his lighter or wanted to make an incredibly original joke about his eyeliner. He’d caught a few of your friends looking at him like his piercings were contagious.

Still, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t noticed you before. Which made this a particularly inconvenient time for you to show up.

Skyler glanced at the clock, then back toward the entrance as a crooked grin began spreading across his face.

he called, resting both elbows on the counter.

He watched for another moment before curiosity got the better of him. With a quiet sigh of exaggerated suffering, he pushed himself off the register and walked around the counter.

He stopped near the movie shelves, folding his arms loosely across his chest as he looked you over with open amusement.

His hazel-green eyes narrowed theatrically while he considered the possibilities.

He tilted his head, one corner of his mouth lifting.

From the counter, Nona called,

He turned back toward you, grinning unapologetically.

Up close, the situation was considerably worse than Skyler had anticipated. He’d thought you were attractive, but noticing somebody across a crowded campus walkway was different from having you standing right in front of him while he was dressed like the world’s least professional retail employee.

Still, embarrassing himself in front of attractive people was practically one of his hobbies.

he continued, hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans,

Before the conversation could go much further, thunder cracked violently overhead. The fluorescent lights flickered.

Skyler glanced toward the ceiling just as the entire store plunged into darkness.

Nona let out an outraged shriek from behind the counter, followed by the unmistakable sound of a magazine hitting the floor.

The emergency lighting kicked in a moment later, bathing the aisles in a dim reddish glow. Skyler blinked, looked around the suddenly gloomy store and started laughing.

Benny’s voice carried from the horror section.

Outside, the rain had turned vicious. Water hammered against the front windows, blurring the parking lot into streaks of red taillights and reflected neon. A car horn sounded twice, making Skyler turn toward the entrance just in time to catch sight of Ziggy waving frantically from Tommy’s passenger seat.

Skyler approached the glass, squinting through the rain.

Ziggy points toward the road. Then mimes driving. Then makes a gesture that could mean storm, flooding, death or possibly large breasts.

Skyler stared at him in disbelief.

Tommy’s headlights flashed. Then the car pulled out of the parking lot. Nona appeared beside Skyler, watching the taillights disappear.

Skyler slowly raised his middle finger toward the empty road.

Nona shook her head and headed toward the stockroom with Benny to find the circuit breaker, muttering something about the manager murdering all of them if the security system had gone down too.

Skyler remained near the window for another moment, watching the rain hammer the asphalt. His Friday night plans were officially fucked. The motel pool wasn’t going anywhere, but judging by the weather, skating it tonight was a good way to end up in the emergency room.

He sighed, dragged a hand through his messy hair and finally remembered he had an actual customer.

You. Right.

Skyler turned back toward you, and something about the situation immediately struck him as funny. Of all the people who could have wandered into Rewind Video five minutes before closing, it had to be someone from the exact crowd that usually wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with him.

And now neither of you was going anywhere until the weather settled.

He ducked behind the counter, rummaged through a drawer and produced a flashlight that looked older than both of you. It took two attempts and a smack against his palm before it switched on.

When he came back to you, he lifted the flashlight beneath his chin, casting dramatic shadows across his face and making the silver rings in his lower lip glint.

His grin widened.

He lowered the flashlight and leaned against the nearest shelf, looking far too entertained by the situation.