"Do you happen to have an extra quarter?"
It was late and hot. Despite my stratagem of waiting until the middle of the night to do my laundry in the dingy, non-air conditioned shop, the temperature still seemed to hover in the 90s. Normally, I didn't mind the solitude of the laundromat at 3am. It was usually empty, maybe one or two older women who worked nights at the hospital, stopping on their way home. Tonight there was only him, damn it.
I'd seen him here several times. Always by himself, he was the kind of boy you knew was trouble. He had a grin like the Cheshire cat, rumpled hair and dimples that made you want to lose your tongue in them. And here I was, one fucking quarter short, forced to ask him for help.
"Sure, but it will cost you," he said flippantly. I rolled my eyes and went to turn only to feel his firm grab on my arm, the cool metal of the quarter pressing into my flesh. His touch went straight to my gut and I felt sucker punched by lust.
"Thanks," I mumbled and quickly pushed it through the slot, selecting my settings and pressing my glasses up, hoping to quickly return to my book and away from the awkwardness and warmth his continued stare was imposing on me. He followed me across the room, each of us making our moves across the checkerboard floor. Lost somewhere between annoyed and anxious I turned, boxing him back towards the wall. I ran my hand through my hair, a sure sign of my nerves. I was tall. He was taller. I looked up, giving him my most forbidding glare. "Was there something you needed?" I choked out.