He let himself be pulled until they got to the checkout. She still hadn’t let his hand go. Even still, he hoped no one in the store recognized them. He never wanted her to go through that intense bullying again. She didn’t deserve it. Her touch was suddenly everything he wanted to feel. God, he had to stop before his erection burst out of his jeans. The aisle was tight enough to hide his arousal, thank God, but one wrong step and Liza would feel just how excited he was to have her so close to him. He reached for a gossip magazine and pretended to examine it. He would need something to cover his embarrassment when they were out of the checkout aisle. Liza’s jeans were positively painted on. And her ass was incredible. Damnit, he was only making it worse! Look up and count the fluorescent rectangles.

The cashier greeted them warmly and Liza stepped back absently, pushing her plump bottom onto Dorsey’s rock-hard length. The gasp she let out set him aflame. But instead of shouting out in disgust, she leaned into him, pressing her shoulders to his chest. Dorsey’s throat was suddenly parched.

He wanted to spread her open right now on the conveyor belt. Let the eggs tumble to the sticky floor as she held on to the periodicals for support and he pounded into her. Before his fantasy became too X-rated, the cashier pulled Dorsey out of his lull by shouting the total for all the items. After Dorsey paid, Liza looked down and handed him a bag of groceries. She smiled.

“Button your coat or we’ll have to explain yet another meme.”

He awkwardly walked around with the throbbing in his midsection. He had worked his entire life to cultivate a polished restraint. He didn’t want to be the adopted child who did not live up to his father’s name. He had worked hard to be thoughtful, slow to react, and dispassionate for fear of what they would say about him if he was anything less. But this woman had him in a constant meme loop on Twitter and Instagram. She had him in the company of people he would have otherwise avoided. She also had his pants tented in the grocery checkout. How had he gotten here? He heard her laugh as she saw Joseph Park trying to wave down an attendant for a finger of ginger without a sticker.

“Lane four is open,” Liza called. “Betty’s a real wiz!”

Joseph Park punched in numbers on one hand and held up his middle finger with the other.

“Any of you have a damned Savers card?”