He stopped pushing the cart.
It’s not just me. It’s both of us. Shirley and me.
He thought about Ralph, holding up the mistletoe to see if any were brave enough to accept the challenge.
Aretha had laughed and picked up a nearby phone.“Excuse me, HR please.”
Everyone had laughed. They were silly, happy, and by no means serious. At that moment, Ralph had given Bo a casual glance, mistletoe still high in his hand.
Why are you just remembering this?
He didn’t know. Maybe he’d suppressed it because of Dale. Maybe he’d had one too many eggnogs. He wasn’t sure. But there it was, crisp and clear in his mind as he slowly resumed pushing the cart through Wal-Mart’s candle aisle where he smelled...bayberry.
Ralph had winked at him, his eyes squinting a bit from the overhead fluorescents. He’d had a couple of days of dirty blond scruff and his hair was mussed from a Santa hat he’d donned earlier. His grin was so many things... cute, sweet, sincere, and sexy as hell, lopsided to the left, that side’s dimple more recessed than the other. And Bo had reciprocated that grin, standing there and thinking about how much he wanted to take him up on the offer.
The moment quickly dissipated and things seemed to shift swiftly whether from booze, presents, or the general merriment of the occasion, just as they were currently in his mind.
Bo put the bayberry scented candle into his shopping cart.
* * *
Next, he made a swift run through all ten aisles in health and hygiene, making sure that there wasn’t something he had forgotten and might need.
He grabbed some bar soap and a pump for hand-washing. On the following aisle, he examined the options for shampoo until he found his favorite and tossed it in.
He picked up some disposable razors and shaving cream. He kept his beard short with the trimmer, but there was always grooming around it, and he couldn’t stand the feel of more than a few days’ growth on his neck.
In the toothpaste aisle, he grabbed a bottle of Listerine.
He always needed Band-Aids. He snagged a box of multiple sizes and was tossing it in the cart when something else caught his eye.
Wal-Mart had quite an impressive variety of personal lubricants. Bo reached out and picked up a small bottle of Wet Platinum.
Shit’s expensive.
He placed the bottle back on the shelf and found a generic water-based version in a tube.
Much more reasonable.
Besides, what was he going to be using it for? Evening jerk-off sessions by the fire? Personal satisfaction when the day is done? That was all.
Then what are the condoms for?
He was surprised to see that he was also holding a box ofTrojan Ultra-Thinprophylactics.
His mind’s eye went back to Ralph beneath the mistletoe... that wink, that dimple, that grin.
He tossed both the lube and the condoms into the cart and headed toward the checkout.
* * *
When Bo exited the super-center, the sky was much darker than before. It was cold, and he was seeing an occasional speck in the air.
Flurries already starting, he thought.Earlier than predicted.
He loaded his purchases into the passenger side of his F150, shut the door, and removed his phone to check WeatherBug. The display said he had one missed call from fifteen minutes earlier. It was from Ralph again.
Bo grinned. He felt himself stir below and, had he not been standing in the middle of the Wal-Mart parking lot, he would have stuck his hand down his pants and repositioned himself more comfortably. Instead, he walked around the truck, climbed in the cab, shut the door, and then did so.
