I taught him a few more things, but I didn’t get too far into the weeds. It was kind of cute watching his face scrunch up while he tried to comprehend what I was saying. His dimples popped whenever things clicked enough for him to smile.
After about five minutes, I made the decision that we should move onto other tasks. They’d certainly take longer with Archer by my side. “How about you put on those coveralls now? After all, I did go through the trouble of digging them out of the supply closet for you.”
“Oh, okay. My bad, bud. I didn’t mean to make extra work for you.”
Archer went back to the middle of the room. He stepped into the navy-blue coveralls. He had to work to pull them over his thighs. The uniform fit him like a glove; it looked so different from my oversized sack of fabric.
The rest of the shift was fairly standard. I showed him how to make labels, package up the orders, and resupply materials. He was more talkative than I’d expected. He asked me about my family, hobbies, and if I had a girlfriend. I told him I was single, but I didn’t go any deeper than that.
Archer revealed that he had just turned eighteen three weeks earlier. He said that he was planning to spend some time with extended family after graduation. He talked about his recent break-up with his long-term girlfriend; she’d cheated on him with another football player.
The more we talked, the more I started to like him. Then, when we were silent for longer periods of time, I felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’d glance over, half-expecting him to bound over and put me into a headlock.
We finished right around midnight. I showed him how to prepare a few things for the bakers coming in in a few hours, and then I demonstrated how to clock out using the time card machine.
“Geeze,” he sighed. “That’s a lot to remember. I don’t know how you do it, B.” Archer kicked off his shoes. His fingers were yanking at the zipper on the coveralls; his smooth torso was starting to come into view.
“You…”
You don’t need to change. You can wear that home. That’s what I was thinking, but I didn’t say it. To be honest, I kind of liked watching the dumb jock change. It felt good to be in a situation with a guy who’d probably have bullied me and finally have the upper hand.
“You can give that to me and I’ll put it away for you,” I said.
“Thanks, B!”
I tried to busy myself at the desk while I enjoyed my personal strip show. He didn’t even notice my eyes mapping out all of the curves and bulges of his fit body. I bit my lower lip; I briefly wondered what it would be like to kiss him before dashing the thought from my mind.
The next day, I tried to reassure myself that nothing had changed. I told myself that I just needed to get Archer up to speed so we could both entertain ourselves with the extra free time. We don’t need to be friends. He wouldn’t even want to be friends if this was school. He’s just being nice because he needs me to learn how to do the job.
I punched in at my usual time of 7:58 p.m. I watched the door once 8 p.m. arrived. I stared at the time card labeled “Archer Williams” that Mr. Evans had just created earlier that day. As the second hand counted down, I did something I’d never have anticipated. I punched him in right before the clock switched to 8:01 p.m. It wouldn’t have mattered, since Mr. Evans granted a five-minute grace period, but I did it anyway.
Archer came bursting through the door a minute later. He looked disoriented and he had clearly been running. His blond hair wasn’t styled the same way; it was spiky and wet with dew.
“I’m so sorry, B!” he huffed. “I’m so sorry. I lost track of time playing ball with some friends. I jumped in the shower so I wouldn’t smell like ass. I would have just made it, but there was a train at the crossing on Willow Street.”
“I clocked you in.” I knew I had to sound frosty; I was still feeling conflicted about even doing it. I tried to not look at him while I said it.
“You did! Thank you! I was so worried Mr. Evans would fire me or something. I promise it’ll never happen again!”
Archer rushed over and squeezed me tightly into a bear hug. I almost pulled away; I hadn’t been expecting it. He lifted me into the air and spun me in a circle while laughing. I couldn’t help but smile, too. He planted me down on me feet a second later.
“Okay, okay,” I said. “You’re welcome. We should probably get started. Mr. Evans sent a message about a couple extra things he needs from us today.”
“Oh?” Archer said inquisitively as he started to peel his clothes off. “What’s that?”
I lost my train of thought as he pulled his T-shift over his head, revealing his peachy skin. His abs tightened as he leaned to the side to unhook the fabric that was caught on one elbow.
“He just needs us to do some extra inspection and cleaning. The health department could drop by for a surprise visit any day.”
“Wow, that sounds serious.” Archer kicked off his shoes and fiddled with the button on his cargo shorts. He wasn’t really looking at me, so I felt more emboldened to gawk at him.
White fabric came into view as the shorts fell to his ankles. Is that…? Is he wearing tighty whities? I’d only ever seen guys from my dad’s generation wear them, but Archer’s looked different. The fabric pouch was packed with meat; I quickly looked back at his chest when I felt my face suddenly get warm.
report He turned to the side. Holy crap! I thought to myself. That’s his ass! The profile of his large, muscular bubble butt rattled my brain. It took seeing the thin fabric hugging the undersides of his globes to realize that he wasn’t wearing tighty whities; it was actually a jock strap.
“Tell me more about the inspection and cleaning.”
Archer made his way over to where I was standing. I didn’t know where to look. I knew where I wanted to look, but I worried that it’d get me a left hook to the jaw. I tilted my head up and focused on his face.
“Well,” I began, trying to sound playful, “you look like you’re ready for inspection.” I hoped it would break some of the tension, though once again, Archer seemed completely unbothered.
“Oh, this? Yeah, I forgot to wash my boxers. My mom stopped doing my laundry. She says it’s my responsibility now that I’m ‘not a kid anymore.'”
I fiddled with the paper on the desk’s surface. I thought about telling him about how I’d left his uniform hanging from the back of the bathroom door… but I didn’t. I wanted to see something. I knew it’d never work, though, so I mentally prepared to play it off as a joke. I figured it’d be a cheap thrill just to try.
“Oh, I thought you’d come prepared for the inspection?”
“What…? What do you mean?”
“Well, I thought you’d received the letter from the health department about the mandatory physical inspection for the first week of work?”
“Huh?” Archer looked utterly confused. His handsome face was scrunched up into a perplexed grimace.
“I just have to check you to see that you’re clean so that there’s reassurance you won’t contaminate the food when handling it.”
“Ooohhhh! That makes sense!”