Obsession

Jenson

The bell dinged.

Someone had just walked into the diner.

I leaned on the counter, staring out of the window on the other side of the room. The sun was setting, casting golden rays across the couple of cars parked in the parking lot. Deep pinks and burnt oranges coloured the sky, the occasional cloud floating gently past.

It had been so quiet at the diner tonight. I'd spent most of my shift staring out of the window.

"She's pretty." Katie's voice was at my ear.

I looked to the side where Katie was standing next to me, watching a customer walk across the diner. She nudged my arm.

"And she's looking right at you."

Huh?

Raising my head, I looked in the direction of where Katie's gaze was ... and ...

Oh fuck.

My heart crashed as my eyes locked on the pretty girl who had just entered the diner.

Amber.

Oh shit.

Ex-girlfriend alert.

She smiled at me and tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear as she sat down at one of the booths.

"She's sitting at one of your tables," Katie muttered. "Want me to take it?"

I watched as Amber rested her purse on the seat next to her, then picked up a menu. Her head was bent, the sunlight streaming through the window casting her in a soft golden glow.

Angelic.

My heart was still thumping hard, and I swallowed. Okay. She was not who I expected to see tonight.

I cleared my throat, then offered Katie a smile. "Uh ... no. It's okay. I'll go."

Katie smirked at me. "I know your game." She nodded in Amber's direction. "Going after all the pretty girls."

Nope. Pretty girls were definitely not my game.

Not any more.

She nudged my shoulder as I shuffled around the counter.

Whatever.

Rolling my eyes, I walked over to Amber's table.

Her head was bent, her hair falling over her face. A sweet floral smell hit my nose as I stopped at her table, bringing back memories of our time together in junior year in high school ... our dates in the diner ... walking hand in hand ... making love in her bed.

Her scent.

It was familiar.

Knowing she hadn't seen me yet, I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans as I stood next to the booth, my stomach fluttering, my heart hammering once more.

Nervous.

I hadn't really spoken to Amber since ... well, since she saw me with Caleb at senior prom. Even then, I'd hardly noticed her. My whole attention had been on the handsome guy who'd insisted on going with me.

And here she was, sitting at one of the tables of the diner I was working at, almost as if the universe was telling me that I had to talk to her now.

Running a hand through her hair, Amber shifted in her seat a little, her eyes still on the menu.

I had to say something. Speak to her. I couldn't just stand here and stare at her.

It was fucking creepy.