D is for Deacon (Men of ALPHAbet Mountain)

It seemed like a good thing as I was sitting there with Deacon in the tattoo parlor, eating a jelly doughnut and contemplating whether I’d follow it up with one of the custard ones still in the bag. I didn’t realize then that not everyone felt the same way.

Friday found me back at the diner, working my way through another breakfast shift and telling myself my days there were now officially numbered. Somehow that made it easier to get through the shift, and I felt like I was starting to better understand how Lauren had been able to seem so much like she was relishing her position, even when I knew she wanted to be out of there.

Knowing there was something looming on the horizon, even if I didn’t actually know when I was going to get it, took away some of the edge and anxiety. I didn’t feel as discouraged or frustrated, even when Dawn tried to get into a debate with one of the customers about the problematic nature of calling a runny egg over easy. I just told myself soon enough this would all be a memory I could reminisce about and focused on the moment at hand.

That was much easier said than done when I looked up and realized Josh and his buddies were back. I let out a massive sigh as I finished cleaning off a recently vacated table and brought the dishes back into the kitchen. I didn’t get it. This was a man I’d never seen at the diner or at least never noticed. Yet he took us going on one crummy date as the catalyst to become a regular.

There was something about the diner that seemed to do that to men. Both Harleigh and Lauren had struggled with their exes lurking around the diner all the time before they left. It would be a massive and inaccurate stretch to think of Josh as my “ex,” but it seemed he was going down the path of the obsessed. I hoped I was wrong. I hoped it just happened that his friends found a love of the diner food and wanted to keep coming back to sample different options.

As soon as I approached the table to take their drink order, I knew that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t even all the way to the table yet when I heard a couple of the guys start cracking jokes at Josh about me. It was all I could do to ignore what they were saying and pretend I didn’t hear it. That got harder throughout the meal as they continued to poke fun and make comments.

Josh was getting red in the face, and his hands clenched on the table, making me wonder what had possessed him to come here in the first place. He clearly wasn’t having a good time and didn’t want to be there much more than I wanted him there. Or, at the very least, was not enjoying being there with his friends.

It was a relief to finally put the check down on the table and walk away, but that wasn’t enough for Josh. He followed me as I headed for the back, and when I turned around to tell him to stop, he forced me back and cornered me out of view of the dining room.

“I heard you were kissing on some guy earlier this week,” he said.

It wasn’t a question. It was almost like an accusation.

“The man I’m seeing was in here on Tuesday, and we did kiss, yes,” I said.

“I thought you were seeing me.”

“We had one date,” I pointed out, trying to be as gentle as possible. “And I did say no when you asked me out again.”

“Because of this guy, right? How did he manage to steal you away from me?” he asked.

I let out a slow breath, trying to keep myself calm. I really didn’t like how it felt to be cornered like this. It didn’t feel truly dangerous, but it was vaguely threatening and very uncomfortable.

“Deacon didn’t steal me away from you,” I said. “I’ve had feelings for him since I met him. I honestly shouldn’t have agreed to that date with you at all. It wasn’t right of me to do when I knew I was attracted to him and wasn’t really open to having feelings for anyone else. I’m sorry for that.”

It didn’t seem to help. If anything, that just made Josh go from being frustrated and upset to being angry. He took another step toward me, pushing me deeper into an actual corner until I started to feel truly afraid. A moment before I shoved him, Tony came out of the kitchen and looked over at us. His eyes widened at first, then narrowed.

He took an intimidating stride toward us. “Get away from her.”