Saving You Losing Me

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

CLARA

I knew the exact moment he walked in. It was a dead giveaway the second Alice flicked her hair over her shoulder and pouted suggestively.

I switched my mood to disinterested because Atom is that guy. The one your mother has sleepless nights about and your father renews his shotgun license for.

Tall, dark, and dangerous, with eyes that strip your body of every defense and a smile that could cut through a heart of stone.

He is the guy every girl in the school secretly lusts over while pretending to be disgusted.

I wear that look particularly well.

I am the ice queen. Clara Gladstone. Princess. High school queen with no king. The first name on everyone’s party list and the one who takes the longest to reply. Soon to be the sorority queen of the Ivy League college my parents chose for me. Soulless, dead inside, and searching for adventure.

Alice straightens up and prepares to sashay across the bar to gift her chosen recipient with her best intentions. Her generous cleavage is on display, hoping to grab his interest long enough to become the most hated girl in the district.

Atom’s girl.

Vacancy. Form an orderly line and hope the great man himself casts those sinful eyes in your direction.

“Clara.”

Joe’s gruff voice interrupts my thoughts and he jerks his head toward a table near Atom’s that requires clearing. I sigh inside.

That’s me. General dogsbody for a reason.

To set me in the sight of the great man himself.

I just graduated from high school and the only job I could get was to clear the tables and sweep the floors of Easy Joe’s bar. I’m not old enough to serve behind the bar, but I am old enough to know what I want. Atom graduated a few years ago and left a lasting impression. The girls soon forgot the football team when Atom was around. His cool, surly vibe was like a magnet to the impressionable young women who were desperate to learn what all the fuss was about. Girls verging on adulthood with none of the cunning.

As I head toward the table, I avert my eyes. I may not see him, but I feel him.

He comes in here most days with the crew he surrounds himself with. Leather-clad warriors who hang together in a pack. Bikers.

Inked in attitude and dripping with scorn for the establishment.

“Hey.”

I hear Alice’s breathless whisper as I approach, and every nerve I possess is stretched right now.

They place their order with lazy tones and I swear my heart melts when Atom voices his requirements. His lazy drawls slips over my soul and caress it with the silken edge. That voice coupled with his bad-boy vibe consumes every waking thought I have.

I listen in shamelessly as I clear the table beside theirs. My back to them, invisible and quivering with interest.

“Eggs over easy and coffee darlin’.” he whispers in his husky drawl and Alice responds, “You know, Atom, you come in here every day, take the same table, and order the same meal. It makes me wonder if there’s something else you’re wanting. Something only I can provide.”

I roll my eyes. Can she be any less clueless?

His friends—for want of a better word—laugh out loud, but Atom says nothing at all. I try to listen as my movements slow while I take my time in clearing the table and yet all I get is Alice’s huff of frustration as she admits defeat.

“The strong silent type. Just how I like them.”

Her throaty voice may as well be razors over my ego, because who am I kidding? Alice is a woman. One who knows her shit when it comes to men and I am no match for a woman like her. Atom doesn’t want a high school rich kid. He wants someone to satisfy his lust and a clueless virgin is no magnet for a man as experienced as he is. So I believe, anyway.

As I finish up and Alice moves away, I prepare to head back to the kitchen, dragging my misery behind me. Then, as I turn away, I hear, “Excuse me, miss.”

My world stops spinning and I can no longer breathe.

I falter and my tray shakes as I wonder if my hearing is playing tricks on me.

I make to leave and it happens again.

“Hey.”

I turn and my eyes collide with two sparkling orbs of my destruction. Deep blue and dangerous as they fix on me, stripping away every defense I thought I had prepared for and shattering my confidence.

He nods toward the table.

“This could use a clean.”

There is a strange silence surrounding us. Almost as if the world is waiting for the outcome of an encounter that is destiny in the making.

I nod toward the stacked tray in my arms and muster every ounce of disinterest I possess.

“I’ll be right back.”

Before I can move, he stands and I swear my pulse charges as he removes the tray from my hands and slides that devastating gaze the length of me as he whispers, “Allow me to help.”

His friends are silent, observing a scene that is as surprising to them as to me, and I take a deep breath and nod, my gaze flicking to the table as I reach for my spray and cloth. I will my fingers to stop shaking as I clean up the table, his gaze burning me as I attempt to remain impassive.

As I reach for the tray when I finish, he hands it back to me and whispers, “Happy birthday, by the way.”

I say nothing but stare and he grins, an act that crumbles my defenses in a heartbeat, and then he whispers against my ear, “I’ll be waiting for you when your shift ends and it’s your decision whether you’ll accept my offer of a ride home.”

I swear every part of me burns as I snatch the tray away from him and turn, effectively restoring the air supply to my lungs as I walk away without speaking one word.

Yes, I am the ice queen and he doesn’t need to know that I am melting inside because hallelujah all the planning has paid off. Finally! Atom regarded me as a woman and not the girl who had a crush on him from the moment I first set eyes on him.

Alice is waiting as I set the tray down in the kitchen and she hisses, “What just happened? What did he say? Did he ask for my number?”

“No.” I shrug, feigning disinterest.

“He wished me happy birthday and said he would be waiting for me when my shift ends.”

Alice gasps and her eyes widen. “No way. Fuck!”

The disappointment painted on her face offers me a moment’s satisfaction and she moans, “You lucky bitch. I would give anything to be in your shoes.”

I shrug. “You can wear them if you like instead of me.”

“Are you mad?” She raises her eyes. “You’re not interested in Atom?”

“Is that his name?” I shrug. “Not really.”

Joe yells, “Alice. Table five is waiting.”

She throws one last incredulous glance in my direction and heads off, leaving me to caress the warm glow that surrounds me at what just happened. He knew it was my birthday. He as good as asked me out on a date and wild horses couldn’t drag me away from accepting his offer, but not before I play hard to get one last time.