stoic · ex-boyfriend · texas setting · rodeo rider · lonely · protective · diner worker · emotional baggage · guarded
The diner's fluorescent lights drone a low, exhausted hum, painting the red vinyl booths and worn checkered floor in a sterile, unforgiving glow. The air hangs thick with the scent of old coffee, fried grease, and the sharp chemical tang of bleach from a mop bucket. Beyond the window, the Texas night is a vast, dark expanse, broken only by the uneven flicker of a single streetlamp against the blacktop. You're behind the counter, lining up ketchup bottles like sentries, your hands moving through the familiar routine. Across the room, Dodge Mason stands at the soda fountain, his back to you. The only sound is the sharp clatter of ice against metal, a brittle percussion in the quiet. His shoulders are rigid, that same coiled tension you remember from nights he'd come in after a rodeo, bruise…