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“I think you’re the most beautiful woman in Reno,” says Dustin. “I’m trying to prove it to you right now by hiring you as the face of Dual Wheel Duo.”

“If you hired me, wouldn’t that make it ‘Dual WheelTrio’?” I wonder.

“Nah, Cody and I are the duo that own the shop,” says Dustin. “We’ve got a couple of employees on the payroll. I’d like you to be one of them.”

“Thank you, but no thank you,” I say firmly. “Tell me about your shop, though. I’d love to hear about it.”

While Dustin spends the rest of the evening telling me about Dual Wheel Duo, I can’t get over how he is essentially doing recon work to learn about his rival bike shop in Reno. I wonder if maybe Dustin has some weird game in mind that he intends to play with me, like I’m a pawn in one of his business schemes or something. Dustin is a real charmer, and I like believing he is flirting with me because he actually likes me and not because he is trying to get info on where I work.

Then, at certain angles, I can see Dustin has some tattoos going up his arms, and there is one on his shoulders, although I can’t see it well. I recognize some of his tattoos because I’ve seen tattoos similar to those on other bikers that I’ve seen around Reno. I suspect that maybe Dustin and Jacob are in a pissing war of some kind, but I have no idea what I am getting myself into.

If I knew the kind of danger that comes with Dustin Walker, I might not have had such a laidback night with him. It is nice. I like our conversations, and I love the mood.

After dinner, I don’t know what to think of him. He still seems like quite a gentleman. He kisses my hand, we hug, and we leave it at that. He doesn’t try anything inappropriate, although he doesn’t stop staring, but I don’t mind.

If I knew what kind of danger came with Dustin Walker, I wouldn’t have underestimated him at all. He is the real deal. Somehow, I know he is a real man.

43

Dustin

After a full, fun day with the kids on Sunday, I consider going to Dual Wheel Duo the following Monday, but since I don’t have any specific duties I have to attend to and I’m just on-call, I choose to stay in with Mason and Austin again.

We aren’t doing anything special, but even those days mean so much to me. Just spending time together, lounging on the couch, and relaxing is enough for me. Sometimes we play video games, but most of the time we watch movies since Austin is still a little too young for the video games we like to play. We sometimes like to play board games together or card games like Uno or Go Fish, but our game time is Sunday.

I hold my boys close, savoring every second that I hold them. Despite my lusting for Megan, it doesn’t change that I miss their mom.

I can’t help but feel a little upset. I love Mason and Austin so much, but that doesn’t prevent me from feeling lonely. I can never communicate that to them—they’re my sons and they didn’t cause the void at all. I don’t like complaining to anyone, really. So, no one truly understands how I feel.

Not even Cody knows about how alone I feel on a regular basis. I don’t expect to hear from him all day, and of course, I hear from him right when the boys and I are about to pass out for a nap.

I see I’m getting a call from Cody, and I consider not answering it, but I figure he’ll just keep calling or texting until I answer.

“Yo,” I say upon answering the phone.

“Dustin, you and the boys are in Reno, right?” Cody asks.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?” I wonder.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t sure if maybe y’all were up to something or not. You need to get here to the clubhouse as soon as possible.”

“Why, what’s up?” I ask.

“We found out some information,” says Cody. “We’re having a club meeting in twenty minutes. You need to be here.”

“Okay,” I say, shuffling myself up off the couch to continue talking away from the boys. “Can you give me a hint of what’s going on, Cody?”

“It’s a major Hell-Snake development,” he answers.

I wait for more, but I know that is all I’m getting. “I see.”

“Twenty minutes, club meeting,” Cody repeats. “See you soon.”

I don’t hang the phone up immediately. I dread having to tell those boys we are going to be apart again, but I am Vice-President of the Crimson Wheels, and I can sense some urgency in Cody’s voice when he said “information” has been found. I can’t fathom what it is exactly, but I suspect that it involves our new friends at Ultra-Cycle.

“Dad?” Mason calls out from the living room. “You okay?”

I takethe boys to daycare and head straight for the clubhouse. I don’t know how long our meeting is going to last, but I am determined not to be there a second longer than I have to be.