Page 28 of Dodge

I laughed at the cold shower but, of course, had to cuss at him. “Oh, you asshole!”

“Come on, Fauna. Give me a big hug.”

“You’re out of your mind. Get away from me.”

“Please, sweetness?”

“No.”

He scrunched his face and bulged his eyes.

I circled my fingers at him. “What the hell is that?”

“Puppy dog eyes. Is it working?”

“Not in the least. Don’t ever do that again.”

Truthfully, this playful side of him was great. As a worker, he took his job seriously. Even more so as a friend and supporter. It was really cool to watch him relax and just have fun. I had the feeling he didn’t get a lot of that in his life.

He opened the pizza box, and we dug in.

“Thank God you’re not one of those,” I said around a mouthful of gooey cheese, limp pepperoni, and so-so sauce. Yeah, this chain store offering wasn’t exactly a culinary experience, but at the moment, I was more interested in fuel rather than taste.

“What do you mean?” He took his own gargantuan bite and half the slice disappeared.

“Pineapple. Not on pizza. Pineapple is dessert.”

He shrugged and bit into the crust rind. “I don’t know. I kinda like a bit of sweet with my savory.”

“Sorry, but we can’t be friends anymore.”

He swallowed and opened his mouth to say something else when his phone buzzed. The change in him was instantaneous, almost like a curtain dropped over him and all the light he’d shone tonight was snuffed out. His mouth turned down as he answered.

A pang hit my own good mood.Mallory? Probably. Who else would be calling him?

“Hey, Pop. Everything okay?”

So it wasn’t Mallory but his father. Was I a bad person to feel relieved? I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to when Dodge sat only three feet away from me.

“Now? Pop, no store is open at this hour for me to get parts. Just close the shutoff valve and I’ll come by tomorrow.”

I watched as Dodge pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “I’ve been really busy lately. Overtime at the shop and then helping out a friend with her restaurant. Fauna. No, you don’t know her.”

He mouthed a cuss word before finishing his conversation. “All right, I’ll be there in a bit.”

He hung up and raised his tired eyes to me. “Fauna, I need to—”

“That was your dad?”

“Yeah. He says the kitchen faucet’s been running all day, and he wants me to come take a look at it. Why he needs that done right now at this hour instead of earlier, I have no idea. More than likely he’s bored, lonely, or both.”

Gone was the playful happy man I’d joked with, and in his place was a person who looked and sounded physically and emotionally exhausted. My heart wept a little for him, as I knew the strain of handling hard relationships with parents. “Is there anything I can do?”

He smiled tiredly. “No, sweetness, but thank you for the offer. I’ll go by his place first and check on him, make sure he ate something tonight. I’ll head up to the Lair after. It’s closer to him than doublin’ back and goin’ home.”

Again, there was a tiny bit of relief that he wouldn’t be with Mallory later. Dodge had made a point more than once to tell me he was only giving her a place to stay for now and there was nothing between them. I wasn’t sure how much I believed that on her part. I expected the woman had other intentions. Exes didn’t just move back in unless they had ulterior motives, right?

Yeah, I was jealous. Somewhere along the way, I’d come to think of Dodge as mine. My guy. My biker. My man.

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