Page 46 of Dodge

He chuckled. “I didn’t say you were, but youhavebeen drinking tonight, haven’t you?”

Zelda smacked her lips together. She had a salty, dry taste to her mouth. “Yeah. Wann-uther wun. Fuggerz kickgged me oud.”

He tsked. “I’m sorry those assholes treated you badly. If you really want another drink, I’ll take you someplace else.”

“Fuggersh.”

“My car is over there.”

Her eyes rolled funny when she turned them in the direction he pointed. His legs started walking toward the car that blurred in her fading vision. Hers all but dragged as she tried to make them work.

“I’ll take care of you, pretty lady.”

“Mrrrghrrsh” was her last word before the world faded to oblivion.

CHAPTER25

The client cameto pick up the spider car and was thrilled with the work. He made promises to send others to Dodge for custom jobs.

Dodge thanked him graciously but hoped there would be some time off between jobs. The extensive paint work took days, and other work in the garage suffered. Table was a tattoo artist and sometimes helped with drawing a design and shading, but most of the work came from Dodge.

He walked into the break room and pulled out a Dr Pepper from the fridge. A plastic container with Brick’s name on it caught his eye. Another kale salad that Betsey packed for him. This one would find its way into the trash can just like all the others. Dodge suspected the woman knew her efforts to get Brick to eat healthier were going to waste, but that didn’t stop her from trying. Maybe it was stubbornness on both their parts, or maybe it was genuine care. Brick and Betsey teased and poked at each other, but no one could deny the devotion between the two of them. It was a tangible thing, visible by anyone who watched closely. At the Lair, when Betsey brought a beer to Brick, she would pause and rub his shoulders. If Betsey called the shop for Brick to pick up something on the way home, he never argued but asked if there was anything else she needed. Brick made tough calls for the club, sometimes ones that only he knew the reasons for. Betsey might or might not agree, but she never undermined him or contradicted him in public. Her place on the back of his bike was cemented in stone and sealed forever. Dodge knew how rare that kind of love was and wished like hell he had a chance at it.

“Take that shit over to Christina and Andrew Thompson. They have all them rabbits they raise.”

Brick’s surly voice made Dodge grin, but he kept his mouth shut. “Sure thing, boss man.”

The older man humphed and plopped down in one of the plastic deck chairs kept in the break room. “Wish that girl of yours opened for lunch. That steak she did up for me was some of the best I’ve ever had.”

Dodge’s heart jumped at the casual phrase. He wanted like hell for Fauna to be his girl, but he expected that chance was gone. “She’s been thinking about the lunch thing. Says she doesn’t have a lot of people right now and is trying to build the business to support more hours.”

Another humph. “I heard Mallory done picked up and left again.”

Dodge fought not to grind his teeth together. He thought grieving was supposed to happen at the end of a relationship, but if it did, he’d already blown past denial and moved on to the anger. “Yeah.”

Brick grunted once more. An “I told you so” would never pass from his lips, but Dodge sensed it anyway.

Yes, Mallory was gone. She sent one text to say she needed to get away for a while.Get away from what?Dodge had pondered.The job? The apartment? Life?

Me?

After finding her gone, he’d thrown himself into work, trying to erase the rage he felt at being abandoned again. She’d taken all the cash he had in the apartment and a couple of items to pawn somewhere. Thankfully, he’d kept his bank and credit cards in his wallet where she couldn’t get them, else she probably would have cleaned him out completely.

She’d done it before.

Brick didn’t need to vocalize anything, as Dodge was kicking his own ass for being fooled.

Again.

No. This was the last time. For years he’d waited in the hope that his first love would turn around and be the woman to stand by his side. That wish had been dashed so many times, he’d turned into an emotional shell. Yes, he made the motions, but when it came to real feelings, he was a wasteland. Mallory took advantage of him and his love for her and turned it into a circus with him as its clown.

Dirt washes off,he thought.I don’t have to live like this.I’m through being a convenient punching bag for someone who can’t appreciate me and what I bring to the table. I’m through being an ATM. I’m through being a workhorse on call. I’m through with being taken advantage of.

I.

Am.

Done!

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