“Hey man, what’s up?” I said to Liam, my old SEAL buddy, when I answered his phone call.

“You know just living the life,” he said with a laugh.

“I’m sure,” I said to him. “So, I’m glad you called.”

“Why is that?” he asked. “Did you miss me?”

“Well, I need some advice,” I said.

I felt weird. I never asked him about these kinds of things. But there was just something about this girl that was driving me nuts. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since we hooked up Wednesday morning. Since then, I hadn’t really had a chance to see her or talk to her, and I felt awful about it. I didn’t want her to think that I’d done it on purpose. It was just how things were working out.

“Advice about what?” he asked.

“Well, there’s this new girl,” I said.

“And?” he asked.

Liam wasn’t used to me asking advice about women. Usually, I just had sex with them, and then I was done. I never even asked him about girls before. Besides when my ex-wife left, but that was a whole different story. We had two young kids together, and she just took off on the three of us. It was the most devastating thing I’d ever gone through, and I figured that was holding me back in life. I figured that was what made me not want to commit to anyone, aside from my sons and my club.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” I said. “I just think about her all the time. I’ve only known her a few days. She came in on Monday looking for job, and I hired her right away. I knew I was going to the second I saw her. She’s gorgeous. There’s just something about her that draws me in. I even fingered her without asking for anything in return.”

“Dude, sounds like you’re in love,” he said. I knew he was teasing me.

“Don’t even joke about that. You know how I feel about love.” I shook my head. Some of the things he said were just unbelievable. “There’s no way I could feel that way. She’s just hot.”

I was trying to justify why we were talking about this in the first place.

“Dude, that’s what men say right before they get married,” he said.

“Fuck off, man,” I said, teasing him.

“I’m serious, though,” he said. “Maybe you should talk to her. That might help you figure things out.”

He was probably right, but I didn’t want to think about it, much less talk about it.

We talked a bit more, and then we got off the phone.

“Who’s ready for the carnival?” I asked Adrian and Louis, my two little boys.

Louis stood up, put his hand in the air, and yelled. “Me!”

His younger brother copied him. “Me!” Adrian yelled.

I laughed at my boys. They were always keeping me on my toes and surprising me in new ways. They were hilarious. I couldn’t picture them not being with me. What I could never figure out was why their mom did what she did. What kind of a mother just leaves her children like that? I could never wrap my head around it.

“All right,” I said. “Let’s go get ready, then.”

The three of us got ready, and then we headed off to the carnival. We walked over to the club’s two booths, which happened to be right next to each other, which worked out perfectly for us. I wondered if the committee members who organized the entire thing did that on purpose. Usually, we were spread out more, and this just seemed like they wanted us to keep to ourselves. It really concerned me. I didn’t like the image that was being portrayed. We weren’t bad. We were motorcycle enthusiasts. Sometimes, some bad things happen, but we always made sure it never happened in our town. We didn’t want that shit here.

The normal crowd was there, including the same girls that always hung around. They had watched my sons before. They were always willing to help out when it came to that kind of thing. I loved that about being part of this club. We were like one big family that helped each other out.

“You guys stay here for a minute with Jessica and Amber,” I said. “I need to go check on things. I’ll be right back.”

I headed over to the other booth to check on the members. After I checked on them, I was heading back to my boys when I spotted Alissa walking over to us.

“Hey, I was hoping you’d show,” I said to her.

She smiled at me. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said. I loved her upbeat attitude

“Listen, it’s been crazy,” I said, trying to explain why we hadn’t interacted much. “I don’t want you thinking that I haven’t spoken to you on purpose.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I totally get it.”

Her smile seemed to light up the whole place. Even though we were outside in the sunshine, her smile was even brighter.

“I want to introduce you to my sons,” I said to her. The two of us walked over to the booth. “Adrian and Louis, this is Alissa. Alissa, these are my sons, Adrian and Louis.”

“Hi, you guys,” she said, getting down to their level. “I’ve heard so much about you from your Aunt Isobel.”

They both shook her hand.

“She’s pretty,” Adrian said, looking up at me.

“Thank you,” she said. Then she stood back up. “Where’s their mom?”

I leaned into her, getting a whiff of her perfume in the process, and whispered, “She left a few years ago. Haven’t heard from her since.”

I watched her face fall. She thought she’d asked the wrong question. “I’m so sorry,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “You had no idea. Listen, I’ve got to get over to the dunking booth. It’s my turn now.”

“About your sons,” she said. “Want me to keep an eye on them?”

“I’d appreciate that.” I smiled, grateful for her offer.

It made me really happy that she offered without me even asking. It wasn’t her job to do that, but she asked me anyway. That was what meant the most to me.

As I got dumped over and over again in the dunk tank, I watched her periodically. She took my kids around to the different booths, and they seemed to be having such a fun time. She even seemed to be enjoying herself.

When the night was over, I dried off and approached Alissa and my boys. “Thanks for doing that. I really appreciate it. I hope they didn’t give you any trouble.”

“No, not at all,” she said. “They were wonderful.”

“Do you want to come hang out at our house?” I asked her on a whim.

“I got laundry and some other things I need to do. Not tonight.”

“I understand,” I said. “Have a good night.”

I watched as she left, and I was completely dumbfounded. I’d never been rejected before, and I didn’t know how to handle it.