Chapter thirty-four
Davey's training had become intense the week before the first race.
It always happened. This year was a little different because of Tyler, but that only made it better.
Davey pushed himself harder than ever. Whether he pushed so hard to impress Tyler or just to make sure he did everything in his power to win, so that they could have their own life without judgment, he wasn't sure.
It didn't matter, though; he could see the results.
Brad had been back at The Ranch for the last few days and he was completely okay with Davey's relationship with Tyler.
They needed to bring in a new trainer, though.
He was due to arrive any minute and would stay the rest of the week.
He specialized in performance on the track, which happened to be what Davey needed most, but they needed him to keep Davey and Tyler's relationship confidential, not even telling the Princeton executives.
Davey and Brad decided they should have a discussion with him before they started training.
If he wouldn't keep their secret, they'd be in a world of hurt.
They'd planned for Tyler to be in Gallup while they had their first meeting. He needed that haircut and would pick up some groceries in case everything worked out. They could grill chicken and steaks to celebrate or commiserate, whichever way it went.
The buzz from the front gate interrupted his thoughts and sent a bout of nausea through him, churning up his stomach. He braced himself and walked to the front door and pressed the com button. "Good morning."
"It's Tim. Tim Albright. Here for Davey McAllister."
"Yeah, buzzing you in. Come on up to the main house." He pressed the release for the gate, and his stomach rolled again. He didn't want to vomit.
Brad rubbed his shoulder. "Get a grip, Davey. It's going to be fine." He handed Davey a bottle of water.
Soon enough, a white SUV pulled into the drive.
Davey opened the door and waved as the tall, thin man got out of the driver side.
He had short dark hair, cut professionally.
His face was long with a long nose and very thin lips.
He reached out his hand, and Davey shook it, noticing how his long fingers stretched around Davey's hand. "Come on in."
They sat at the dining room table. "We have to talk about a few things before we can get started," Davey jumped in. He needed the uncertainty over with, needed his nervousness to stop making him sick to his stomach.
"Sure okay."
Brad put his hand on Davey's shoulder, as if to tell him to relax and let him handle it.
"We have a delicate situation here. If you're not okay with it, we won't be able to train with you.
I value what you can bring to the team, and I hope this won't be a problem, but it might be. So, let's get it out of the way."
Davey stood up straight and crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't embarrassed and he wouldn't feel bad for it. "My fiancé lives here and I need to ensure our relationship stays absolutely private."
"That's not a problem. I work for you. I certainly have no interest in spreading personal information around." He seemed genuine, but that was only one step.
"There's more," Davey took a breath. "I'm gay, and Tyler, my fiancé, works for another driver. He's a mechanic."
"Oh." His eyes went wide, but he didn't say anything.
"What part are you having trouble with?" Brad asked him.
"Oh! I'm not. I'm just surprised. Uh, I'm gay, too. So, that's not a problem. Look I can keep my mouth shut."
Davey smiled. This trainer could work well with him without putting too much pressure on Tyler. "Okay, now I'm surprised." He winked at Tim. "So, no hitting on my man, either. Deal?" He stuck his hand out.
Tim shook it, blushing. "Of course. Now let's gear up. I want to see your track."
A huge blue sky sat on top of the flat expanse of Gallup.
The historic center of town had old brick buildings painted with colorful signs meant to attract tourists.
They even had a cultural center in the middle of town, but Tyler had no idea what type of culture they housed there.
It took him some scouting around but he eventually found a grocery store and a Subway shop.
After loading the groceries into the coolers in the back of Davey's truck, Tyler found the barber Davey had directed him too and relaxed as he got his hair cut. He tried to concentrate on the haircut rather than what was going on back at The Ranch.
It had been one thing to bring Stewart in on their relationship.
Hell, it would be impossible to hide it from him.
Tyler could even understand Brad needing to know and needing to be around this last week before the season started but bringing this new trainer, Tim, into things, into their home?
Tyler didn't like that at all. He didn't want to open their relationship up to the scrutiny of Supercross.
Tyler did not want the industry to know and make judgments on them.
Davey had insisted, though, and Tyler knew Davey needed a good track coach.
Tim was rumored to be one of the best. Regardless of reputation and industry need, Tyler had agreed to it simply because Davey asked him to.
That scared the hell out of him, more than Tyler wanted to admit.
If Davey asked him to go public, would he?
Tyler couldn't examine the question, his hair was done—a bit shorter than he normally cut it, but living out in the middle of nowhere seemed to require it be cut a bit shorter since he didn't know how long it would be before he had this opportunity again.
Of course, he could drive into Gallup any time he wanted, but he didn't particularly want to.
He enjoyed being at The Ranch with Davey. He might even enjoy it too damned much.
He stopped for a sub before heading back.
Once in the truck, he checked his phone again for any sign from Davey on how things had gone with their conversation.
No call. No text. Tyler considered calling Davey, but it didn't matter.
By the time he made the long drive back, it would all be resolved one way or another.
Not wanting to admit his anxiety about it, Tyler flipped on the radio and drove under the limit in no hurry to run in and find answers he didn't like.
Tyler let himself get into the music, dancing in his seat, if you could call his wiggling around to the music dancing, and singing along, if you could call his horrible voice that sounded more like a cow in heat than anything resembling music, singing.
Tyler almost missed the turn off to Davey's house.
"Shit," he muttered, tapping the clutch and break and pulling the steering wheel to the left.
Gray dust sprayed the windshield and floated around the truck.
Davey lived up Route 1, northwest of Gallup.
Finding the little paved road called Route 1 wasn't terribly difficult, finding the turn off to the dirt road to Davey's place, now that challenged him.
The gravel and dirt crunched under the tires as Tyler made his way up the road, thankful he hadn't passed the turn this time.
He even let himself smile a little about it, liking just how used to living here he was becoming.
At the gate, he plugged in the pass code and followed the driveway up to the house.
He parked between a big white SUV and the front porch.
He unlocked the front door and called out before going back for the coolers. "Davey! Home!"
With no answer, Tyler went back and slid the first cooler out of the truck and lugged it into the house and into the kitchen.
Three coffee cups were in the sink and the coffee pot, half empty, turned off.
Tyler pursed his lips wondering what that meant, but he had another cooler in the truck and both needed to be unloaded.
He wondered how the hell he got left to that task by himself, but Tyler took it in stride just like he did with almost everything in his life.
After he put all the groceries away, he started looking for Davey in earnest. He wasn't out at the pool, in his gym, in their room, or in the garage, but the two 450 bikes were missing.
That only left one place. The track. He should have known and checked there first, but he hadn't wanted to admit that things might have worked out well.
He'd been too afraid of exposure to see beyond that possibility.
Tyler drove the truck around the back of the house and beyond the shed and dirt path that led to Davey's homemade track.
He marveled again at how professionally Davey's track had been set up.
Tyler supposed that had been extremely beneficial in Davey's career and he wondered where he might be in his own life had he lived so close to a dirt bike track and had access to the awesome machines Davey had.
Tyler loved his career, though. He loved being a mechanic and getting to not just ride, but work on the bikes.
He couldn't help but think about how after the season, he would have some time to work on his soft tail.
Davey's huge garage would be perfect for bringing in some bigger and better tools to help him.
He parked the truck, hearing the high-pitched humming of the bikes and letting it bring a smile to his face.
The only thing better than watching Davey ride was being in his lover's arms while Davey fucked him into the mattress.
Tyler's smile widened to the point of pain thinking about how lucky he was to have that every morning along with being included in everything else in Davey's life.