Gummy Bears & Grenades

by Charlie Cochet

  "Dex get you hooked on this show too?" Sloane asked, sitting back and making himself comfortable.

  "Yeah. I didn't think I'd get into it on account of all the vampires, angels, and whatnot, but I like the brothers. The older one reminds me of Dex sometimes."

  "That's why he started watching it. Someone told him he reminded them of the brother, and Dex had to check it out for himself. Got hooked by the end of the first episode. Binge-watched like ten seasons, and made me watch it with him. It's fun." Especially when Dex would get so absorbed in an episode he would completely zone out. One time Dex had been so engrossed he hadn't even realized Sloane had left the room or heard him when he said he was going to the kitchen. Sloane had come back upstairs and scared the hell out of Dex so badly that he'd fallen off the bed after scrambling into action and getting tangled in the sheets.

  Sloane and Tony watched the show for a while, until Sloane noticed Tony wasn't actually watching the show. He was just kind of staring off in the direction of the TV. Well, it was now or never.

  "You're worried about us and TIN."

  Tony didn't move or say anything for several heartbeats. Before Sloane could speak up again, Tony met Sloane's gaze. "I am. I don't think you boys know what you're getting into."

  Sloane thought carefully about how he was going to approach this. It was best to be honest. "Dex is good at what he does. He's been training hard. It's impressive, really. He jokes around, but he's serious about being the best."

  "Yeah, he's never been one to do things half-assed. When he believes in something, he puts his all into it."

  "What is it?"

  Tony's gaze was unwavering. "I'm not as oblivious as everyone believes I am, Sloane. If I was a different type of man, I'd find it offensive."

  "What does that mean?"

  "It means I might not know who all the players are or what their end game is, but I will eventually. I know that soon my son will be keeping even more secrets from me, but you know better than anyone that no secret stays buried for long. The truth will eventually come out. I love my sons. Hell, I love you and Ash and the rest of the team, but if we're being honest here, it galls me that you all don't trust me as much as I trust you."

  Sloane swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to reply, but Tony held up a hand. "I'm not trying to put you on the spot. I know if it comes down to me and Dex, you'll side with Dex, and I respect that. You're going to be his husband, and you want to support him and the decisions he makes, but you need to remember that what Dex thinks is best for himself and everyone else isn't always best. Sometimes his decisions, no matter how well-intentioned, are not the right ones. Sometimes he needs to let people decide for themselves."

  Sloane knew Tony was referring to something in particular, but he had no way of knowing for sure. He wasn't about to throw things out there and reveal something he shouldn't. He nodded.

  "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." And Sloane meant it. He had a feeling that whatever this was, it was just the beginning. He hoped they were all ready. They continued to watch TV until Tony got up and motioned for him to follow.

  "How about some air hockey?"

  "Um.... Sure. Sounds like fun." Dex had warned him, but really. How bad could it be?

  Chapter 5

  DEX HAD consumed so many gummy bears in the last few hours, he was pretty sure he was going to be pooping rainbows. In between dancing, drinking, and snacking, he sent Sloane a text telling him he missed him and loved him. Hopefully his plan to get Sloane and Tony to bond was going well. He hadn't heard back from Sloane, so he imagined the two were busy doing whatever it was they were doing.

  Later in the evening, Dex was starving. He leaned over to Cael, who was very drunk and sucking face with Ash. It was clearly getting to that time of night. The "we're so drunk and horny we should do something about it right here, right now" phase.

  "I'm going to get something to eat. I'll be right back."

  Cael made a sound that could have been an acknowledgment, or a response to Ash squeezing Cael's ass. Classy.

  "Ooh! We'll come with you," Hudson said cheerfully, much to Seb's obvious disappointment at having his husband suddenly more interested in food than playing doctor.

  "We are?" Seb asked. His bottom lip jutted out.

  "Darling, I love you, but, well, food." Hudson's eyes went wide, and he licked his bottom lip. Dex held back a laugh. Seb really had no chance.

  Seb chuckled. He kissed Hudson. "Whatever you want, Lobito."

  Hobbs popped up from the depths of who knew where and dropped down onto the seat beside Dex, scaring the shit out of him. He threw a hand to his chest to stop his heart from beating out of him. "Holy fuck." He glared at Hobbs, who "booped" Dex's nose, a big dopey grin on his face. How the hell could Dex stay mad at that face? It was impossible. The guy was too adorable for words. And drunk. He was very clearly drunk. Calvin was looking slightly less drunk. Only slightly.

  "Ethan's hungry," Calvin declared, and Hobbs nodded. He rubbed his belly and pouted.

  "Well, lucky for you, we were just about to go grab some grub. The bar next block over has some kickass sliders and fries," Dex said, getting up. Hobbs jumped to his feet, and Calvin took his hand. Hudson and Seb also followed, with Hudson a little wobbly on his feet, which made him giggly. Seb wrapped his arm around Hudson's waist and pulled him close so he wouldn't walk into any walls.

  "Dude, your man is smashed," Dex said with a laugh as he stepped outside into the cold night air, his hands in his jacket pockets.

  "Yeah, well, you would have been too not so long ago."

  "True," Dex conceded. As it was, he just had a nice buzz, which was fine with him.

  The bar was busy, but they managed to snag a table with a bench wide enough for Seb to fit with Hudson tucked close beside him. Calvin sat next to Dex, and Hobbs took the chair at the end of the table beside the window and away from the crowd. It wasn't always easy for Therians in these old bars that hadn't caught up with the times. This place had been around decades, yet was only just upgrading to include Therian-sized seating. The tables and chairs they had installed were occupied. At least the menu included Therian-sized portions.

  A tall, long-legged cheetah Therian waitress with beautiful dark skin and big brown eyes, stopped by the table to take their order. She nudged her trendy black glasses up her nose, her long purple braids falling over her shoulders. Hudson was smitten. He leaned toward her, his smile huge.

  "Darling, your hair is amazing!"

  The waitress chuckled. "Thank you." She gave him a wink and tapped the side of her glasses. "Love your frames."

  "Thank you!" Hudson dropped his chin onto his hand as he gazed up at her. Man, he was so gone. Thankfully their waitress was exceptionally patient. "Your hair is really so lovely. I've always wanted to try a fun color with my hair."

  She tilted her head to the side. "Why haven't you?"

  Hudson's brows drew together, and he sat up. He frowned at Dex. "Why haven't I?"

  Dex laughed at Hudson's confusion. Like he could not fathom why on earth he'd never dyed his hair purple. "I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that purple isn't a THIRDS-approved hair color. Not that the DBs would care, but you know."

  "Oh!" Hudson grinned at her. "He's right. I'm a medical examiner." Hudson pointed to her name tag. "Khadijah James. What a pretty name."

  She laughed softly at Hudson's oh-so-drunk state. "Thank you. You can call me Dijah. What can I get you, fellas?"

  Hobbs threw his hands up high above his head, and then spread them out as wide as they could go, making Dijah laugh again. "Therian-sized everything?"

  Everyone cheered, and Dex put in an order for fries, sliders, wings, chips, dips, and more booze. Dex ordered a drink called the Lion Tamer. Seb laughed.

  "Man, I wish Ash were here to hear you order that."

  Dex waggled his eyebrows. The food came, carried by three waitstaff. It barely all fit on the table. For the drinks, they had to use one of those foldable food tr
ays they used in restaurants.

  "What's the occasion?" one of the waitresses asked, giving Dex a wink. She had red hair, faint freckles across her fair complexion, and friendly blue-green eyes.

  Hudson gasped. "You're from Australia!"

  The waitress laughed. "Yes."

  "I'm from England!" Hudson peered at her name tag. "Manuela." He thrust a hand out, and Dex shook his head in amusement. "Lovely to meet you, Manuela. I'm Hudson."

  Manuela took his hand with a big smile. She was either charmed by Hudson or wondering what the heck he was on to make him so excitable. "It's lovely to meet you, Hudson."

  Hudson released her hand and pointed two fingers at Dex. "The occasion is that he's getting married."

  Dex whooped and grabbed his drink. Skewered through several cherries was a toothpick with a growly lion head attached at the end. Dex was so keeping it. He could think of a dozen ways to annoy Ash with it.

  "Congratulations!" Manuela turned and announced to the bar, "Hot stuff here is getting hitched!"

  Everyone in the bar cheered and whistled, and some of them brought him drinks. Cael and Ash showed up, and Ash rolled his eyes at Dex's lion toothpick tucked into his watch wristband so he wouldn't forget it.

  "Oh my God, that looks so good!" Cael was practically drooling on Dex as he leaned over to sniff Dex's slider.

  "Dude, you're breathing all over the tasty goodness."

  "Dex, I'm hungry," Cael whimpered.

  "Then tell your sugar daddy to get you some food."

  Cael snickered, and Ash smacked Dex upside the head.

  "Ow! Hey, you're not allowed to hit me. It's my party."

  "Whatever." Ash called Manuela over, and next thing Dex knew, all his friends were squeezing in around them, a mountain of food piled on the two tables that had been pushed together. Letty raised her drink, shouting over the noise of the bar.

  "To Dex and Sloane!"

  Everyone raised their drinks and toasted them, while Dex did his best not to get all mushy. The booze was getting to him, that was all.

  It was after midnight when they all stumbled out of the bar, Dex's arm around Hudson's shoulders.

  "Let's go dance!" Hudson said, pulling Dex back toward the club. Everyone agreed, and they were heading back inside when Dex spotted something big, orange, and furry. He let out a huge gasp.

  "Hudson, look!"

  For some reason, Hudson looked up. With a snort, Dex took hold of his chin and moved his head down so he'd look straight ahead. Either Dex was so drunk he was seeing things, or what he was seeing was really there.

  "Dude, is that...?"

  Hudson's eyes went huge. "Oh, no. Dexter, no."

  "Oh yes, Dexter, yes." Dex clapped his hands gleefully before walking over to whoever it was dressed in a giant orange gummy bear suit and handing out flyers. "Can I try on your bear?"

  The bear turned to face him and shook its head.

  "Please, man. It's my bachelor party. I'm getting married soon. Please."

  Another shake. Somewhere behind Dex, Seb groaned. "Come on, Dex."

  Dex ignored Seb. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way." He pulled his badge out of his inner coat pocket and stuck it in the bear's face. "Sir, I'm afraid I'm going to have to commandeer your bear."

  "What?" the guy growled.

  "You heard me. I'm commandeering your bear. Let's go."

  "Lobito, what are you doing?" Seb shook his head at Hudson, who was running his hand over the bear's arm.

  "It's so soft. Touch it."

  Seb stared at him. "I'm not doing that."

  "Come on, Sebastian. Touch it."

  "You all are fucking nuts, man." The guy turned to Hudson. "Is he serious?"

  Hudson laughed. "Him? Serious? Never." His smile fell away. "Except now. He's deadly serious now." Hudson poked Dex's cheek. "This is his serious face. May I touch your nose?"

  "You all need to get lost," Bear-Suit Guy said. "Now."

  Hudson went to touch the bear-suit guy's nose and got his hand smacked away. Hudson blinked up at him, his sad puppy eyes all wide and hurt. "You hit me? Why? I just wanted to touch your nose."

  Dex cringed. He shook his head at Bear-Suit Guy. "Ooh, you shouldn't have done that."

  Seb got all up in the guy's face. He was growly, scary, and bigger than Bear-Suit Guy. "Did you just hit my husband?"

  The guy threw his fuzzy paws up. "I'm sorry! Your friend can take the suit. I'm sorry." He quickly popped the head off and handed it to Dex before patting his shoulder. "There's a zipper back there."

  Dex gave the bear head to Hudson, then unzipped the suit. The guy quickly scrambled out.

  "They're not paying me enough for this bullshit. Bunch of crazies. I don't know why everyone wants this stupid bear." The second he was out, he took off, leaving a trail of bright orange flyers in his wake. Hudson frowned after him. He shook his head and tsked.

  "What a litterbug."

  Dex laughed as he pulled on the bear suit. "I am going to scare the shit out of Ash. Someone zip me up."

  "I can't believe we're doing this," Seb grumbled, taking the bear head Hudson handed him so he could help Dex zipper up. Soon as he was, he nodded to Seb.

  "Bear me, bro."

  "You're out of your damn mind," Seb said, plopping the head over Dex's.

  "Ouch. Why do you have to be so rough?"

  "Because he likes it rough," Hudson purred, running a finger down Seb's arm. "Don't you, darling? I love how naughty you are."

  Seb's face looked like he was about to spontaneously combust, making Dex laugh.

  "Wow, this thing is kinda roomy," Dex said, patting his bear belly. One side was hard and the other squishy. "There's something in here." He pulled his arm inside and felt around, finding two pockets. "Crap, I think maybe the guy left his wallet or something." Dex felt around inside one pocket. Wait a second. "Shit. It's not his wallet."

  "What is it?" Seb asked, throwing an arm around Hudson and tucking him at his side so he'd stop feeling Seb up.

  "I think it's... drugs. Grab my head."

  Hudson snickered, and Seb groaned.

  "That came out wrong," Dex admitted. "Can you take the bear head off, please."

  Seb did as Dex asked, and Dex immediately pulled on the wide collar of the suit while he felt around in the other pocket. He peered down into the dark. Yay for Therian night vision. There were two objects. He pulled one out and frowned. It looked a little like--

  "Fuck bunnies! I have to get this off!"

  "What is it?" Seb asked, just as a group of guys in baseball caps and beanies approached Dex.

  "Hey, you got the stuff?" Gray-beanie guy looked Seb over. "Who the hell is this guy? Wiesel didn't say there were more buyers."

  Dex narrowed his eyes, his words aimed at Seb, who was still holding on to the bear's head. "Hold my bear."

  Gray-beanie guy's eyes went huge. "Oh, shit."

  The gang dispersed, and Dex ran after gray-beanie guy, calling out over his shoulder. "Call for backup!" He chased the guy down Ninth Avenue and then made a right onto Gansevoort Street, giving chase as fast as his bear legs would go. Thankfully, the suit was more a fuzzy onesie with padded belly than anything, so running wasn't difficult. He tried not to worry about the two grenades nestled in the pocket of his bear belly. Please don't blow up. Please don't blow up. Sloane would be so pissed if something blew up, especially him.

  "THIRDS agent! Stop!"

  The guy flipped him off, never missing a beat as he tore down the street and headed for the High Line. There was no way Dex was letting this guy get away.

  "Get back here, you dick! It's my bachelor party!"

  "I feel sorry for your fiance," the guy shouted back.

  "You don't get to talk about my fiance! My boo is perfection. He's all that and a bag of chips!" Maybe he should stop talking. The running was certainly not helping him clear his brain's little booze buzz.

  "He's clearly as crazy as you are if he's marrying you!" The guy darted up the st
eps leading to the deck of the High Line, and Dex followed. He was sweating balls, it was so hot in this damn bear.

  "I'll have you know he's perfectly stable! He's smart, and sexy, and the very definition of class!" How dare this jerk say one ill word about his sophisticated sexy pants. Oh, he was going down.

  Chapter 6

  SLOANE LET out a loud belch and laughed. "That tasted like lemonade." He frowned as it struck him. "Fuck, I'm so wasted."

  "I don't care if you're in a coma. You're finishing this damn game." Tony motioned to the air hockey table. "Move your ass, Brodie. You're not winning this time."

  Wait. Sloane peered at Tony and thrust a finger at him. "You purposefully got me drunk so you could win. Dex told me I shouldn't play air hockey with you."

  "Yeah, he also told his sixth-grade teacher that he couldn't take his math test because numbers were against his religion."

  Sloane snorted vodka and lemonade through his nose and almost choked. He coughed and sputtered, wiping his nose and mouth with his arm as Tony laughed his ass off. "You couldn't have waited until I'd finished drinking to say that?"

  "And miss your impression of a sprinkler?"

  "Why aren't you drunk?" Sloane narrowed his eyes at Tony, who'd had almost as many drinks as Sloane had. Why was he so sober?

  Tony shrugged. "Clearly I can hold my liquor better."

  "Bull. Shit."

  Tony arched an eyebrow at him, and Sloane marched over to him. He grabbed Tony's glass off the edge of the table, sniffed it, then took a sip.

  Sloane gasped. "This is just lemonade! I've been bamboozled!"

  Tony reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took a ten-dollar bill and held it up to Sloane. "I will give this to you if you say bamboozled again."

  "You are a crafty bastard." Sloane snatched the bill from Tony's hand. "Bamboozled." Ignoring Tony's cackle, Sloane shoved the bill into his back pocket. He should have known the man would be sneaky. He was Dex's dad after all. Sloane grinned smugly. "Doesn't matter, I still kicked your ass. Like, eight times," he said, glaring at his hands when he counted seven fingers. He put one more finger up. "Eight."

  Tony eyed him. "That booze is making you bold."

  Sloane nodded. "It is."