By the Numbers

by Chris Owen

  "I'll take care of it," Deuce assured him. "Don't worry."

  Trey hoped so. He was familiar by now with the ways Deuce took care of him. "Thanks, man. Pour that water in there so Cecil can soak his foot, and probably one more bucket will do it."

  "You got it." Deuce poured, slowly and carefully, then dropped a kiss on the top of Trey's head and dashed back to the ocean.

  "Sweet," Cass confirmed.

  "He's... well." Trey ducked his head again because he could feel his cheeks heating. "He's a good guy. I like him." He cleared his throat and wondered how this became a discussion about his relationship.

  Wait, relationship? Oh, jeez. Think about it later.

  When Deuce returned with the second pail of water, Trey had him pour it in. Then they both sat in the sand with a very large group of people surrounding them. "How 'bout them Padres?" he asked Deuce lamely.

  Deuce nodded. "Yeah." He looked up. "Hey, Cecil's fine," he announced. "Stings suck, you all know it. Go make some more burgers, okay? Have a beer, go back to the party. We'll all be there soon."

  A few people left, one of them apparently very eager to get to the beer if his exclamation was to be believed, and a few more moved a few feet away.

  "Thank you," Trey said sincerely. He was always uncomfortable with the public adoration.

  Timed by Trey's watch, fifteen minutes passed and by then it was dark enough for Trey to need his flashlight to remove the tentacles on Cecil's ankle. He did the best he could, but Trey knew it was too dark to get them all and the man should definitely see a doctor before he went home. "That's about all I can do for you, my friend," Trey told him. He glanced at Cassandra. "I'll help you get him to the car. Stop by the ER."

  Deuce stepped up to help Cecil, too, and Cassandra gathered all their things, promising to take him directly to the ER and thanking Trey profusely. Cecil limped his way to the car, apparently in a little less pain but definitely uncomfortable.

  "Thank you," he said again as Cassandra closed the car door.

  Deuce moved back and waved, taking Trey's hand again. Then he handed him his T-shirt. "Well, that was fun," he said. "Oh, man. The dogs."

  Shit, Trey had forgotten all about them, but a look at the blanket revealed one of the older girls had their leashes in hand. "They're okay," Trey said. He pulled his shirt on over his head and winced a little when the fabric rubbed against his skin. He'd gotten too much sun. "Did we bring their dinner with us?" It was getting late and the puppies were on a pretty regular feeding schedule.

  "Yeah." Deuce nodded. "Can we feed them and go, though? Or do you really want to stick around for an hour or so? I can do either, but getting home has a lot of appeal."

  "Nah, I'm ready." The longer they stayed, the more chance that people would approach them to make a big deal about Cecil and his sting. "Let's feed them at home."

  "Cool." Deuce leaned in and kissed him fairly seriously. "I'll get the dogs. Can you get the blanket and the chairs?"

  Trey nodded but stayed where he was. Deuce was looking at him like he'd never seen him before. Trey kind of liked it. "Everything okay?" he asked with a laugh.

  "Uh-huh. We just kind of really need to be home now. Nowish. Soon." Deuce nodded. "We need to go home."

  The sand was still warm under his bare feet as they walked toward the blanket. "Okay, we're going. You sure you're okay? Are you sick?" The sun had been strong today and they'd been out in it for several hours.

  Deuce laughed. "I'm not sick. I'm about to die of horny, though. That's a real thing, don't laugh."

  "You -- oh!" Trey blinked at him and started to laugh anyway, despite Deuce's request not to. "Okay. Let's get out of here." He chuckled some more and shook out the blanket. Horny was good, especially if Trey was about to be the recipient of it.

  "You're giggling." Deuce collected the dogs and thanked the group of people who'd been taking care of them, then led the pack back toward the truck. He did check more than twice to make sure Trey was keeping up, though.

  The look on Deuce's face was more than enough to make Trey stay right behind him. He dumped everything into the back and stashed the first-aid kit under his seat again. When the dogs were safely in the back seat, Trey slid behind the wheel and started the truck up. "Home," he announced and waited until Deuce had buckled his seatbelt, but just barely.

  "Right home, no stops. Not even for coffee or anything." Deuce nodded at him and then grinned. "You're amazingly sexy when you're saving someone's life, you know."

  Trey groaned and dropped his head to the steering wheel. "I knew it," he laughed. "And here I thought it was watching me parade around without a shirt on."

  "That was merely the teaser," Deuce said, grinning. "But the life saving thing is totally a deal closer. You should save it up for when you need to impress me 'cause I'm being an idiot or something."

  Trey pulled out of the beach parking lot onto the main road towards home. "I've yet to see that from you," he said sincerely, and offered his hand.

  Deuce took it. "It'll happen, I'm sure. Of course, not for years and years, but it'll happen." He tangled their fingers together and settled back, still watching Trey as he drove. "Aside from impromptu rescuing, did you have a good day?"

  "I had a great day." He grinned over at Deuce. "It was way more relaxed than I would have been at one of my work parties with you. Your co-workers are cool."

  "They're an okay bunch. I've broken them in over the years, which doesn't hurt. And Calum wasn't there. You can meet him at the next one." Deuce laughed and shook his head. "He's going to be waiting for me at my desk on Monday, I'm pretty sure."

  Trey made a face. He wasn't sorry to have missed him. "Lucky you. I'm sure he'll get the full report from the others." He squeezed Deuce's hand and made the turn onto their street.

  Fifteen minutes later, they'd managed to haul everything inside, feed the dogs, and get a load of laundry going. Trey turned out the kitchen light and found Deuce waiting just outside his bedroom. "So? Am I still a hero?" He supposed couldn't hurt to play it up sometimes, especially if Deuce was going to do that thing with his tongue again.

  Deuce backed him into the nearest wall. "You're totally my hero." Deuce's voice was low and rumbling. "And heroes get great rewards." And with that, Trey found himself being dragged out of the hall and into the bedroom.

  Eleven

  Deuce sang quietly as he folded his laundry, keeping one eye on the puppy rumble going on under the kitchen table as he put his shirts on hangers and folded his jeans. The kitchen was filled with sunshine, and the room held the scent of fresh coffee and fabric softener. It was shaping up to be a perfect morning, aside from the lack of Trey.

  When his usual time for getting home had come and gone, Deuce had sent him a text, not so much to check up on Trey but to find out if he was out on a call so Deuce could let Holly and Lacey know what was going on. Deuce had gotten a message back that Trey's relief was held up at another station but he'd be home as soon as he could -- he just didn't know when that would be.

  With any luck at all, Trey would be home when Holly came to drop Lacey off. Deuce had the house all clean and picked up, so he wasn't worried about little girls or puppies getting into anything, but he wasn't sure exactly how to occupy Lacey until her dad got home. Maybe she should teach him how to play one of her games or something. Or maybe they could make some pancakes for Trey to come home to. That might be fun.

  Another half hour snuck by, and just as Deuce was getting the pancake stuff out of the cupboard, the doorbell rang. Since Trey didn't make a habit of ringing his own doorbell, there was only one other person it could be. Hopefully there wouldn't be any issues about Trey not being home.

  Putting on his very best friendly smile, Deuce went to the door and opened it wide. "Hey, Little Beans. How're you and your mom doing today?" He gave Holly the exact same welcoming smile.

  Lacey held up a brightly colored box that had pictures of amateur magic tricks on it. "
I'm going to show you tricks," she announced, and marched into the house. "Dad!"

  "Tricks are cool." Deuce nodded and watched as the puppies came running. "'Fraid your dad's not home yet. His relief is running late, but he should be here any minute." He looked at Holly. "There's fresh coffee, if you'd like to come in and wait. I just put on the second pot."

  "Lacey Anne, wait a minute." Holly motioned her back and looked at Deuce. "Trey's still at work? He didn't call to tell me."

  Lacey came back to the door. "I can show Big Beans my tricks till Dad gets here."

  "He's probably on his way home right now," Deuce said, hoping it was true. "Really, you can come in and wait for him. I was going to ask Lacey to help me make pancakes." No way was he about to suggest she just leave Lacey with him.

  "I'm showing a house in fifteen minutes." Oh boy, she was not happy, that much was obvious. "Lace, get in the car. Daddy will have to come get you." Holly glared at Deuce as if this was somehow his fault.

  One of the puppies had already brought Lacey a chew toy and she was happily playing tug of war. "But we're already here. My suitcase is here, too." She patted the pink case and went back to roughhousing with the dogs.

  Holly tightened her mouth and spoke sharply. "Lacey, back in the car. Dad will come and get you."

  Clearly understanding the 'don't even think about arguing with me' tone, Lacey heaved a sigh and got up. "I'm leaving my suitcase and my tricks. 'Cause Big Beans will want to see them."

  "I sure do," Deuce said to her, crouching down. "Your dad will come get you real soon, okay? And maybe we'll have those pancakes for lunch." He got a quick high five and stood up again. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience," he said to Holly. Mostly, though, he was sorry for Trey and the running around he would have to do.

  Holly waited until Lacey was at least halfway down the walk before answering. "Trey needs to apologize, not you. He should have let me know. That man..." She let the sentence trail off unfinished, but the meaning was clear.

  Deuce knew he should probably just nod and close the door, but he didn't. It was unfair of her to assume anything. "I'm sure he thought he'd be here by now. He treasures his time with his daughter."

  "It's too bad he didn't consider that before he turned this family upside down. But hey, you're benefiting from it, so what do you care? Tell him to call me if he wants to come and get Lacey." She turned on her well-dressed heel and started down the walk after her child.

  Deuce stared after her and then looked down at Q, who had come to stand next to him. "That woman," he said quietly, "is very, very bitter. And I care because she's right -- I'm benefiting. Just not in ways she knows about."

  Q wagged her tail and went back to lie on top of Lacey's suitcase.

  Deuce closed the door and sighed. It would just be perfect if Trey pulled in within minutes. If that was going to be the case, though, Deuce better have something ready that was going to make his morning suck less, and the pancakes were now out, waiting for Little Beans to come back.

  Bacon. Bacon was always good. With a nod to himself he went to heat up the pan.

  He had just taken six strips of them out of the pan to cool when Q announced Trey's arrival with a soft woof. Deuce heard him drop his gear bag by the front door and greet the puppies warmly.

  "Hey," Trey called.

  "Hey, you. Bad news -- you missed Holly and Lacey. You're going to have to pick her up." Deuce picked up the plate of bacon. "But in better news, there's bacon for you."

  Trey appeared in the kitchen with Lacey's suitcase. "What do you mean, I missed them? Lace isn't here?"

  Deuce shook his head. "Sorry," he said, meaning it. "Holly said you'll have to go pick her up. She's showing a house now."

  It wasn't often that Trey got angry. Deuce had seen it once, maybe twice, since he'd lived there. Trey was too mellow to get mad about stuff, and he didn't stay angry for long. However, there was no mistaking the emotion he was feeling at the moment. Deuce could see his jaw clench and a muscle twitched in his cheek.

  "I'll be back in a few," he bit out, and then he was gone.

  Deuce sighed. It would totally suck to be in Trey's place -- or even Holly's, really. He sat at the table and ate the bacon absently, wondering what kind of day they were going to have if it started out like this.

  It took about an hour for him to find out. Trey returned with Lacey in tow, thank goodness, and sent her to her room to unpack her suitcase. He refused to let her live out of it while she was there, which was kind of nice. Deuce liked that Trey did what he could to make the place feel like it was her home and not a place she was visiting.

  When Trey finally appeared in the kitchen again, his expression was calmer but the anger was still apparent. "Sorry."

  "Hey, you don't need to be sorry at me. I take it things went... well, I guess 'well' is the wrong word. Was there yelling?" Deuce kept an ear out for Lacey and went to Trey, wanting to give him just one fast kiss of support.

  Trey accepted the kiss and returned one of his own. "Yeah. In front of Laceybug, which I hate, but I was pissed and I wanted Holly to know it. There's no fucking reason she couldn't have left Lacey here."

  Deuce shrugged one shoulder. "There wasn't any real reason why she should have, either. I'm just this guy, to her. I can see why she'd be reluctant at best, and to be fair, I didn't offer -- I figured she'd say no and be mad at me for trying to get at her baby, honestly. But I did offer her coffee and said she was more than welcome to wait in the kitchen. She had the house to show, though..." He trailed off. "Was she really mad at you?"

  "She uses any excuse she can to get mad at me. She has a lot of resentment and is totally bitter that her charm and good looks weren't enough to keep me straight. She knew I wasn't straight when I married her." He sat down heavily in a chair. "I just made her think I was more straight than I really was." Trey leaned an elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand.

  "But this is all water under the bridge, isn't it?" Deuce got him a cup of coffee and sat at the table too, trying to make sense of it. "She's acting almost like she thinks life would be great if you went back to her."

  "I don't know what she's thinking. Me being more attracted to guys than girls wasn't even close to being the only reason we got divorced!" Trey raised his voice, then looked at the doorway of the kitchen and lowered it again immediately. "We fought constantly. About money, about my overtime, about where to send Lacey to school, about our families, about everything under the fucking sun. And it had been months since we'd had sex. Nearly a year. She seized on that, over everything. Asked me why I wouldn't sleep with her anymore, and I finally just said it. 'You know why,' I said, and that was it. I moved out and she filed the following week. Used 'false pretenses' or something as grounds."

  "So, essentially, she's just pissed." Deuce sighed. "Okay, we can't change that, probably. But maybe we can prevent some of these flare ups with her. Do you think there's any way at all that she'll leave Lacey in my care when you're late home from work?"

  "No. Maybe. I don't know." Trey stared moodily at the table. "I should have called her this time to say I was going to be late, but I sort of thought she'd be okay with leaving Lacey here. And I didn't even ask you if you'd be okay with it, either. Sorry."

  "Oh, hey." Deuce raised his hands. "I'm totally cool with it, don't even worry about that. Me and Little Beans are cool. We can entertain each other easily enough. I was thinking we'd play computer games and she came armed with magic. That's pretty neat, don't you think?"

  "Armed with magic?" Trey perked up slightly. "The wizard kid DVDs?"

  Deuce laughed. "No, man. She's going to do magic tricks for us." Then he raised his eyebrows. "I have Harry Potter DVDs, if that's what you like. I'll even let you play with my wand."

  Trey's face remained perfectly blank. "Really? You just said that? Tell me my articulate, smart, hot boyfriend didn't just say I could play with his wand."

  Deuce grinned at him. "I could
play with myself and let you watch. Boyfriends do that sometimes."

  "Okay, now that idea has merit." Trey paused and considered things. "I guess I said boyfriend, huh."

  "You did. I don't mind." Deuce got up and took his coffee cup to the counter. "Does it change anything, saying it out loud? For you, I mean. It doesn't change things on my end, I don't think."

  He could feel Trey's eyes on him from behind. "It... I guess... no. It doesn't change things for me. I didn't even know I thought of you that way until I got pissed that Holly wouldn't leave Lacey here."

  Deuce nodded and went back to the table. "That is a thing, isn't it?" He moved his chair closer to Trey's and put a hand on his arm. "How long do we wait to tell Lacey? A few months? And do we tell Lacey before Holly or Holly first? And do you think that she'll freak out and try to keep Lacey away completely? I don't want that. I want you and Lacey to have as calm a life as you can."

  "A few months? I was thinking more like a couple of days. Lace isn't going to care. Her mother already told her what my situation was when I moved out." Trey rolled his eyes and looked annoyed again. "Whether she understood it or not is another story."

  Deuce blinked a couple of times. "She knows? Really?" He had no idea what he'd expected from a child who knew her dad was gay, but total indifference wasn't it. "Well, all right, then. Huh." He could work with that. "Has Holly asked you if we're together? Implied it or anything?"

  Trey sighed. "Yes. I didn’t say we weren’t together. I only said you weren’t my boyfriend. Because you weren’t, at the time. And yes, Lacey knows, but like I said, she might not even understand what it means. If we tell her we're together, I have to explain what that entails. To a point, of course. And she'll go home and blab to Holly, who will find some way to be even more bitter."

  "Then... maybe we shouldn't. For a while?" Deuce would much rather just get on with life and be happy, but clearly having an ex-wife as upset and angry as Holly in their lives wasn't going to make things as easy as in the fairy tales. "Maybe Holly will find a new person of her own and be happy. Soon." That would be good.