Hell & High Water (THIRDS 1)

“Why are you following me?”

“Because I prefer not to reek of stank during my first briefing and I don’t know where the showers are.”

Sloane eyed him suspiciously. Minutes ago, the guy had been about to hurt something cursing him out, and now he was acting like they were best buddies. “You are a very strange man.”

Dex beamed up at him. “I prefer the term ‘unique’.”

“Let’s agree to disagree.” With a shake of his head, Sloane continued across the lounge, murmuring the occasional acknowledgment to fellow agents who greeted him. On the other end of the facility were the locker rooms, and he was relieved to see Letty outside the males’ locker room waiting for him. She handed him the confirmation paperwork. Good, he could get Dex off his back for a few minutes until he finished showering.

“Here you go. Dex’s locker assignment.”

Sloane frowned at the number on the sheet of paper. “Seriously, Letty?”

Right next to his. Perfect.

Letty shrugged, though her eyes lit up with amusement. “What? It was the only one available.”

“Are you sure?” Maybe he could convince someone to swap with Dex. If all else failed, he could always make someone swap.

“Well, there is one.” Her troubled expression twisted his gut. “But I didn’t think you’d want me to give him that one.”

“Why?” Dex peered around Sloane’s shoulder at the paperwork. “What’s wrong with the other locker?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it,” Sloane snapped.

Dex threw his hands up and took a step back. “All right. Geez, you don’t need to bite my head off.”

“Keep acting like a jackass and next time I go feral I might.” Sloane shoved the paperwork at Dex and stormed into the locker room. He shouldn’t have snapped, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t like Dex being here. Maybe if the guy had been assigned to another team, things would have been different. They might have even gotten along. But Dex wasn’t on another team. He was on Sloane’s team, trying to replace Gabe. No one could replace Gabe.

In a foul mood, he got undressed and wrapped a towel around his waist, doing his best not to think about his partner. Of course that went about as well as all the other times he tried not to think about Gabe.

Beside him, Dex quietly went about opening his new locker, his brows drawn together thoughtfully as he put his boots in. “I’m sorry about the locker. I didn’t know it

was his.”

Sloane didn’t reply, grabbed his toiletry bag and slammed his locker shut. When he turned to face Dex, the compassion in the rookie’s eyes sent a pang of remorse and sorrow through Sloane.

“I’m sorry about Gabe,” Dex added.

“If you crack one smartass joke about him, so help me….” The warning was a low, menacing growl, but he was relieved when Dex shook his head, his expression one of sincerity.

“I know what it’s like to lose someone you care about. I’m not that much of a jackass.”

Sloane nodded, feeling somewhat guilty for making the assumption, but then he was aware how defensive he was about Gabe regardless of who was talking about him. With nothing left to say, he left Dex to get undressed and headed for the showers. The rest of his team was already in there, laughing and joking as they washed the day’s workout off. Ash knew him too well by now, and his smile faded before he tilted his head in question. Sloane appreciated his friend’s concern, and gave him a reassuring smile. Ash Keeler might be an unbearable prick at times, but he was Sloane’s best friend and the only one who knew what he’d suffered.

Turning on the cold water, Sloane stood under it, letting it wash his tension away. His muscles welcomed the tiny spikes of cold liquid, and he brushed his hair away from his eyes, telling himself he needed a trim. He rotated his muscles, feeling himself relax until he heard him.

“Aw, private stalls? Where’s the fun in that?”

“Some of us’d rather not have our junk stared at,” Ash replied with a growl.

Sloane stepped out from under the showerhead and grabbed his shower gel, catching Dex’s eyes on him as Dex said, “Not staring, appreciating,” before turning his attention back to Ash, “and who doesn’t partake in a good gander every so often? If you’re gonna stand there and tell me you ain’t never sneaked a peek at another dude’s love truncheon, I’m calling bull-poopie.”

Calvin leaned his arms on the frosted glass divider, shaking his head at Dex. “I don’t know what I find more disturbing, your choice of vocabulary, or you in general.”

Dex laughed as he stepped into the empty stall between Cael and Sloane. Cael hadn’t batted an eyelash at his brother’s antics. Ash, on the other hand, turned to Cael in exasperation.

“Seriously, man, does your brother ever shut the fuck up?”