Hell & High Water (THIRDS 1)

Sloane turned off his shower and nodded. “Okay. But I need to go home first, grab a few things. Haven’t had a chance to do laundry yet.”

“Sounds good.”

They stepped out of the showers, towels wrapped around them, when Dex felt Sloane’s hand on his ass. He leaned in to whisper in Dex’s ear from behind.

“Maybe we’ll find an even better way to relax.”

Dex felt his face go up in flames. He turned his head, his lips inches away from Sloane’s. “I’m sure we could come up with something.” If Sloane’s quiet words hadn’t been enough to get Dex squirming in his towel, Sloane’s quick kiss to his lips sealed the deal. Oh God, he was about to get a hard-on at work, and the bastard that was the cause of it was loving every moment of it.

Think unsexy thoughts. Think unsexy thoughts.

Ash’s growl echoed through the showers. “What are you two gay boys doing in there?”

Aaand done.

Sloane rolled his eyes as he headed toward the locker room with Dex. When they got outside, Dex smiled pleasantly at Ash. “We were talking about opening a strip club together. We’re going to call it Destructive Divas. You can’t be in it, on account of your allergy to nuts, but we’re willing to take you on as our mascot. How do you feel about leather chaps?”

Ash snarled at him.

“No? Latex?”

“Fuck you, Daley.” Ash slammed his locker shut and stormed off. With a satisfied grin, Dex turned to Sloane who was chuckling as he got dressed.

“I think he’s coming around.”

“Coming around to give you a beating,” Sloane replied, slipping into his coat and zipping up. “I’ll see you later.” He gave Dex a pat on the back and with Dex facing the rest of the team, his teammates couldn’t see the way Sloane’s fingers grazed down Dex’s spine, falling away only when they reached his lower back. Dex clenched his teeth, watching Sloane stroll out of the locker room. Cocky bastard. Dex was going to have to make him suffer tonight.

“I’m glad you two are getting along.”

Dex smiled at his brother as he got dressed. “Yeah. I was worried at first, but we worked it out.”

“You mean you wore him down,” Cael teased.

Dex couldn’t help but laugh. “That too.”

“What are you up to tonight?”

Hopefully, lots of sweaty, grunting, sexy man sex. “I invited Sloane over for a couple of beers, see if I can’t get his mind off this case for a while. It’s really doing a number on him.”

Cael’s smile faded, a heavy sigh escaping him as he leaned into the locker. “Yeah, it sucks.”

“You okay?” Dex closed his locker and studied his brother. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his face was paler than usual. As much as he wanted sexy time with Sloane, if his brother needed him, he’d be there. “You want to come? You look like you could use a little distraction.”

“Nah, I’m fine, just haven’t had much sleep trying to find something to go on. Thanks for the invite, but I’m going to catch a movie with Ash.”

“Ash? I didn’t know you guys hung out.” Not that he had anything against it, but it was weird. Ash was so unlike Cael in every way, and Cael had an aversion to douchebags yet he didn’t seem to have a problem with Ash.

Cael shrugged. “Yeah, since I first joined. He’s cool.”

That made Dex snort. “You and I have very different definitions of what cool is.”

“No, really, he is. I know he comes off as a jerk sometimes—don’t make that face at me—but that’s just what he’s like at work. I mean, he’s got to be tough. He’s a First Gen Alpha. A lot of agents look up to him, have expectations, but he’s always been nice to me.”

Ash was capable of making friends. Who knew?

“Okay, you crazy kids have fun. Call me if you need me.” He gave Cael’s cheek a pat and walked off, pretending he wasn’t at all excited about Sloane coming over tonight. Man, he was in trouble if he was excited this early in the game.

SLOANE FOUND himself tapping his fingers against his steering wheel in rhythm to some cheesy pop song on the drive home. He hadn’t even realized he’d been doing it. What the hell was he listening to anyway? At the red light, he checked the station, wondering how it had gotten on Retro Radio. That ass. Sloane couldn’t help but chuckle. Dex must have switched the station before getting out of the car that morning, because they certainly hadn’t listened to it on the way to work. He reached to switch it off but decided to leave it. God help him, he must be losing his mind, but he felt oddly comforted by it.