Catch A Tiger By The Tail (THIRDS 6)

It did not look good. Oh my God, stop moving. You’re making it look worse! Ethan felt his face going up in flames. Why did every encounter with Dex end up with someone in a compromising position?

“I don’t even have words.” Sloane shook his head, clearly at a loss.

“I fell!” Dex squawked.

Ethan finally got his chair unstuck, and Dex hit the carpet face-first. He scrambled to his feet and ran over to Sloane. With his most charming smile, he took Sloane’s hand in his.

“Babe. Darling. Snookums. I can explain.”

Sloane eyed him dubiously. “You know, if this is your way of saying you want a foursome, I gotta say I’m not really the sharing type.”

“It was an accident.”

“Awful lot of ‘accidents’ lately.”

At Dex’s unimpressed expression, Sloane held his hands up.

“Just saying.”

“Not funny,” Dex muttered.

Sloane smiled and gave Dex’s ear a tug. “It is a little.” He chuckled at his boyfriend’s pout and pulled at his arm. “Come on. Let’s go home before Ash finds you and we have another Running of the Agents on our hands. Your dad’s still pissed about having to replace the water cooler near the archive room. It also didn’t help he was standing there when it exploded. I would have thought the water would have missed him, like the parting of the Red Sea, on account of how pissed he was, but nope. Soaked him completely.”

“Okay, that one wasn’t my fault. How was I supposed to know Ash was having a bad day?”

Calvin took a seat behind his desk with a scoff. “That’s like saying I didn’t know cats had claws.”

“He’s improving,” Sloane replied, just as Herrera whizzed by leaving behind a trail of panicked apologies and promises to buy Ash a truckload of ferns. “Shit. Looks like Ash is back.” Sloane took hold of Dex’s arm and peered out. “Let’s go. It’s your turn to cook dinner, and I’m hungry.”

“Gee, thanks, partner.”

Sloane waited until the coast was clear before he took off with Dex in tow. Ethan watched them go, dodging and ducking through the bullpen like they were on a secret mission. Dex rolled behind a desk as Ash approached to ask one of their coworkers if they’d seen him. As soon as Ash turned, Sloane gave Dex the signal, and they scurried away. Ethan chuckled. Those two. He turned his attention to Calvin, and the smile fell off his face. His best friend was staring down at his blank desk.

“Cal?” Ethan said softly.

“I’m going home.” Calvin stood, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

Fine. Then I’m coming too. He got up and ignored Calvin’s deep frown. There was no point in prolonging the inevitable. As much as Ethan knew Calvin was telling himself he wouldn’t blow up, he always did. Why did his best friend hold everything in?

As expected, Calvin waited until they got home to explode. He preferred to lose it in private. Unfortunately it meant he got to stew over it all day until he was ready to burst. He paced the living room before rounding on Ethan.

“I can’t believe you!”

“I was doing my job,” Ethan replied calmly. He sat on the couch as Calvin paced.

“No, you were taking a stupid risk. Getting hurt to save Dex was one thing, but what you did back there was—” Calvin let out a frustrated growl before he spun on his heels and threw his arms up. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about defusing the bomb.”

“Don’t,” Calvin warned. “My God, Ethan.”

His eyes grew glassy, and Ethan deflated. He knew Calvin would be mad, but he hadn’t expected this.

“When

you got caught in the explosion at the Therian Youth Center, I’d never been more terrified in my life. I thought I’d lost my best friend. Then I realized you were more than that. Everything changed for me during that Fourth of July party when I saw you fucking that guy, and I know it took me a while to figure it all out, but seeing you lying in that hospital bed…. All I could think about was that I’d never get the chance to tell you how I felt about you. I love you, Ethan. I know you might not be ready to accept it, but it doesn’t change how I feel. And for you to disregard your safety like that….” Calvin walked off down the hall, the sound of his slamming bedroom door making Ethan flinch. There was no point in arguing or trying to talk to Calvin when he was pissed off like this.

Ethan spent the next few hours attempting to keep himself occupied. He tried napping, watching TV, listening to music, reading. Nothing helped. He felt miserable for hurting Calvin. It had been happening too often lately. For a moment he thought they’d been making progress, but every time they took one step forward, they ended up taking two steps back. How long could they keep this up?