Rack & Ruin (THIRDS 3)

Dex opened the bag and gasped. “Sweet baby Jesus.”

“Is that okay?”

“Okay?” Dex wiped an imaginary tear from his eye before reaching into the bag and pulling out the rainbow-colored, sugar-coma-inducing pastry. He whispered reverently. “You got me a Fruity Pebbles donut. Do you know how much sugar is in this?”

“Enough to make me diabetic just by looking at it.”

“I know,” Dex replied in awe. “You’re so good to me.” He gave Sloane a kiss and headed for the kitchen to fetch a glass of milk. Sloane followed. “I take it your visit with the doc went well?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if it’ll change anything or stop the dreams, but I do know that by the end, I felt… better. Maybe talking to him does help. Either way, I promised I’d drop by for another chat sometime soon. He’d like for you to come, if you don’t mind.”

Dex gingerly put his donut on a piece of paper towel and smiled at Sloane. “Of course I don’t mind.” He sat at the counter with his donut and glass of milk, eating while Sloane told him about the visit and what they talked about. Once they’d finished, Dex was stuffed. In a little while he’d be on a sugar high so fierce he could probably hear colors. That worked out for both of them because Sloane decided to put Dex’s energy to use. They had sex in the living room, kitchen, on the stairs, and in the shower. It had been fast and hot as fuck. They showered and Dex came crashing down from his sugar high as they lounged on the couch.

Sloane was stretched out beside him, his head on Dex’s lap, while Dex absently stroked his partner’s hair.

“I can’t believe your dad actually went through with it,” Sloane grumbled. He’d been lamenting over the loss of his hair for hours.

“He did warn you he was going to take a pair of scissors to it if you didn’t cut it,” Dex replied. It wasn’t as if Dex hadn’t tried to warn Sloane. Anthony Maddock did not make idle threats. He simply bided his time, waiting for the right moment to make good on them.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think he’d actually butcher it!”

“You should’ve known better,” Dex said with a laugh. “At least it’s still long enough to run my fingers through. Either way, you still fiiine. I like it. Marcus did a great job. It’s kind of rockabilly.”

“I don’t know what it is. I just tell Marcus to deal with it and he does. I’m glad you like it though.” Sloane leaned his head back and smiled, prompting an upside-down kiss from Dex. He didn’t say so, but Dex enjoyed these moments where he got to do nothing but be with Sloane. Being in a secret relationship was more difficult than he’d thought. At work Dex had to be constantly on alert, making sure he didn’t accidently let something slip that would give them away. Friday nights were date nights, and although Dex looked forward to those days every week, it usually involved a lengthy car drive outside the city. They couldn’t afford to be caught by a fellow agent, or worse, the media. At times he wished they could have a normal relationship out in the open, but for now, he’d take what he could get. Which reminded him….

“So I’ve been thinking.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Dick,” Dex chuckled. “We’ve been exclusive awhile.”

“We’ve been exclusive always. Unless we count your unhealthy affair with coffee.”

Dex gave a sniff. He wasn’t about to disagree with it. “The goddess of java shall not be denied.”

“I worry about you sometimes.”

“You sound like my family.”

“No. They worry about you all the time. I know. Cael should have it embroidered on his uniform to save him from grumbling it every few hours.”

Dex worried his bottom lip, telling himself he should just spit it out, or he’d obsess over it until he did something stupid and blurted it out at the most inappropriate moment. “Anyway, I was thinking that maybe we should… ditch the condoms.” Dex braced himself. There was a long pause before he heard Sloane let out a shaky breath. Damn it. He should have known it was too soon. Just because they had awesome sex and Sloane seemed happy to go along with most of Dex’s crazy ideas didn’t mean he was ready to—

“Okay.”

“Wait. What?” Dex looked down into Sloane’s amber eyes. “Really?”

“We’ve both got a clean bill of health, get tested every quarter, don’t mess around with anyone else, so why not?” Sloane gave him a smile, though Dex wasn’t fooled. He could see Sloane was nervous about it. But he could also see how much Sloane wanted to do this for them, and Dex didn’t take the gesture lightly.

“Wow.”

Sloane tilted his head to one side, studying Dex. “You thought I was going to get cold feet?”

Dex felt his face grow hot. “To be honest? Yeah.”

“You’re so cute.”

“I don’t know what to do when you say things like that.”