Rise & Fall (THIRDS 4)

Austen looked thoughtful. “How can you tell?”

“Cut the guy a break. He’s been through a lot of shit recently.” Dex sat down at the console and put in his earpiece. It was time to get this dog and pony show on the road. He didn’t even know what the expression meant, but screw it. Screw this. Screw everything. Dex was getting bored of all this asshattery. The silence that had engulfed the van was most likely due to his defending of Ash. “Austen, you going in or what?”

“Yep. Give me five minutes; then send Cal.” Austen slipped out of the van, and they watched him on the small flat screens as he appeared from behind a Ford Fiesta two cars down. He strolled across the street and headed into Candy Bar. Dex switched cameras, following Austen as he walked to the bar, took a seat, and ordered a drink.

Hobbs stepped up to Calvin, and Dex turned away, pretending to be busy with the equipment in front of him like an extra in one of those cop TV shows. From the corner of his eye, he could see Hobbs leaning in to whisper in Calvin’s ear, his hand squeezing his arm.

Calvin nodded and replied with a quiet, “I’ll be careful.” The five minutes were up and Calvin left. Hobbs sat down in the chair beside Dex and put his earpiece in. This was such a bad idea, but who the hell was going to get Hobbs to go home? Dex hoped Calvin managed to get some useful information from Bautista without having to put himself in a compromising position.

Speaking of Bautista….

“There he is.” Dex pointed to one of the screens where a dark-haired Therian in a white shirt and jeans walked into Candy Bar. They watched as he headed for the bar and took a seat on the barstool next to Calvin. Go Cal. Check out the sassy smile. Damn. Calvin was better at flirting than Dex had given him credit for. He’d given Bautista a flirty smile before turning away to look at something else. Make him come to you. Nice.

Bautista placed his order and turned slightly toward Calvin. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Calvin smiled, showing his dimple and the cute boy-next-door look Austen had mentioned. His voice was throaty and came off as kind of shy.

“You here with your boyfriend?”

Wow. Bautista didn’t waste any time. Dex kind of felt bad for the guy. What was the point of being in a relationship with someone if you were never going to be there for them? A little voice in the back of his head waited for an answer, and Dex promptly told it to shut its trap. His situation wasn’t the same as Bautista’s and Collins’s. For starters, Dex wasn’t a psychopath. Then there was the fact Sloane was hanging around indoors due to medical reasons, not because Dex had tried to keep him locked away like some princess in a tower, which Collins seemed to be trying to do with Bautista. Concentrate, Daley.

“Nah, he’s busy working,” Calvin answered somewhat wistfully. “Seems like he’s always too busy.” He took a sip of his beer and shrugged.

“Mine too. Don’t get me wrong, he loves me. I know he does. I just wish he were around more.”

“At least you know he loves you,” Calvin muttered.

Uh-oh. Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

Bautista took a sip of his drink and swiveled his chair around so he faced Calvin. “Your boyfriend’s not dropped the L bomb huh?”

Calvin shook his head. “We’ve been together a long time, and I was happy with our relationship.”

“But now things have changed?”

“Yeah. Well, for me they have. He’s amazing, warm, and the nicest guy ever. He’s fun and silly, makes me smile with his dopey grin. We’ve been through so much together. Is it wrong of me to want more?”

“Do you love him?” Bautista asked.

Dex swallowed hard, his gaze landing on Hobbs whose eyes were glued to the screen in front of him. His pupils were dilated so wide his eyes were more black than green, and if he leaned over any more he was going to fall into the equipment. Dex turned his attention back to the screen where Calvin’s blue eyes moved up, as if he were thinking, but he was actually looking past Bautista and straight at the camera.

“Yes.”

Hobbs inhaled sharply at the confession and sat back, his gaze not moving from the screen.

Man, his team was so fucked. Dex turned his attention to Calvin once again. The two continued to talk about their guys, the good and bad parts. The drinks continued, though Dex could tell Bautista was getting thoroughly merry while Calvin was pretending to. For a Human of Calvin’s size, he could outdrink the toughest Therian. It’s like the guy had been weaned on whiskey.

Bautista laughed at Calvin’s jokes and flirted back when Calvin teased him. Dex was seeing a whole other side of Calvin he’d never known existed, and he wondered how much of it was an act. Calvin was energetic, telling funny childhood stories about him and his best friend and all the mischief they got into. He listened when Bautista needed him to listen, was attentive, and when he smiled it reached his eyes. Bautista leaned in to whisper something in Calvin’s ear and Calvin nodded. Bautista stood and took hold of Calvin’s hand.

“Shit. They’re moving out.” He jumped to his feet and slid in behind the wheel of the van. Watching the rearview mirror, he watched Bautista hail a cab. As they were getting in, Dex turned the engine on and turned the van around, grateful the street was wide enough. In the mirror he saw Ash and Austen catching another cab. Dex made sure to stay at least two cars behind Bautista’s cab whose plate number he mentally jotted down. The cab traveled for ten minutes before reaching a quiet street of brownstones. Dex parked the van a few feet away, thanking his lucky stars he managed to find some space. At least something was going his way. He spotted a cab stopping at the end of the block, and two figures got out. Austen and Ash. The two disappeared into the shadows, undoubtedly to case the joint.

Bautista emerged from the cab with Calvin in tow. He pulled him up against him, gave him a kiss, and laughed before heading to his front door where he dropped his keys twice. Calvin teased him and took the keys from him. He opened the door with Bautista’s arms wrapped around his waist. They disappeared inside, and although Dex lost visual contact, they could hear everything in superclear surround sound.

Things started to get hot and heavy between Calvin and Bautista, resulting in plenty of heavy breathing, groaning, and moaning. Hobbs removed his earpiece and tossed it on the console’s surface.

“Take it easy, big guy. You know he’s just doing his job.”

Hobbs let out a huff and crossed his beefy arms over his chest, his frown deepening.