Ash grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth. He gaped at Sloane. “You called Maddock an old man?” Sloane let his head fall back with a groan, and Ash patted his shoulder. “It was nice knowing you, bro.”
They all teased Sloane, taking guesses at what Tony’s revenge would be. Dex did his best to soothe him, but the fact was, retribution was nigh. His dad did not forget things, and he rarely let them go.
“Excuse us for a second,” Ash said, getting up. He took Cael’s hand and started leading him away from the table. Well, that was weird. The table went quiet, and Ash gently pushed Cael forward.
“Keep it PG, Keeler,” Dex called out. He never knew with this group.
Ash held up a finger in Dex’s direction. “Shut your mouth.”
Dex opened his mouth to reply, but Sloane leaned in to whisper in Dex’s ear, “Don’t. He’s really nervous.”
It took Dex a second to realize Sloane was right. This wasn’t just Ash being his usual grumpy asshole self. The guy was genuinely shitting himself over something. What the hell would Ash be nervous about? He walked Cael away from the table to one of the tallboys near the bar.
“What do you think’s going on?” Rosa asked. She turned to Letty, then gasped. “You know.”
Letty blinked at her innocently. “Know what?”
“You know what’s up with Ash.”
Letty shook her head, her lips pressed together, though she was clearly trying hard not to say a word. Dex was about to charm some information out of her, but then he noticed Ash reach into his pocket. Dex almost had a heart attack when he realized it was a key. Ash handed the key to Cael while saying something. Cael’s eyes went huge as he stared at the key Ash held out. Dex let out a huge gasp and slapped Sloane’s chest.
“Ouch. Babe, what the hell?”
“OhmyGod, he’s doing it!”
“Doing what?” Calvin asked, turning to look at Ash and Cael, who’d just nodded and flung himself into Ash’s arms. Ash squeezed Cael tight to him before kissing him. Then the two walked over to the table, hand in hand. Cael’s smile couldn’t get any bigger.
Dex put his elbows on the table and let his chin rest on his hands. “So… what’s new?”
Ash rolled his eyes. He resumed his seat, pulling Cael close to him. “I asked Cael to move in with me, and he said yes.”
Dex put a hand over his heart as he leaned against Sloane. “Our little lion Therian is growing up so fast.”
Ash flipped Dex off as he hugged Cael close.
Sloane sighed. “Seems like only yesterday he was threatening to stab me with knitting needles.”
Dex let out a bark of laughter.
Taylor looked over at Angel, mischief in his eyes. “Hey, you know what you should get Cael as a housewarming gift?”
Angel’s eyes went wide. “Oh fuck. Don’t say it, bro. Please don’t—”
“A fern.”
The table broke out into peals of laughter, and Ash glared at Angel. “Why? So you can piss on it?”
“Fuck me,” Angel groaned. “One fucking time. One time.” He narrowed his eyes at Ash. “Okay, Keeler. You want a fern, I’ll get you a fucking fern farm.”
“Say that five times fast,” Calvin teased.
“You think I’m kidding?” Angel nodded. “Just you wait. You’re going to have so many fucking ferns, you won’t know what to do with them.”
Everyone laughed, and Dex sat back to watch his friends tease one another. God, he hoped none of this ever changed. Everyone in their unit knew what was happening with Destructive Delta, but Sparks was scheduled to make the official announcement in a couple of days. Dex didn’t even want to think of the media frenzy that would follow. Pushing that thought aside for now, he grabbed the bowl of gummy bears and chucked one over at Calvin, intent on smacking him in the face with gummy goodness when Hobbs pulled a Matrix and snatched the little bear out of thin air. He tossed it up and caught it in his mouth.
He winked at Dex, and Dex peered at him. “Okay, hotshot. Think fast.” He threw one at Angel, and Hobbs caught it. Damn. Big guy got some moves. Dex narrowed his eyes. He whipped out a hand, the gummy zipping toward Rosa. Hobbs dove over three of their friends and caught it.
“Oh my God, my spleen,” Angel groaned. He glared at Hobbs. “Dude, have you forgotten you weigh a fuckton?”