“I’m still going to tease you about it,” Sloane said and gave him a wink.
Dex smiled warmly at his lover. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Chapter 3
“THAT WAS so good.”
The only way Dex’s shower could have felt even better was if he’d had the company of a certain sexy someone. Except that someone was being all grown-up responsible and doing laundry. Seriously? Who chose laundry over shower sex? Or at the very least a blowjob. Not that they needed a shower for any of that. He’d even lingered a bit hoping Sloane would join him, but no such luck. Dex wrapped a towel around his waist and walked out into Sloane’s empty bedroom. Where were his clothes? He strolled out into the hall and called down the stairs. “Sloane?”
“Yeah?”
“You know where my clothes are?”
“In the dryer. I washed them. They smelled like booze and sex.”
And that was a bad thing? “Okay. Mind if I borrow a T-shirt and some pants?”
“No prob. Dresser. Second drawer. The black pants with the white stripes going down the sides have drawstrings. They should fit you. There should be a faded gray THIRDS T-shirt in there somewhere. It’s a bit snug on me, so should fit okay.”
“Awesome.” Dex went to the dresser, found the pants, and slipped them on. He had to roll them up at the waist so he wouldn’t trip on them. Then he searched for the T-shirt Sloane had mentioned. He found it, held it up in front of him, and let out a snort of disgust. “Snug? It’s a fucking blanket. Bastard.” He put on the T-shirt and was about to shut the drawer when he spotted something fluffy and black. Obviously, his first thought went to sex toy. He’d almost missed it, what with it being all black and camouflaged amidst a load of black clothing. Picking it up, he discovered it wasn’t at all the kind of toy he’d been expecting, and his heart squeezed in his chest when he realized it was a black jaguar.
Swallowing past a lump in his throat, he walked over to the bed and sat down, the toy cradled in his arms. It was the white bandages wrapped around each paw that broke Dex’s heart. How long had Sloane had this? Dex noticed the white label under the tail with the initials S.B. written childishly in black marker. “Oh, Sloane.” Had this little fella sported his bandages the same time as Sloane?
“Everything okay?”
Dex’s head shot up, and his face felt like it might go up in flames. Sloane’s expression was guarded, and his gaze went from Dex to the toy in his hands and back. Crap. Dex quickly held the stuffed toy up. “I wasn’t going through your stuff. I was looking for the T-shirt, and I came across this little guy.”
Sloane gave him a nod, stepped up to him, and gently took the stuffed toy from him. “I found it in Shultzon’s house when we first thought he was Freedman. It was in his closet. I couldn’t leave it behind.”
“Was it yours?”
“Yeah. I’d always wondered what happened to it. It’s from my time at the facility. They heavily sedated me after…. You know.” He held up his wrist. “They were afraid I’d try to pull out the stitches or something. Make a second attempt. When they felt it was safe to let me go back to my room, I found this little guy on my bed. He didn’t have bandages on. I added those.” Sloane took a seat beside Dex, his eyes on the soft toy.
“I’d just finished putting the bandages on my little friend when Dr. Shultzon came in with this scruffy kid.” Sloane smiled warmly. “I remember thinking the kid was scary and mean looking. Dr. Shultzon told me his name was Ash Keeler.
Shultzon seemed to think we were going to be great friends. Neither of us believed it at first. We sat there for hours glaring at each other.” He laughed, seeming to get lost in some memory. “I remember the way I’d sat on my bed hugging my stuffed toy, glaring at the boy sitting at the end of the bed. It turned into a fierce staring contest until I lost by yawning and then hiccupping. It was hard to pull off a tough-guy routine when every time you hiccupped you sounded like a baby bird. I watched Ash trying hard not to laugh, but in the end he gave in.”
Dex climbed onto the bed and drew his knees up, studying his partner. “How did you two become friends? Sounds to me like Ash hasn’t changed much since he was a kid.” He still found it hard believing the two were so close.
A smile tugged at Sloane’s lips. “He hasn’t changed at all. He’s still mean looking and angry, but he’s as fearless now as he was then. Well, I’m sure he did get scared, but he never showed it, especially around me. They moved us into one of the bigger rooms so we could share, and I remember our first night. I woke up screaming, couldn’t stop shaking and crying afterward. Ash didn’t say anything. He climbed into bed with me and hugged me close. I knew then that I wasn’t alone. What’s more, I knew we’d always be there for each other.”
“I can’t image Ash as the hugging type.”
Sloane cast his partner a shrewd glance. “He has his moments.”
An image of Ash hugging Cael popped into Dex’s mind, followed by guilt. He’d promised his brother he’d talk to Sloane about Ash, and two months later, he still hadn’t. Well, now was as good a time as any. “Speaking of Ash. Has he ever… been with a guy?” That didn’t sound awkward. At. All.
The question caught Sloane by surprise. “Why? You interested?”
Dex hoped his uninspired expression was answer enough, not that he believed Sloane actually thought Dex harbored some secret feelings for his archnemesis. “I’m asking because I have a friend—”
“Brother,” Sloane corrected.
“Man, nothing gets past you.” Damn. His partner was too clever for his own good.
Sloane stood and propped his little friend on his dresser. “Nope. It’s best you remember that.” He came back and stopped in front of Dex to give him a quick kiss before climbing onto the bed. Dex flopped down beside him and rolled onto his back.
“Your brother’s got a thing for Ash. Has for years. You should have seen him when I introduced them. Cael went all red in the face, got tongue-tied, and then tripped over his own feet.”