“Yeah?”
“Of course.” Dex smiled at Sloane’s hopeful tone. Was Sloane missing him?
“Okay. See you soon, then.”
The smile in Sloane’s voice wasn’t lost on Dex, and he found himself smiling too. “See you soon.” He hung up and stood there staring at his phone. Was he really going to do this? He wouldn’t be able to keep the fact their team had been pulled from the case from Sloane, not when his partner could easily find out from Ash or any of the others. Which meant he’d have to have an excuse for being out. His phone pinged, and he let out a frustrated groan. Another meeting with PR. On second thought….
Looked like he’d found his excuse.
Chapter 5
“THIS SUCKS.”
Sloane was pouting. The hospital had given him crutches to use, along with a list of exercises he was supposed to do each day before the therapy sessions for his leg started. The crutches annoyed him. His leg not cooperating annoyed him. The asshole pulling out of his parking space with his head up his ass annoyed him.
“That guy’s pulling out,” Sloane grumbled.
“I see him.”
Sloane chose to ignore the amusement in his partner’s voice. “Well, I don’t think he sees you.” Sloane reached over Dex and slammed his fist against the horn before pressing the window button and bellowing, “Hey, watch it!” The car stopped, and the guy glared at Sloane. Wait a second. “Did he just flip me off?”
“Um….”
“I think he flipped me off. Stop the car. I’m going to get out and beat him with my crutch. Asshole. Thinks he owns the whole fucking road.”
“Easy there, grumpy pants.” Dex reached over and took hold of Sloane’s hand. He gave it a squeeze and smiled. Sloane wanted to be annoyed at Dex’s lopsided grin, but he couldn’t. He sat back with a heavy sigh and hit the window’s button to raise it.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “This just…. It sucks.”
Dex chuckled. “You sound like me.”
“No. If I wanted to sound like you, I’d have said ‘this sucks aaaaass,’ followed by the chewing of gummy bears or crunching of Cheesy Doodles.”
“You are as wise as you are grumpy.”
“I am a grumpy pants,” Sloane admitted. “You sure you want me around like this?”
Dex stopped at the red light and leaned over to give his lips a quick kiss. “Absolutely.”
It felt like hours before they reached Dex’s house, but in reality, it hadn’t been long. He was pretty sure he’d dozed off once or twice. Damned meds. Getting out of the car was the first challenge. Sloane had been forced to lean on his crutches. It was going to take getting used to. He already wanted to chuck them into the middle of the street so they could get run over by a truck. Dex took hold of one of the crutches and wrapped his free arm around Sloane’s waist. His smile kept Sloane from bitching and cursing every step of the way. Though he did a fair amount of it anyway. Each step had been excruciating, and the few steps leading to the front door might as well have been the goddamn Andes Mountains. His body ached all over, his side was killing him, his head hurt, and he was already out of breath. Fucking awesome.
“It’s okay. We have lots of time,” Dex said, his voice soothing in Sloane’s ear. By the time Sloane was at the top, his brow was beaded with sweat.
“I’m fucking heavy.”
Dex chuckled and gave his bicep a squeeze. “It’s all that sexy muscle.”
His partner was crafty. Sloane knew what Dex was doing. What he’d been doing since Sloane had been released from the hospital. He was distracting him. From the frustration, the pain, the urge to throw a punch at something. Sloane appreciated it to no end. Somehow he wasn’t surprised Dex was the only one who could drive him to distraction. Even now as Dex unlocked the front door and bent over to pick up the mail on the floor, Sloane found himself distracted. It was the first time he’d thought about anything sexual. Now he couldn’t stop thinking about it. About Dex lying under him gasping and moaning, begging for Sloane to fuck him. God, he missed that.
“Fuck!”
Dex spun around, his eyes wide. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“We can’t have sex,” Sloane whined.
Dex stared at him before bursting into laughter. “Is that what you’re worried about? Not having sex?”
Sloane glared at Dex as his partner helped him inside and closed the door behind them. “I don’t see what’s so funny. This is a serious situation.” The sinful look on Dex’s face was enough to have Sloane swallowing hard. It was followed by Dex slipping his arms around Sloane, his hand migrating south to Sloane’s ass where he gave it a squeeze. When Dex spoke, his voice was low and husky.