"And Seb took off after some of the other guys after handing you the bear head, and told you to get backup."
"Correct. All the men were arrested half an hour ago, including the one Dex was after."
"And how did he end up hanging over the rail of the High Line?"
"Well, from what I've been told, the man Dex was chasing tried to jump over the rail as there was a flower stand beneath it, but Dex grabbed him, and they both went over, only Dex's costume got snagged. The
HPF arrested the man, but Dex was good and stuck, and unfortunately the newspeople arrived before they could get him down."
Sloane checked the news, and they were back to reporting incidents in the city that thankfully did not involve his fiance.
"Where's Dex now?"
"On his way back to the club. He gave his statement, and they released him. Please don't be cross with him, Sloane."
"Maybe he should come home."
"Or, perhaps we should continue the evening. It is his bachelor party. I imagine he's worried you're going to be upset with him, and I have no doubt Sparks isn't going to be too pleased that he's ended up in the news. Again."
Sloane sank down into the couch. This wasn't how he'd wanted Dex's evening to go. He wasn't thrilled about Dex ending up on the news the way he had, and Sloane was certainly going to get to the bottom of whatever the hell had happened tonight, but it hurt his heart that Dex's evening took this kind of turn. He'd wanted Dex to look back on this night with fond memories.
"I'm not upset with him. I'm not happy about it, but I wanted tonight to be fun for him."
"He's missing you terribly."
Sloane couldn't help his dopey smile. "I miss him too." With a sigh, he sat back. "Tell him I said to have fun and not worry about what happened. We can talk about it later. This is his night. Everything else can wait."
"Wonderful! Cael and I will take care of it."
"Good. If you need me, you have my number."
"Thank you, Sloane."
"You're welcome." He hung up and shook his head. Was he really surprised? Had it not been for the news vans showing up, the whole incident would have been pretty low-key, at least where Dex and Destructive Delta were concerned. He supposed he should be grateful nothing got blown up.
Chapter 7
IT WAS close to two in the morning, and the dance floor was packed so tight it was hard to tell who was dancing with whom. Dex didn't care. He was running on profuse amounts of booze and sugar. Three hours ago he stopped caring about what his hair looked like. It was plastered to his head from the sweat, and when his dress shirt started doing the same, he'd stripped it off, remaining in his white short-sleeved V-neck undershirt. He'd noticed several of his friends had done the same.
Whoops and catcalls caught his attention, and he found his friends cheering Cael and Ash on. Ash was clearly drunk. He'd already stripped down to his black tank top, and was pressed against Cael from behind. As "Cum on Feel the Noize" by Quiet Riot blasted through the speakers, Cael danced down low, and Ash followed him, one arm around Cael's waist as they moved together. Dex had to give Ash credit. The burly lion Therian didn't miss a beat. He matched each one of Cael's slinky, seductive moves.
"Mind if I cut in?" Dex not so subtly turned the guy dancing with Zach onto someone else. The guy didn't even realize. He was way too drunk. Dex waggled his eyebrows at Zach. "Hey there, big fella."
Zach shook his head, but Dex could tell he was trying hard not to smile. It seemed to be Zach's mission in life to make sure Dex knew he was the most annoying thing in Zach's world, and it made Dex laugh every time.
"Having a good time?"
Zach nodded.
"Awesome!" Dex grabbed the wrist of the guy dancing to his left and jerked him in between himself and Zach. "Oh, look who it is."
"What the hell, Daley?" Austen growled at him over his shoulder.
"Shut up and dance," Dex said, crowding Austen the extra few inches needed for Austen to be pressed up against Zach. With a pointed look at Zach, Dex motioned down to Austen. "If you don't hold on to him, he's gonna run."
Austen cursed at Dex, and Zach did what Dex had been hoping he'd do. He didn't hesitate in wrapping both beefy arms around Austen and holding him tight.
That's my boy.