Hobbs tossed the gummy bear into his mouth and waggled his eyebrows.
Calvin grinned at Dex. “Ten bucks says he can catch the next one no matter where you throw it from.”
Dex jumped to his feet. “You’re on, Summers.” They both removed ten dollars from their wallets and placed them on the table. “Who’s in on this?”
Everyone placed their bets, and Dex looked around the bar. “Okay.”
Hobbs stood, and Dex crossed the room, garnering the attention of several patrons. More heads turned, curious to see what crazy Dex was up to. He held a thumb up to Hobbs, who didn’t move from beside the table. Weird. Hobbs smiled and nodded, his hand going behind him. What was he up to?
Dex took a gummy bear from the bowl and tossed it high into the air. He stared stupefied as Hobbs snapped his wrist and one of Bradley’s aluminum plates streaked through the air, hit one pillar, flew across the room, hit another pillar, and then Hobbs dove forward, rolled, and popped up to snatch the plate out of thin air. Dex’s jaw hit the floor.
Hobbs winked at him, peeled the little bear off the plate, then popped it into his mouth. The bar went nuts cheering, and Hobbs bowed first in one direction, then another. Dex stopped in front of him.
“Dude, how the—” He gasped, then marched over to Calvin. “Ooh, you took me for a ride.”
Calvin counted his winnings, then gave half to Hobbs. “And what a sweet ride it was. You should have seen your face. Oh, wait, you can.” Calvin held his cell phone up to Dex, and Dex stared at the video of him and his comically stupefied expression.
“Hustlers, the both of you,” Dex grumbled, marching around the table to drop down into his chair beside Sloane, then noticed all the nacho chips were gone. Man, it was every guy for himself with this lot where snacks were concerned. “Gonna get some more chips. Want anything from the bar, babe?”
Sloane shook his head. “I’m good. Thank you.”
Dex stood, and Sloane smacked his ass playfully. “Oh, you cad.” Dex winked at him before heading for the bar. Dom and West were there, huddled close, talking. One of the barmen came over, and Dex put in his order. West leaned back to smile at Dex.
“Thanks for inviting me, Dex. I always have such a blast with you guys. You’re a riot.”
“Glad you could make it.”
West slipped his fingers into Dom’s hair and leaned in close. Dex averted his gaze, not wanting to seem nosy, even though he was totally eavesdropping with his new Therian hearing.
“Just popping to the little Felid’s room. Don’t go anywhere, handsome.”
Dom smiled at him. “Sure. Can I order you another drink?”
“I’m good. Thanks. Back in a minute.” West purred, rubbing his chin over Dom’s shoulder before hopping off the stool. He ran his fingers across Dom’s back as he walked by. When he was gone, Dex turned to Dom.
“So what was that about?”
Dom cast him a sideways glance. “What was what about?”
“Come on, bro. West just totally left his scent all over you.”
“Yeah, he does that.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Dude, Therians don’t leave their scent on you unless they’re your partner or trying to keep other Therians away from you.”
Dom took a swig of his beer. “Yeah, I know. I have Therian brothers.”
“You do?” Dex blinked at him. “I did not know this.” How did he not know that?
“I have three older brothers. Two work for the THIRDS, one in Defense and one in Recon. All of them lion Therians.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry.”
Dom broke out into laughter, and Dex realized what he’d said. He quickly waved his hands in front of him.