“I’m going to get something to eat. I’ll be right back.”

  Cael made a sound that could have been an acknowledgment or a response to Ash squeezing Cael’s ass. Classy.

  “Ooh! We’ll come with you,” Hudson said cheerfully, much to Seb’s obvious disappointment at having his husband suddenly more interested in food than playing doctor.

  “We will?” Seb asked. His bottom lip jutted out.

  “Darling, I love you, but, well, food.” Hudson’s eyes went wide, and he licked his bottom lip. Dex held back a laugh. Seb really had no chance.

  Seb chuckled and kissed Hudson. “Whatever you want, lobito.”

  Hobbs popped up from the depths of who knew where and dropped down onto the seat beside Dex, scaring the shit out of him. He threw a hand to his chest to stop his heart from beating out of him. “Holy fuck.” He glared at Hobbs, who “booped” Dex’s nose, a big dopey grin on his face. How the hell could Dex stay mad at that face? It was impossible. The guy was too adorable for words. And drunk. He was very clearly drunk. Calvin was looking slightly less drunk. Only slightly.

  “Ethan’s hungry,” Calvin declared, and Hobbs nodded. He rubbed his belly and pouted.

  “Well, lucky for you, we were just about to go grab some grub. The bar on the next block over has some kickass sliders and fries,” Dex said, getting up. Hobbs jumped to his feet, and Calvin took his hand. Hudson and Seb also followed, with Hudson a little wobbly on his feet, which made him giggly. Seb wrapped his arm around Hudson’s waist and pulled him close so he wouldn’t walk into any walls.

  “Dude, your man is smashed,” Dex said with a laugh as he stepped outside into the cold night air, his hands in his jacket pockets.

  “Yeah, well, you would have been too not so long ago.”

  “True,” Dex conceded. As it was, he just had a nice buzz, which was fine with him.

  The bar was busy, but they managed to snag a table with a bench wide enough for Seb to fit with Hudson tucked close beside him. Calvin sat next to Dex, and Hobbs took the chair at the end of the table beside the window and away from the crowd. It wasn’t always easy for Therians in these old bars that hadn’t caught up with the times. This place had been around for decades yet was only just upgrading to include Therian-sized seating. The tables and chairs they had installed were occupied. At least the menu included Therian-sized portions.

  A tall, long-legged cheetah Therian waitress with beautiful dark skin and big brown eyes, stopped by the table to take their order. She nudged her trendy black glasses up her nose, her long purple braids falling over her shoulders. Hudson was smitten. He leaned toward her, his smile huge.

  “Darling, your hair is amazing!”

  The waitress chuckled. “Thank you.” She gave him a wink and tapped the side of her glasses. “Love your frames.”

  “Thank you!” Hudson dropped his chin onto his hand as he gazed up at her. Man, he was so gone. Thankfully their waitress was exceptionally patient. “Your hair is really so lovely. I’ve always wanted to try a fun color with my hair.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “Why haven’t you?”

  Hudson’s brows drew together, and he sat up. He frowned at Dex. “Why haven’t I?”

  Dex laughed at Hudson’s confusion. Like he couldn’t fathom why on earth he’d never dyed his hair purple. “I’m going to take a wild guess here and say that purple isn’t a THIRDS-approved hair color. Not that the DBs would care, but you know.”

  “Oh!” Hudson grinned at her. “He’s right. I’m a medical examiner.” Hudson pointed to her name tag. “Khadijah James. What a pretty name.”

  She laughed softly at Hudson’s oh-so-drunk state. “Thank you. You can call me Dijah. What can I get you, fellas?”

  Hobbs threw his hands up high above his head, and then spread them out as wide as they could go, making Dijah laugh again. “Therian-sized everything?”

  Everyone cheered, and Dex put in an order for fries, sliders, wings, chips, dips, and more booze. Dex ordered a drink called the Lion Tamer. Seb laughed.

  “Man, I wish Ash were here to hear you order that.”

  Dex waggled his eyebrows. The food came, carried by three members of the waitstaff. It barely all fit on the table. For the drinks, they had to use one of those foldable food trays they used in restaurants.

  “What’s the occasion?” one of the waitresses asked, giving Dex a wink. She had red hair, faint freckles across her fair complexion, and friendly blue-green eyes.

  Hudson gasped. “You’re from Australia!”

  The waitress laughed. “Yes.”

  “I’m from England!” Hudson peered at her name tag. “Manuela.” He thrust a hand out, and Dex shook his head in amusement. “Lovely to meet you, Manuela. I’m Hudson.”

  Manuela took his hand with a big smile. She was either charmed by Hudson or wondering what the heck he was on to make him so excitable. “It’s lovely to meet you, Hudson.”

  Hudson released her hand and pointed two fingers at Dex. “The occasion is that he’s getting married.”

  Dex whooped and grabbed his drink. Skewered through several cherries was a toothpick with a growly lion head attached to the end. Dex was so keeping it. He could think of a dozen ways to annoy Ash with it.

  “Congratulations!” Manuela turned and announced to the bar, “Hot stuff here is getting hitched!”

  Everyone in the bar cheered and whistled, and some of them brought him drinks. Cael and Ash showed up, and Ash rolled his eyes at Dex’s lion toothpick tucked into his watch wristband so he wouldn’t forget it.

  “Oh my God, that looks so good!” Cael was practically drooling on Dex as he leaned over to sniff Dex’s slider.

  “Dude, you’re breathing all over the tasty goodness.”

  “Dex, I’m hungry,” Cael whimpered.

  “Then tell your sugar daddy to get you some food.”

  Cael snickered, and Ash smacked Dex upside the head.

  “Ow! Hey, you’re not allowed to hit me. It’s my party.”

  “Whatever.” Ash called Manuela over, and next thing Dex knew, all his friends were squeezing in around them, a mountain of food piled on the two tables that had been pushed together. Letty raised her drink, shouting over the noise of the bar.

  “To Dex and Sloane!”

  Everyone raised their drinks and toasted them, while Dex did his best not to get all mushy. The booze was getting to him, that was all.

  It was after midnight when they all stumbled out of the bar, Dex’s arm around Hudson’s shoulders.

  “Let’s go dance!” Hudson said, pulling Dex back toward the club. Everyone agreed, and they were heading back inside when Dex spotted something big, orange, and furry. He let out a huge gasp.

  “Hudson, look!”

  For some reason, Hudson looked up. With a snort, Dex took hold of his chin and moved his head down so he’d look straight ahead. Either Dex was so drunk he was seeing things, or what he was seeing was really there.

  “Dude, is that…?”

  Hudson’s eyes went huge. “Oh, no. Dexter, no.”

  “Oh yes, Dexter, yes.” Dex clapped his hands gleefully before walking over to whoever it was dressed in a giant orange gummy bear suit and handing out flyers. “Can I try on your bear?”

  The bear turned to face him and shook its head.

  “Please, man. It’s my bachelor party. I’m getting married soon. Please.”

  Another shake. Somewhere behind Dex, Seb groaned. “Come on, Dex.”

  Dex ignored Seb. “Fine. We’ll do this the hard way.” He pulled his badge out of his inner coat pocket and stuck it in the bear’s face. “Sir, I’m afraid I’m going to have to commandeer your bear.”

  “What?” the guy growled.

  “You heard me. I’m commandeering your bear. Let’s go.”

  “Lobito, what are you doing?” Seb shook his head at Hudson, who was running his hand over the bear’s arm.

  “It’s so soft. Touch it.”

  Seb stared at him. “I’m not doing that.”

  “Come on, Sebastian. Touch it.”

  “You all are fucking nuts, man.” The guy turned to Hudson. “Is he serious?”

  Hudson laughed. “Him? Serious? Never.” His smile fell away. “Except now. He’s deadly serious now.” Hudson poked Dex’s cheek. “This is his serious face. May I touch your nose?”

  “You all need to get lost,” Bear-Suit Guy said. “Now.”

  Hudson went to touch the bear-suit guy’s nose and got his hand smacked away. Hudson blinked up at him, his sad puppy eyes all wide and hurt. “You hit me? Why? I just wanted to touch your nose.”

  Dex cringed. He shook his head at Bear-Suit Guy. “Ooh, you shouldn’t have done that.”

  Seb got all up in the guy’s face. He was growly, scary, and bigger than Bear-Suit Guy. “Did you just hit my husband?”

  The guy threw his fuzzy paws up. “I’m sorry! Your friend can take the suit. I’m sorry.” He quickly popped the head off and handed it to Dex before patting his shoulder. “There’s a zipper back there.”

  Dex gave the bear head to Hudson, then unzipped the suit. The guy quickly scrambled out.

  “They’re not paying me enough for this bullshit. Bunch of crazies. I don’t know why everyone wants this stupid bear.” The second he was out, he took off, leaving a trail of bright orange flyers in his wake. Hudson frowned after him. He shook his head and tsked.

  “What a litterbug.”

  Dex laughed as he pulled on the bear suit. “I am going to scare the shit out of Ash. Someone zip me up.”

  “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Seb grumbled, taking the bear head Hudson handed him so he could help Dex zip up. As soon as he was zipped, he nodded to Seb.

  “Bear me, bro.”

  “You’re out of your damn mind,” Seb said, plopping the head over Dex’s.

  “Ouch. Why do you have to be so rough?”

  “Because he likes it rough,” Hudson purred, running a finger down Seb’s arm. “Don’t you, darling? I love how naughty you are.”

  Seb’s face looked like he was about to spontaneously combust, making Dex laugh.

  “Wow, this thing is kinda roomy,” Dex said, patting his bear belly. One side was hard and the other squishy. “There’s something in here.” He pulled his arm inside and felt around, finding two pockets. “Crap, I think maybe the guy left his wallet or something.” Dex felt around inside one pocket. Wait a second. “Shit. It’s not his wallet.”

  “What is it?” Seb asked, throwing an arm around Hudson and tucking him at his side so he’d stop feeling Seb up.

  “I think it’s… drugs. Grab my head.”

  Hudson snickered, and Seb groaned.

  “That came out wrong,” Dex admitted. “Can you take the bear head off, please.”

  Seb did as Dex asked, and Dex immediately pulled on the wide collar of the suit while he felt around in the other pocket. He peered down into the dark. Yay for Therian night vision. There were two objects. He pulled one out and frowned. It looked a little like—

  “Fuck bunnies! I have to get this off!”

  “What is it?” Seb asked, just as a group of guys in baseball caps and beanies approached Dex.

  “Hey, you got the stuff?” Gray-beanie guy looked Seb over. “Who the hell is this guy? Wiesel didn’t say there were more buyers.”

  Dex narrowed his eyes, his words aimed at Seb, who was still holding on to the bear’s head. “Hold my bear.”

  Gray-beanie guy’s eyes went huge. “Oh, shit.”

  The gang dispersed, and Dex ran after gray-beanie guy, calling out over his shoulder. “Call for backup!” He chased the guy down Ninth Avenue and then made a right onto Gansevoort Street, giving chase as fast as his bear legs would go. Thankfully, the suit was more a fuzzy onesie with a padded belly than anything, so running wasn’t difficult. He tried not to worry about the two grenades nestled in the pocket of his bear belly. Please don’t blow up. Please don’t blow up. Sloane would be so pissed if something blew up, especially him.

  “THIRDS agent! Stop!”

  The guy flipped him off, never missing a beat as he tore down the street and headed for the High Line. There was no way Dex was letting this guy get away.

  “Get back here, you dick! It’s my bachelor party!”

  “I feel sorry for your fiancé,” the guy shouted back.

  “You don’t get to talk about my fiancé! My boo is perfection. He’s all that and a bag of chips!” Maybe he should stop talking. The running was certainly not helping him clear his brain’s little booze buzz.

  “He’s clearly as crazy as you are if he’s marrying you!” The guy darted up the steps leading to the deck of the High Line, and Dex followed. He was sweating balls. It was so hot in this damn bear.

  “I’ll have you know he’s perfectly stable! He’s smart, and sexy, and the very definition of class!” How dare this jerk say one ill word about his sophisticated sexy pants. Oh, he was going down.

  Six

  Sloane let out a loud belch and laughed. “That tasted like lemonade.” He frowned as it struck him. “Fuck, I’m so wasted.”

  “I don’t care if you’re in a coma. You’re finishing this damn game.” Tony motioned to the air hockey table. “Move your ass, Brodie. You’re not winning this time.”

  Wait. Sloane peered at Tony and thrust a finger at him. “You purposefully got me drunk so you could win. Dex told me I shouldn’t play air hockey with you.”

  “Yeah, he also told his sixth-grade teacher that he couldn’t take his math test because numbers were against his religion.”

  Sloane snorted vodka and lemonade through his nose and almost choked. He coughed and sputtered, wiping his nose and mouth with his arm as Tony laughed his ass off. “You couldn’t have waited until I’d finished drinking to say that?”

  “And miss your impression of a sprinkler?”

  “Why aren’t you drunk?” Sloane narrowed his eyes at Tony, who’d had almost as many drinks as Sloane had. Why was he so sober?

  Tony shrugged. “Clearly I can hold my liquor better.”

  “Bull. Shit.”

  Tony arched an eyebrow at him, and Sloane marched over to him. He grabbed Tony’s glass off the edge of the table, sniffed it, then took a sip.

  Sloane gasped. “This is just lemonade! I’ve been bamboozled!”

  Tony reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took out a ten-dollar bill and held it up to Sloane. “I will give this to you if you say bamboozled again.”

  “You are a crafty bastard.” Sloane snatched the bill from Tony’s hand. “Bamboozled.” Ignoring Tony’s cackle, Sloane shoved the bill into his back pocket. He should have known the man would be sneaky. He was Dex’s dad after all. Sloane grinned smugly. “Doesn’t matter. I still kicked your ass. Like, eight times,” he said, glaring at his hands when he counted seven fingers. He put one more finger up. “Eight.”

  Tony eyed him. “That booze is making you bold.”

  Sloane nodded. “It is.”

  “So you gonna put your money where your mouth is and play? Or you afraid you’re gonna get your tail whipped? I’m sure Dex will make it all purrrfect.”

  Sloane eyed him. There was something Tony wasn’t telling him. “Why did you say it like that?”

  “What?” Tony frowned. “I was just saying that Dex knows how to make it all better.” A wicked gleam came into his dark eyes.

  Purrrfect.

  Sloane’s jaw went slack. He shook his head. “No.”

  Tony’s smile was terrifying. “Oh, yes.”

  “He told you! That little—”

  Tony cleared his throat, and Sloane shut his mouth. Right. Probably not a good idea to curse out the son of your soon-to-be father-in-law. However, Sloane couldn’t help sounding pained when he spoke. “I can’t believe he told you about the purring.”

  “In his defense, he didn’t mean to. He had a few too many on pizza night last week, and it slipped out while he was helping me in the kitchen. He didn’t even realize it. You’re lucky Ash wasn’t there.” Tony motioned down to the table. “So, we doing this, or you expecting an ear scratch?”

  Sloane took position at the end of the table. “It’s on. You’re going down, old man.”

  “Son, don’t make me get out Old Betsy.”

  “Sorry, sir.” Sloane cleared his throat. “That was the booze talking. You’re not old. I mean, you’re only, what? Sixty?”

  Tony narrowed his eyes. “Not until end of next year. Just shy of a year after your wedding. To my son, who highly values my opinion.”

  “Um, right.” How about you not piss off your fiancé’s dad? That would be good. Also, he has a baseball bat that he’s named and threatened you with before. Who names their baseball bat? And why Old Betsy? Why not the Hulk or Thor? Dex would probably name his something crude and inappropriate. No, wait. He’d definitely name it Bat just so he could call himself the Bat Man. Dork. Sloane snickered.

  “Boy, you okay?”

  “Hm?” Sloane blinked at Tony. “Sorry, what?”

  “You were staring off at nothing at all, then laughed at nothing.”

  “Oh, I was having a conversation with myself.”

  “You know, sometimes I wonder who the real nut in your relationship is. I thought it was Dex, but after tonight, I’m not so sure.”

  Sloane turned on the table and snorted. “The only one here missing a few marbles is you because you seem to think you can beat me. I’m a Felid. It’s in my nature to swat at things and not miss.” Sloane tapped his head. “Feral instincts.”

  Tony grunted. “Yeah, yeah. Less talking and more hockey.”

  As they played, Sloane made sure to keep a close eye on Tony. The man was incredibly sneaky. Sloane stuck to drinking water, lots of water. When they took a break, he made himself a cup of dark roast, splashed some water on his face, and did a few stretches. Tony just shook his head at him. By the time they were into their fourth game, Sloane was sober and still kicking Tony’s ass.

  Sloane dove, smacking his striker against the red floating puck and sending it into the goal on Tony’s end of the table. He threw his arms up and did a little dance. “Woo! That’s twelve! In your face.” He thrust a finger at Tony, who glared at him. “Uh-oh.” Sloane took off upstairs, Tony right on his heels.