Wes and Art’s coming out to their friends had been effortless, if slightly embarrassing because everyone had assumed they had done much more than they had up to that point in time. However, since their debut as a couple, the Fabulous Five had bent over backward to show them they were as welcome as ever in the group, which helped, considering the side-eyes they received from certainresidents.
It had been one thing when it was just speculation, but since they’d officially become boyfriends, Art had seen the true face of a few formerly friendly residents, who appeared to be the sort who weren’t interested in having his and Wes’s relationship pushed on them by simply being out and about in the open as any other couple would have been. Fortunately, it was easy to shake off the minority opinion when the majority had been friendly and approachable, most having lived enough life to know to keep to their ownbusiness.
Frances shook her head as she assessed her team. “I guess I’m going to have to go easy on this old crowd, but you all tend to your own victories however you want. I’ll be bringing home the gold regardless, over Bernice’sdead—”
“Oh, that has to be bad luck to say,” Tony chimedin.
Frances raised her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. “Oh,damn!”
He didn’t seem interested in giving her a hard time about her impropriety. Instead, he added, “Can we just skip the laps today? My legs are killingme.”
“I’m impressed by how committed you guys are to this,” Wessaid.
“Don’t dissent, or I’ll report you to Captain Frances for insubordination,” Artteased.
“I can hear you all talking about me,” Frances piped up. “You can laugh, you can mock all you want, but you put in the work and you get the prize. You don’t, and youwon’t.”
“How many times has life proven that to not be true?” Wes whispered to Art, and Art chuckled because he sure did know the truth ofthat.
Frances opened a small cooler from herbackpack.
“What’s in there?” Gabe asked. “You don’t happen to have any brownies, doyou?”
“Some proteincrisps.”
“Ah, my Reese’s Magics,” Tony said, hopping up from his seat and hurrying toher.
“Tony, for someone whose legs were killing him, you sure got up right quick for mygoodies.”
“I think that should count as the rest of myday.”
As she handed him her “Reese’s Magics,” Tony passed themaround.
“Whatdayasay we call it a day after this, huh?” Art asked, finally deciding to sway the group vote. They’d done plenty, and he could tell that even Frances was about finished for theafternoon.
“Et tu, Art?” she asked. “Alright. I can give you guys a day, as we got two months before Field Day, but when I step in and check on your individual activities to see how you’re doing, I’m gonna be even harder on you,okay?”
“Yes, Captain,” Gabesaid.
“Ha, ha, ha,” she drew out to show her disapproval. “Does everybodyunderstand?”
“Yes, Captain,” they all said together, their uniform facetiousnessunmistakable.
“All the clowns I coulda ended up with, and I got you,” she said, shaking her head. “But now that Gabe mentioned mybrownies…”
* * *
Frances tooka drag from the vape, relaxing back on the sofa cushion in Tony’s apartment. She exhaled, the white exhaust pushing past her lips and filling the air before her. “Oh, that government stuff’s good,” she said before passing it on to Gabe, seated beside her on thesofa.
Wes and Art sat close to one another on the adjacent love seat, and a few puffs already into the game, were experiencing the effects as they giggled together, Wes struggling to keep his hands off hisman.
“Tony always has the best weed,” Gabe said. “Guess you need it when you spend years to ease the discomfort of helping all those dirty corporate moguls evade their taxes.” In life before Heathrow Estates, Tony had been an accountant at some major corporations, something Gabe took cheap shots at whenever he got thechance.
“Simply tax avoidance, I assure you,” Tony said with a smile before sniggering. “Nothing illegal, but maybe some things should havebeen.”
“Gabe, if you want to find weed elsewhere, then maybe you should keep on giving Tony a hard time,” Francesnoted.
Gabe took another drag, exhaled. “Just giving him hell. Gotta keep this lot honest. I hate the sort around this place who act like they lived totally wholesome lives and never encountered any sort of moraldissonance.”
