Dale still couldn’t believe his luck.Marsh had grabbed the SD card from the drone, and ran a quick view and actually watched them dragging his unconscious ass out of the gym and over to the build site.
“As much dumb luck as investigative magic, but that drone certainly worked as a diversion, though,” Ty said.“We locked the Ridge down and brought you home.”
Silence for a beat.Then Dale said, “I wanted to be the man who walked himself out.”
Oren’s hand pressed once.“You were the man who gave us what we needed so we could walk in and get you.”
Ty lifted his head, so his eyes lined up with Dale’s.“And then you were the man who let us hold you.That is how this triad rolls, so don’t argue.”
He didn’t.Not because he couldn’t.But because he was outnumbered and they had the truth on their side.
They drifted for a while—kisses without haste, a slide of hands that was more inventory than heat, the kind of touch that said stay with us, and meant it.Dale’s ribs didn’t argue.His shoulder made a slight complaint, but he ignored it.
Eventually Ty settled along Dale’s right side, half draped, half brace.Oren tucked in left, arm across Dale’s middle, chin on his sternum.
Ty’s voice softened.“Have you heard from Hogan?”
“Still dark,” Dale said.“No news from Dev either.Bateman’s pretending he’s not watching the clock, but we know that he is.Out of all of us, Hogan was the one we never would have thought would go AWOL on us.He is rock solid steady, which is why he makes such a damn good pilot.”
“Any word on Kai?”Oren asked.
Dale shook his head.“No, and I think that is what Dev and Bateman are so concerned about.”He paused.“From what I can tell about the man, he has exit strategies upon exit strategies.If you need to get a hold of something or find a way into a place, then Kai is the one they go to.For him to be completely off grid like he is?It means that something not good has happened, and he is on his own in hostile territory.But if anyone can find him, it’s Hogan.We owe him when he gets back.”
“Thank you and whiskey,” Ty said.“Hogan sounded rough when he called that day.”
Oren nodded in agreement.“Stressed, but if he was still looking for Kai, then, yeah, he probably was.”He turned his gaze to look up at Dale.“He’ll reach out, though, right?When he needs us?”
“Christ, I hope so.”Dale was quiet for a moment then voiced a thought he had been having these last couple of weeks.“Been thinking about our future, and building something that is ours, just for us.”
“Uh-oh,” Ty said.“He’s about to ask for a forever home.”
“Luckily, we have an architect in the family,” Oren said.
“And an engineer,” Ty added.
Dale let himself smile.“Was planning on leaning on those two handy little skill sets.The Ridge has the south rise nobody uses—good sun, wind break from the pines, close enough to be here when we are needed, but far enough away that we can be loud.We put our house there.One level.Big kitchen.Mudroom like an airlock, because I refuse to keep sweeping sawdust out of our hall.”
“Excuse me,” Ty said, indignant for sport, “my hall is pristine.”
“Because Oren sweeps up behind you when you’re not looking,” Dale said.
“Allegedly,” Oren said.
Ty laughed into Dale’s shoulder.“Fine.Forever home.High windows.Wraparound deck.An indecently large shower that also qualifies as physical therapy.”
Oren’s voice warmed.“Radiant heat.Good insulation.We’ll overbuild the frame and make Marsh happy with a security package that makes him drool.Ty will label the drawers and pretend he isn’t delighted when we put things back where he said.”
“I do not label drawers,” Ty said.
“You do,” Dale and Oren said together, which earned them a bruised-ego look and a kiss each to settle the score.
Dale let his eyes close because he could.“We’ll need more houses eventually,” he said into the quiet.“Not just ours.What we’re building here—people are going to need places to come back to.Family, not just team.Somewhere you can leave your gear and know that when you return, it will still be here.”
Oren’s hand tightened once.“We can draw that.”
“Tomorrow,” Ty said.“Tonight, we do the staying part.”
Dale let the word sit with him.Staying.It tasted like something he’d been hungry for without naming it.He felt their weight and didn’t resent it—he claimed it.He thought about the path that had brought them here, the stupid turns and the part where he’d said the wrong thing with the right fear behind it.He thought about Oren’s voice in his ear and Ty’s hands on the cuffs and the way the Ridge had held its breath while they moved through it.
