Miraculously, nobody died during their camping trip, although Blade came close when he decided to try to get a selfie with a bear. As a word of warning, bears are not photogenic, especially when they’re standing on their hind legs, trying to claw your face off with their gigantic paws.
Thankfully, the group brought their little smiling psychopath—aka Lucas—who just so happened to have brought a spare grenade, which he so delicately lobbed at a nearby tree, causing the bear to run away. When the tree exploded, it scared the living daylights out of all those around, including the bear.
Reid refused to sit anywhere near Lucas for the rest of the trip.
Smart man.
“Man, it’s good to be back in civilization,” Blade announced, slamming his hand down on the bar, trying to get Alexis’s attention. “Can I get a beer, love?”
“And a pomegranate martini for me, please,” Ace added, saddling up next to his fiancé.
Niko took a sip of his vodka as he and Reid watched their two friends join them at the bar.
Nobody had mentioned anything about hearing them hooking up while camping, not even Blade, when Niko casually tossed the lube back into his tent the day they were leaving.
Niko wanted to have a chat when they got home, to try and figure out what was going on between them, but instead, they ended up trading blow jobs in the shower.
One thing was certain: Niko’s dick and apparently his heart now took orders from Reid. Perhaps they always had, but Niko was too stubborn to realize.
“I heard you were almost bear food,” Damian, one of the spare bartenders, added, passing Blade his beer.
“Not even close. Yogi took a look at these guns and ran home to Mama.” Blade flexed his right bicep.
Ace licked his lower lip as he admired his fiancé’s body.
“Let’s just say, it’s a good thing that Lucas always comes prepared,” Niko added, lifting his drink to the young man who was busy clearing a table. Some of them had to work.
“I couldn’t let my best friend become a widow before he even had a chance to become a bride,” Lucas noted without so much as a glance in their direction.
Ace raised his martini to his best friend. “And I love you for it, babe.”
Reid looked over at Niko and smiled. “You got some pretty awesome friends, you know.”
“Yeah. I got lucky with this bunch of misfits.” He wrapped his arm around Reid and pulled him in for a side hug. He noticed a few of the guys sitting across from him look up at them, their lips pulling back in what was supposed to be a smile, he guessed.
Perhaps, doing this whole gay relationship thing wouldn’t be so bad,Niko thought to himself.
Marcus came up to the bar and watched as Caden walked in.
“Hey, what’s up with the undercover dude watching the place?” Caden asked, hooking his thumb at the door, looking all levels of concerned.
“What do you mean?” Marcus asked, standing up straight as his hands balled into fists. “What did you see?”
Caden rounded the bar and stopped next to his boss.
“There’s some dude sitting in a beat-up piece-of-shit gray car, taking photos of the bar. When I walked past his car, he dropped his phone and pretended that he was adjusting his radio.”
Marcus glanced over at Blade.
“Caden, go and grab the truck and park it in front of this dude, just in case he tries to run. Blade, grab your bike and box him in at the back. If he manages to get past us, chase him down on your bike. Niko, you and I are going to go and have a chat with this guy. Alexis.” Marcus turned to face her. “You watch the bar. Use the shotgun under the register if you need to.”
With a nod, they all stood and headed in various directions.
Niko stood next to the window as he watched the man sitting in his car down the road. He was about two buildings down, but clearly not a federal agent or undercover cop. His position was too exposed, and his body language too suspicious.
Marcus waited beside Niko as they watched Blade ride off down the street. Once Blade passed the car, he circled back and then parked sideways, blocking the back of the guy’s vehicle.
At the same time, Caden pulled out in front of the guy, parking the truck at an angle and blocking the man’s escape.
