Page 12 of Doubling Down

“What guy?” Eric could pretend that he had no idea what Dane was talking about. It might work.

Now Remi was leaning over him.

Eric huffed. “Fuck off.”

“This must be serious,” Dane pushed Eric’s chair back until it was against Remi then slid to sit in front of Eric. A little too close.

“I think we need to discuss boundaries again,” Eric quipped.

Remi snorted behind him. “I’ve seen you naked more than the person in my last relationship.”

Laughter rang around the room.

Eric peered around Dane’s large body to glare at the other officers. “Doesn’t anyone have work to do?” he demanded.

“No!” chorused around the room.

“Yes, you do!” Remi barked. “Anyone still in the room in ten minutes gets to change into their uniforms and do street patrol.”

It was comical how fast the cops could move when threatened with the one thing they all dreaded. Going back to patrol. It could be boring work right until it wasn’t.

“I should—” Eric tried to rise from his chair.

Remi’s fingers dug into his shoulder as Dane narrowed his eyes.

“My office!” Remi declared. He forced Eric from his seat and started to direct him across the room, Dane at their heels and Dane’s new shadow staying by his master’s side. Brandon was really going to love Maverick.

He could make a break for it. Eric ran three to five miles every morning. Yes, it was more for necessity instead of fitness like Brandon had accused. He would never live it down from his fellow officers if he allowed a suspect to get away.

“I’m faster,” Dane whispered in his ear.

Eric jerked away. “Dude! I’m going to get your dog to eat you.”

Dane’s low chuckle was not a surprise. Eric didn’t know much about the K-9 program but from what he’d witnessed, the canines were the best trained in the country. He doubted he would ever get Maverick on his side. It was still fun to tease.

And Eric was trying to think about anything other than being dragged away by his friends so they could interrogate him.

Remi opened his office door and Eric stepped over the threshold before going straight for the mini fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water then flopped onto the couch in the corner.

Dane sat next to him as Maverick settled on the side of the couch. Remi moved around his desk, sitting down. They both stared at him. Slowly Eric twisted off the top of his water and took a long drink. Maybe his friends would get bored.

“I have all night,” Remi told him.

“Well, I don’t. I need to be in the field with my team in thirty minutes. Spill.”

Eric drained half the bottle. He could talk to his friends. There would be no judgment. Not with everything they’d been through together. Looking around the office that Remi had been promoted to, Eric saw the space held small reminders of their past. Photos in frames hung or walls or sat on shelves, with Eric and Dane in most of them.

For years they’d been a tight team. Eric trusted these two men with his life. More, he trusted them with Brandon’s.

Dane snatched the bottle out of Eric’s hand.

Pushy bastard.

“There is this guy,” Eric started.

“Yeah, figured that out. Who is he?” Dane asked.

“Just a guy from the coffee shop at the casino,” Eric said.

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