Page 40 of Sloth
“Hey, dude,” Tony said, coming up to him.
The man managed to look as though he’d sprung straight from one of his movie sets, despite coming in late, drunk, and with lipstick all over him. He somehow made the messy hair, puffy-eyed-bachelor-look like it was always meant to be that way.
Tony clapped Max on the shoulder. “No hard feelings about last night?”
Max frowned, trying to understand.
“The elevator.”
“Oh. Yeah, nah. It’s all good, mate. I get it, you were trying to help.”
Tony inspected Max’s face. “Thought it would get you two on the same page, but guess I was wrong.”
“Me too.”
Tony slid a gaze toward his sister. “Everything cool?”
Max also stared hard. He wasn’t sure.
“How is it,” Max said, avoiding the topic. “You look like you stepped off a movie set, while I’m in LeBron James Sweat-Mode.”
“I don’t do it on purpose.”
It started as a joke, but Max detected a tone of resentment in his voice, and faint scowl on his face.
Tony added, “But you’re used to this, right? The hiking, I mean. We’re not pushing you too hard?”
“Yeah—” Max pulled his sweaty shirt from his chest and fanned the cool air in. “All good, mate. Piece of cake.”
“So, look. Here’s the thing. Remember that time we had to go into that forest overnight, and it was just us and no superiors?”
A smile tipped Max’s lips. That year Tony had spent training with his SAS regiment had been one of the best in his life. Tom-Tom and Daymo were there. And of course, Gale. “That’s when the boys started calling you Hollywood.”
Tony gave an exasperated sigh. “Like I said, can’t help it if I’m beautiful. Where do you think I got the idea to act?”
A fly buzzed and Max waved it away. “Thought you got it from those b-grade pornos you used to watch.”
For a moment, Tony stared back with wide eyes. Probably because back in Australia, the only way to deal with a tall poppy was to cut it down, and Tony had been the tallest of all. “Stay grounded” was their motto. Max and the crew had spent their training time teasing the shit out of Tony—and they expected Tony to do the same for them. They used to tell him the only person who’d ever watch him star in a movie was his mom, and then it would probably only ever be a porn. That spawned a crap-load of mom jokes.
For a minute, Max thought maybe the joke had worn off, but Tony smirked. “Good one, Johnson.”
Max smirked, eyes crinkling. “I would add a mom-joke, but seriously, your mom scares me.”
“Me too. Damn it’s good to hang out with you again.” The two of them chuckled and shared a quiet moment. Then Tony ditched a pebble at Max. “You know, if I’d been able to, I’d have gone back with you.”
Max’s throat tightened at the reference to Gale. “Yeah I know, but I get it. It wasn’t your job. Not mine anymore either. You got important shit to do here.”
Tony shrugged. “Sometimes it feels exactly like that—shit.” Max didn’t have time to query him because Tony continued, “Speaking of shit, I want to get back at Sloan for the stunt she pulled on me last night.” Tony darted a glance at Sloan, then lowered his voice. “So, you remember that time you all pulled that falling animal prank on me during that squad training in the forest?”
Suspicion crept in. Why was he asking? “You mean the fake Drop Bear?”
“Yeah. Let’s do the same to Sloan.”
Max cast a wary eye to where Sloan stood, one boot on a rock, iPad balanced on a knee. Parker loomed over her as he re-tied his sweaty auburn hair into a masculine bun, biceps and pecs bouncing.
“It only works in Australia. You don’t get killer koalas out here.”
“What about some other animal, though?”
