Page 88 of Reaper Razed

“Now! Can you knock on Dozer?”

“Give me five, okay?”

“Thanks, man!”

Dice: Ares you up, brother? Can you meet me in the bar?

Ares: Fuck, Dude. It’s 4 a.m.

Dice: I know.

I call Steel, and he answers straight away. “What’s up? Did you leave the door open when you snuck out? If the dogs fucked off, you can help fucking find him!”

I ignore his question. Of course he fucking heard me, fuck’s sake! “Can you meet me in the bar now?”

“Sure.” He sighs. “If you’re gonna do this, Dice, do it properly, Brother, all in. They’ve been through a lot. Make sure this is what you really want. Then grab it by the balls and make it your little bitch!”

“Seriously, that’s the worst piece of advice ever!” I hear Ray groan beside him. “Remind me not to ask you for a pep talk!”

I hang up, laughing to myself, as she’s not wrong.

As I reach the bar, I grab the tequila and take a sip. Well, actually, a quarter of the bottle, but fuck it, I need it. I'm sitting at the bar, my leg bouncing up and down as Steel walks in. “How come you're here first?”

He shrugs as he sits beside me. “Heard you break in! Got dressed in case I needed to come in and break you guys up!” He shrugs again.

Blade and Priest are next. They just take one look at my face and plop themselves down. Ares comes through in his boxers and boots. “You couldn't have gotten dressed?” Steel shakes his head at him.

“Why do I need to be dressed?” He pulls the tequila out of my hand and tosses it back as Tank comes in the back door. Out of breath, he’s clearly jogged down, and I appreciate that.

Viking stalks through next in a robe, a fucking robe. “Right, let's get this over with. I was half buried in Carmen, and if this takes too long, she will rip your dick off!” He snatches the tequila from Ares and takes a swig.

“What, no Dozer?” Steel asks, just as the back door flings open, and he walks in.

“Thanks for coming. I need to talk to you all, and this isn’t gonna be easy. I just need you to know this changes nothing for me. I’m still me, and I hope you can all see that. I don’t want things to change between us, and I don’t want you to look at me differently. I want you to still be my brothers! I don’t care about anyone else; you guys are my ride or dies, and I need you to remember that when I tell you what I’m about to tell you.”

“Dice!” His hand rests on my shoulder, and I swing my face to meet Steel’s. “You’re rambling, Brother. Just breathe and say those two words. It’s only two. You can do it, okay?”

I let out a shaky breath and sigh. “I’m gay!”

And nothing. I glance around the faces. Nothing, no reaction, no what the fucks. Just nothing.

“What the hell, guys! I hit you with this massive revelation, and you've got nothing to say?”

“Dice… oh no, I can't believe you’re gay… I never would have thought it… I love you… I'm going back to bed!” Viking gets up, kisses my head, and stalks back out of the room.

“So … you’re gay, huh?” Steel says with a smirk on his face.

“You already knew, shithead!” I bark at him. This is kind of anticlimactic. I thought there would be a massive row, a punch to the face, maybe a holy shit. I walked around naked in front of you, you bastard, but nope, not a fucking thing!

“Did you all know?” I sigh, well this sucks.

“I mean, I think we thought you were bi, but does it really matter? I'm glad you've admitted it to yourself, man, but it's 4:30 a.m., and I'm knackered! I love you, though,” Blade says as he heads out.

They all give me a hug or kiss my head as they leave, and I’m left there shell-shocked by the lack of explosion or life-shattering fucking epic fight scene. I kind of expected some fallout.

“So, you gonna stop fucking around with Dane now and actually be together?” Steel turns to face me with a look of concern on his face.

“Yeah, I’m right royally fucking that up. What the fuck do I do to make it right? I’ve no idea what I'm doing. I’ve never been in a relationship.”

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