Laughing, he chucks another piece of bread my way. “I would have if you hadn’t cut me off, dickhead.” I duck, laughing at his antics. Lucky checks his watch. “The rest of the guys need to get here. I’m starving.”
The words are barely out of his mouth when I spot Scooter coming through the door, talking to someone behind him. Close on his heels are Gator and Digit. Lucky waves to get their attention.
One by one, they drop into the booth, ragging on each other over something or other – nothing new there. I swear, some days we behave worse than naughty children.
“Where’s Knight and Dutch?” I ask.
“The big guy wanted to stop in at the hospital to say hi to Indie. Dutch said he had something he needed to take care of real quick. He’ll get here as soon as possible, but we’re to go ahead and order in the meantime,” Gator replies.
Since we have no idea how long either of the guys will be, we finally decide to simply order an assortment of pizzas for the table, and that way they can dive in whenever they happen to get here. Makes the most sense.
Knight’s the first to arrive, diving into the food almost as soon as his ass hits the seat. The first bite goes down on a moan so primal one would swear he’s having a sexual experience. Not too long after him, Dutch rounds out our numbers.
“Now that we’re all here, I’d like to invite everyone to a cookout at our place tomorrow, late afternoon,” Knight says. “Indie misses you guys, and she’s off for two days, so she wants to barbecue. Says she won’t take no for an answer.”
“I’m in,” I reply, without hesitation.
“Yeah, me too,” Gator and Digit say, almost in stereo.
“I’ll have to check with Tiggs, but I reckon we’ll probably be there too,” Lucky chimes in. “So, boss, how does it feel to be living together now?”
“She got you house trained yet?” Gator pipes up.
“Fuck you, Gator,” is Knight’s pithy response. “I haven’t found a downside yet. You considering it, Lucky?”
Lucky shrugs. “Maybe.”
I see Knight look over at Dutch, who’s been unusually quiet. “You in, Dutch?”
No response. The man appears lost in his own world.
“Dutch, you okay there, dude?” Gator nudges him.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’m good, thanks.”
“The boss wants to know if you’re joining us for the barbecue tomorrow afternoon. The boss lady’s not taking no for an answer,” Gator continues.
Dutch nods. “Sounds good. What do you need me to bring?” He looks over at Knight.
“Indie’s the one to answer that,” the man replies.
Nodding again, Dutch replies, “I’ll drop her a message.”
Conversation inevitably turns to the goat rodeo that was our latest mission, but Dutch’s weird behavior snags my attention. He’s usually engaged, actively participating in conversation, and causing mischief somewhere along the way – the prankster in the group. But today? Nothing.
While the rest of the group are deep in discussion, dissecting the mission, I lean forward to get his attention. “What’s on your mind, brother? You don’t seem your normal happy-go-lucky self today. What’s troubling you?”
Dutch lifts a troubled gaze to mine. “Just some stuff I’m trying to work out.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Nah, it’s something I need to work out on my own. But thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“Anytime. You know that, right?” I reply.
“Yeah, I do.” He holds his hand out for a fist bump.
I study him briefly, one last time, before turning my attention back to the conversation at hand and notice Gator frowning over at Dutch. Makes me wonder if he knows what’s going on. Shrugging, I put it out of my mind for the moment. And instead, thoughts of the delightful Eloise.