Mac took a sip from the cup sitting at his elbow while Dominic settled into a seat beside him. “Ava had some meetings scheduled this week that she hated to cancel without more warning. Everyone really helped her out by taking over for her on short notice last week. We figured we’d take some time off in a few months when things are a little less hectic.” Looking blissfully happy, he added, “It’s all gravy anyway because I have my woman in my home and in my bed for good this time. I could give a shit if we never take a vacation because every day with her is paradise to me.”

“Go ahead and leave your man card on the desk because that is the most pussified statement I’ve ever heard from a dude before.” Both Dominic and Mac jerked around in surprise to see Gage smirking in the doorway. “If you getting married means we have to take up knitting and just generally turn into chicks, then I’m gonna need to do something drastic at night to get the testosterone flowing again.”

Dominic had to turn away until he had his laughter under control. Gage was loud and irreverent, but damn, he was funny, for the most part. He had always provided the comic relief in their group, even in the hellholes of Afghanistan. He’d seen very few things through the years that could bring Gage down for long. He was a glass-half-full kind of guy.

Mac cupped his hand over his cock, making a rude gesture before saying, “I’ve got your man card right here, pretty boy. If you ever find a woman you don’t have to pay by the hour, you might have some feelings to discuss.”

“Yeah, it’s still not looking too good with Crystal, either. So, the pay-to-play route is pretty much all he’s got right now,” Dominic added helpfully.

“Who’s Crystal?” Mac asked as he kicked a chair out for Gage to sit in.

Before Gage could answer, Dominic said, “That’s the girl with the tramp stamp from the parking garage who kneed him in the family jewels. I will add, though, that I’ve since discovered that she’s Ella’s sister and is not a tramp.”

Gage propped his feet up on the desk in front of him, letting the chair rear back on two legs. “And tell us, Dom, how did you find out that information? Are you friends with Crystal—or maybe you have friends in common with her?”

Dominic gritted his teeth, knowing he had asked for the sarcastic innuendo from Gage. He should have kept his mouth shut and minded his own business. Problem was, all of them were so close that they stayed entirely too involved in one another’s lives. A fact that he usually liked. Mac was looking back and forth between them, clearly trying to figure out what he was missing. He refused to sit here and squirm while Gage continued to throw out hints. “Crystal is friends with Gwen, okay?”

“Um . . . Okay,” Mac drawled out. “So, you’ve been talking to Gwen then? Have you guys been on a date yet?”

Dominic studied his friend carefully but saw only curiosity in his gaze. He knew Mac was crazy about Ava and had dated Gwen for only a short while, but it still made things rather awkward. He was absurdly grateful that they’d never slept together because that would have been hard to get past. From what both Gwen and Mac had said, their relationship had barely progressed past kissing. Even that made him feel crazy jealous if he dwelled on it. He might not own Gwen’s mouth, but he felt pretty possessive of it.

Before he could answer Mac’s question, Gage jumped in. “Oh, I think you could say that those pesky first date nerves are all behind them now. In fact, I believe they are quite . . . blissful together . . . Almost orgasmic. Wouldn’t you say, Dom?”

Dominic popped up his middle finger, giving the other man the universal go-to-hell symbol before turning back to Mac’s questioning stare. “Boy, that was fast,” he said, unable to mistake Gage’s meaning. “I was only away for a week, so when did this new development occur?”

He saw Gage open his mouth to speak so Dominic hurried to answer first. “The evening I returned from Vegas.” He winced knowing how that sounded. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to be the one to answer. Hell, Gage probably couldn’t have made it sound much worse.

Mac’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Really? How did that happen? I thought you were waiting until the opportunity presented itself?”

“Oh, it presented itself all right,” Gage chimed in, looking vastly amused.

Dominic glared at Gage. “Just a little advance notice, I’m going to kick your ass when we’re done here. And at least I have a new development in my love life. Last I heard, you were no closer to getting a date with Crystal.” Turning back to Mac, he added, “Gwen . . . approached me. I don’t want to go into a lot of detail here because frankly that would be strange, but we’re sort of together now.”

“Don’t forget the kid part,” Gage tacked on. At any other time, Dominic knew that Gage would be scanning through the security feeds without paying the conversation around him much attention. He seemed to tune into his surroundings only when he could spill the beans on either Dominic or Mac. Lately it seemed to be Dominic’s life that provided all of the office entertainment. He hoped like hell at some point in the future the other man had a serious relationship because Dominic planned to rain hell down upon him.

Mac’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head at this new piece of information. “Kid? Man, I’ve only been gone a week,” he reiterated. “Even you, Dom, couldn’t have had a kid that fast.”

Dominic grimaced as he shook his head. “No, I haven’t and I’m dearly regretting unloading on the mouth-of-the-South over there in a moment of weakness. I swear you two had better never mention that you know any of this to Gwen.”