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“Do I really have to, Boss?” Sonny huffed as he looked at Jason where his team lead stood at his cage.
“Yes, Sonny, you really have to.” Jason managed not to roll his eyes.
“It’s unfair,” Sonny grumbled as he grabbed his shades and wallet and stumped out of his cage. He didn’t understand why it was necessary to do this so called team bonding stuff. He didn’t even know the kid, having only worked together for three months, now the brass wanted them to all bond over whatever the fuck they had to bond over.
“What are we going to do, Boss? Are we going to play pin the tail on the donkey and drink red soda?” He kept on grumbling as he made his way over to the door where Jason stood waiting for him.
“No, Sonny, we’re going to hold hands, and sing Kumbaya.”
Sonny nearly tripped over his own feet as Trent’s voice sounded from the other side of Jason. “What the fuck?” He shook his head vehemently. “No, there’s no fucking way I’m taking part in that kind of shit.” He turned around and tried to head back to his cage. A hand grabbed him by his t-shirt and dragged him back to the door.
“You’re coming with,” Jason shook his 3IC hard. He slapped Trent on the bicep. “And you, stop fucking around. It’s bad enough corralling Sonny where we need him without you talking shit.”
“Yes, Boss, sorry, Boss,” Trent replied, but he didn’t sound remorseful at all.
Jason glared at him, huffed and then with his fist still on the back of shirt walked to the exit.
“Feels like you’re dragging me to my death, Jace.”
“Shut up, Sonny, or I will kill you, and not merely drag you to your death.” Jason shook the larger man.
Sonny remained silent and the three men made their way to where Jason parked his truck. Jason pushed Sonny into the back seat while Trent took the front passenger seat.
“Hey, I call shotgun.” Sonny tried to open the door, but found the door didn’t want to open from the inside. “The child lock is on, Boss!” He huffed. “Come on, this is taking it too far!”
“Suck it up, Buttercup.” Trent grinned and Jason shook his head. He hated the fact that he lost to Ray in rock paper scissors. He knew Ray had no problem in getting the kid and Brock to where they needed to go.
Sonny grumbled under his breath, but remained quiet when he saw Jason glared at him through the rearview mirror. He wanted to cross his arms and stomp his foot, but Jason might shoot him if he took it that far. He leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. He didn’t have to see where this doom parade was taking him.
The ride wasn’t long at all and when Jason switched off the engine, Sonny opened his eyes. He frowned. “We’re at the Bulkhead.”
Jason managed not to roll his eyes and Trent sighed. Both men got out and Trent opened the rear door and even bowed for Sonny as the man got out.
“You’re a fucking ass.” Sonny slapped Trent on the back of the head and laughed as they headed in. If their team bonding was being held here, he might be able to survive it.
They entered the bar and Sonny came to a halt as the bar erupted with yells of SURPRISE!
Sonny stood there with his mouth hanging open. Someone slapped him on the back and handed him a beer in the one hand and a shot in the other. Without a word he downed the shot and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Happy birthday, brother!” Jason grinned from ear to ear as he pulled his brother closer and hugged him tight.
Sonny laughed. “There’s no fucking team bonding shit.”
Jason shook his head. “No, there’s no team bonding shit.” He handed Sonny another shot. “Just a birthday party.”
“Whose idea was this?” Sonny asked as they moved through the people. He accepted shots between his beer, and hugged more than one person as they moved to where the team stood at the pool table.
“You’ll never believe me if I told you.” Jason moved away from Sonny and took his place next to Ray. He glared at his best friend. “I want a do over.”
Ray grinned. “You can’t have a do over in rock paper scissors, Jace. You lost, fair and square.”
“You cheated, Ray. I don’t know how, but you cheated.”
Ray shook his head. “Are we going to play?” He nodded towards the pool table. Brock was already racking up.
“I’m in,” Jason placed his empty beer bottle on the table.
“Anyone up for a game of darts?” Their rookie asked. He stood with a set of darts in his hands.
“Sonny will play with you,” Jason took the pool stick from Ray as the two of them teamed up against Brock and Trent.
Sonny looked at their rookie. The blond-haired, blue-eyed boy looked excitedly at him. He didn’t have much to do with the kid. He found him too young and too cocky. Some days he wondered if the kid was even old enough to drink. He wanted to shake his head, but Jason gave him that look that he interpreted as play along or die later. He sighed. “One game.”
Clay grinned. “Great.”
Sonny took the darts offered and threw his first dart to see who would start between the two of them. The dart landed outside the bull, but he was satisfied with the throw. That was until the kid threw and landed a bullseye.
“Fuck,” Sonny glanced over to the rookie. It seems like he’d have to pay serious attention here. He stepped back and the game was on.
Time took on another meaning as Sonny and Clay played. Sonny realized very early that Clay played freakin good darts, but he kept quiet. He didn’t want to stoke the kid’s ego with a compliment. He tried ruffling the younger man’s feathers by insulting him, made him drink shots and beer, made rude comments, even went as far, as to try and trip him up, but Clay stayed calm, laughed at his jokes and matched Sonny beer for beer. As the evening progressed, the rest of the team grew tired of playing pool and they started rooting for the two players. In the end he needed a double four to win. Clay needed a double eight. Sonny knew he had the game in his pocket. He lined up with his final dart, took a deep breath and as he wanted to release the dart he sneezed. The dart went wild, landed on the floor, and the team burst out laughing.
“What! No! Come one, that’s not fair!” He threw his arms in the air and ranted. Trent slapped him on the shoulder and pulled him back.
Clay grinned from ear to ear as he took his place and released his last dart. He was spot on and the guys erupted in cheers. Sonny walked over to Clay and placed his hand on his shoulder. “You play well, young Jedi.” He turned to face the team. “Clay is my partner when we play darts. You understand, mine.”
Jason shrugged and Ray rolled his eyes. Neither of them was big on darts.
“I don’t mind, but Clay teams up with me in pool,” Trent said with a grin.
Sonny turned. “What do you mean? He plays pool too?”
“He’s a shark, Sonny. A real fucking shark.” Trent continued to grin.
“Damn.” Sonny’s shoulders sagged. He loved playing pool.
“None of you have played poker against him, have you?” Brock silently asked. He rolled an empty bottle between his hands. His eyes sparkled with mischief.
The group groaned. It seemed that Brock had won this one. They played more poker than any of the other games, especially since they were more flying around in a C-17 than getting together at a bar.
“I’m taking you to Vegas.” Sonny declared.
Clay smiled and shook his head. “Not a good idea.”
“Why not?” Sonny frowned.
Clay looked shy as he placed his hands in his pockets. When the silence around him stayed put he looked up. He sighed. “Let’s just say I’m not welcome.”
“Vegas banned you?”
Sonny received a mere shrug to his question. He wanted to ask more, but left the topic alone when out of the corner of his eye he saw Jason shook his head. “Fuck, where did you pick up all these skills, kid?” he asked instead.
Clay shrugged. “I was bored.”
Sonny laughed and slapped the younger man on the shoulder. He looked around to call for another round of shots, but found no one behind the bar.
“They closed up?”
Jason yawned and nodded at the same time. “A while back already. Time to head home.” He came to his feet and groaned as his muscles protested. “Getting too old for this shit.”
“Never, Boss.” Sonny moved closer to the group of men. “Thank you, guys. This was great.” He sighed. “And much better than any fucking team bonding shit.”
“You need to thank Spenser for this,” Ray informed the burly man.
“What?” Sonny frowned. He looked at his teammates. “Seriously?” He received four nods, and he turned again to the younger man who’d moved away from them. Clay stood in front of the wall with all the photos of their dead teammates on it. He knew exactly which one Clay stared at. He moved towards his brother and bumped his shoulder.
“Thank you, Kid.”
Clay smiled.
Sonny returned the smile with a grin. He took Clay by the shoulders and turned him to face the rest of the group. “First birthday of a teammate, I say the rookie owes us a case of beer.”
“A case of beer!” Echoed through the empty bar.
Clay groaned, but nodded. It seems he owed the team another case of beer.
Sonny pulled the younger man closer and hugged him close. “Thank you, Clay.” Their rookie wasn’t so bad after all.
The End