Free Catch a Tiger by the Tail by Charlie Cochet

looked affronted. “Dude. Of course I said the line.”
    “This is bullshit,” Ash grumbled as he finished buttoning up a clean shirt. “We’ve been fucking training since this morning, and now she wants us back at HQ training some more? This was supposed to be our day off.”
    Sloane rolled his eyes. “We’ve been at this for weeks. Quit bitching. We agreed, remember?”
    Ash’s brow furrowed thoughtfully. “No. Nope. I’m pretty sure I didn’t agree to jack shit. You agreed for us. The CQC and Muay Thai is one thing, but all that other shit? Why? We don’t know who the hell these TIN guys are or what they do. What happens when the training is over? What are we even training for ?”
    Ash was kind of right. Technically, none of them had agreed to anything, but Sloane was also right. The extra training would be good for them. The last few months proved being better prepared wouldn’t hurt. When he’d first joined the THIRDS, their callouts had been mostly disturbances, high-risk warrant cases, and providing backup for Recon with the occasional Therian gone feral. Nowadays it seemed like someone was always trying to blow them up or shoot them down. Ethan hated to admit it, but he also agreed with Ash. Were they supposed to blindly follow Sparks? Ethan trusted her, to an extent. Their training was intense, with some disciplines far more than they needed for the THIRDS. It was rare for them to come up against a perp who also happened to be a secret spy.
    “You’re right,” Sloane said, “about all of it.” He put his finger to his lips before tapping his ear. They were most likely being listened to. “You don’t like it, you can tell Sparks.”
    Ash let out a snort. “Yeah, sure. I’ll tell the fucking Black Widow what to do with her extra training. She’ll probably snap my neck in my sleep.”
    “You think she’d do that?” Cael asked, eyes wide.
    Dex folded his arms over his chest and pinned Ash with a glare. The two had developed some kind of weird method of telepathic communication where Cael was concerned. It was creepy. Ash let out a heavy sigh and patted the bench next to him. Cael took a seat, snuggling up close to him, his arm wrapping around Ash’s waist.
    “No, I don’t think she’d do that, sweetheart. But let’s face it, whoever we thought she was….”
    “Pretty sure she can hear us,” Dex murmured, scrubbing furiously at the paint on his forehead.
    “Thank you, Justice, for your amazing insight.”
    Whoa, hold on. That was the second time Ash had referred to Dex as Justice. Ethan held a hand up before Dex could tell Ash off. He pointed to Dex, who let out a groan as he dropped into the chair across the bench. “Yes, all right. Since Simba opened his big freakin’ mouth—”
    “Technically, your boyfriend spilled the beans first,” Ash corrected, smiling broadly.
    Sloane cringed. “Yeah, that was my bad.”
    “You’re lucky you’re damn sexy, Brodie,” Dex grumbled before addressing Ethan. “That’s my middle name. Justice.”
    Rosa and Letty broke off into laughter, and even Calvin seemed unable to keep himself from laughing. Ethan grinned broadly at Dex. That was so adorable. The look on Dex’s face told him he didn’t agree.
    “Yeah, all right. Get it out of your systems. You can all bite me.”
    They laughed at Dex’s grumbling. Ethan thought the name suited Dex, even if his friend didn’t think so. According to Dex, he’d been named after his great-great-great grandfather, who’d been a Pinkerton Detective back in the day.
    They finished cleaning themselves off and changed into new uniforms before reaching HQ. Austen was outside the truck when Ethan hopped down. He really didn’t like anyone driving his BearCat. Except for the sarge, obviously, and maybe someone from his team. Occasionally. But he really didn’t like anyone else driving it.
    “Don’t worry. I didn’t feel her up.” Austen threw Ethan the keys before wriggling his eyebrows. “Too