Chapter Text
“Any reason you’re inhaling food like you’re gunning for another tracheotomy?”
Buck paused mid-chew, barbecue sauce smeared across his lips, and shrugged at Eddie. “Mmmhangry,” he mumbled, shoving a forkful of salad into the wasteland of his mouth.
“You’re disgusting,” Eddie grinned, handing him a napkin decorated with gold hearts. “Seriously though, man, slow down. Chim and Maddie don’t need another hospital visit connected to their wedding.”
Buck halted his overenthusiastic chipmunk impersonation, casting a guilty look around Athena and Bobby’s backyard. The place had been transformed into a haven of fairy lights and balloons for Maddie and Chim’s belated wedding party: an impromptu celebration held a couple of days after their bedside ceremony. Buck watched with a warm smile as Maddie clutched Chimney’s arm, both giggling at a story Chim was telling Athena.
“I don’t have the best track record with gatherings at this house,” Buck said in consideration, wiping his mouth. “Two-minute break,” he nodded, pushing his plate to the side just as Bobby brought over a tray of sliders. “Ooh, nice! Hit me up, Cap!”
“Oh, now we can enjoy sliders without getting our hands torn off,” Eddie said, taking a swig of beer. “Good to know.” He smothered his laugh as Ravi immediately swiped three burgers out of Buck’s grasp.
“Didn’t want those ones anyway!” Buck called out as Ravi darted back to Hen and Karen. He turned to Eddie with a pout. “I lied. Those ones looked awesome. Quick, you create a diversion and I’ll steal ‘em. You can do a backflip, yeah?”
“I’m doing one right now,” Eddie deadpanned, unmoving in his plastic chair.
“I’mdoingonerightnow,” Buck mimicked in return. “Why aren’t you helping me, traitor?”
“Because you’ve been acting weird all day and I’m not gonna add to the vibe by parkouring over the canapes.”
Buck slumped into his seat, crossing his arms. “Whatever.”
Eddie observed his friend, giving Buck’s foot a nudge with his own. “What’s going on?” he encouraged. “And don’t say ‘nothing’ because the sulking and human garbage compactor impersonation suggest otherwise.”
Sighing, Buck tilted his head back to stare at the night sky. If he squinted hard enough, he could picture the constellations he and Chris used to nerd out over once upon a time. “It’s the bills for the trashed hotel and karaoke rooms.”
“The bills I said I’d help pay for? Yes, I’m familiar, Buck,” Eddie replied drolly. “Tubbs and Crockett Gone Wild was a joint effort, remember?”
“We’ve been over this. I’m not letting you waste your money when you have Chris to think about,” Buck said, fixing Eddie with a resolute gaze. “I’m just sort of in a ‘can’t really afford groceries or utilities or life in general’ period at the moment, so this extra chaos didn’t help. But I’ll work something out.” He gave himself a curious once-over, pursing his lips. “Do people still go on OnlyFans?”
Eddie’s eyebrows shot up to an alarming height. “I, uh… I have no idea. But you don’t need to find out because you’re going to let me help you.”
“Dude, no. I’m the one who stupidly suggested a bunch of strangers hang out with us back at Chim’s suite.” Buck blinked; the 404-error pop up almost visible above his head. “Or at least I think I did. That night’s honestly a blur.”
“I’m pretty sure I kicked in a door,” Eddie frowned. “That should warrant at least a couple hundred dollars. Let me loan you some cash. I’ll help with this month’s rent or buy you food or something.” Eddie leaned forward in a battle to maintain eye contact as Buck suddenly turned a concerning shade of red. “What else aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing!” Buck rubbed the back of his neck. “Just that, uh, I probably don’t need any rent money since I can’t afford my loft anymore and I’m getting kicked out this week and will more than likely be living in my car,” he blurted out in a wordy sprint, making a move to stand. “Do you want another beer? I need another beer. All this yapping’s making me thirsty. I’ll get you one right—”
“Sit down.” Eddie cut him off, not lowering his pointed finger until Buck sank back into his chair like he was at the principal’s office. They stared at one another for a beat. “Okay, A: why the hell am I only hearing about this now? And B: why would you have to live in your car when you’re obviously coming to stay with me and Christopher?”
Buck shifted uncomfortably. “Eddie, I can’t burden you like that.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re not a burden, you’re my best friend and I want you there,” Eddie replied in exasperation. “You’re a dumbass sometimes, sure. But never, ever a burden.”
“Thank you?”
“You’ve got a key, Buck. Use it.”
Buck fought against a smile, whirling his fork around on the table like a game board spinner. “Are you one hundred per cent sure, though? I know you said Marisol wasn’t going to be living there anymore, but you know what you’re like.”
“Was like,” Eddie said firmly. “Marisol and I decided to… take things slow.”
“So, no Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit?” Buck grinned, dodging the screwed-up napkin Eddie pelted his way.
“Stop googling shit to annoy me with,” Eddie retorted, amusement flickering in his eyes. “Is tomorrow good to help move your stuff?”
“Yeah,” Buck said, gifting him with a grateful smile. “Thanks.”
Eddie gave Buck’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Me and Christopher are going to be eating like kings with all your recipe trials. I should be thanking you.” He smiled, his face taking on a dreamlike quality. “I honestly think about your lasagna at least twice a week.”
“God, I hope that’s not a euphemism,” Chimney sighed, appearing behind Eddie with a bowl of mac and cheese. “Here, Bobby said to give this to Buck because apparently the guests of honor don’t get first dibs on the food.”
“He wants me to try and guess the different ingredients he used,” Buck said excitedly, taking the bowl from Chimney and immediately dumping a quarter onto his plate.
“And here’s me thinking it was another weird ‘Buck and Eddie’ thing.”
The Buck and Eddie in question stared at Chimney with blank looks.
“Another what now?” they chorused.
“That right there!” Chimney said, screwing up his nose. “Stop proving my point, it’s creepy.”
“I’m confused,” Buck mumbled through a mouthful of food. “Why are you comparing us to cheesy noodles?”
“I don’t know, man. You’re the one who brought it up first, not me,” Chimney shrugged.
“Uh, Chim…” Eddie placed his hand on the man’s arm in slight concern. “Do you need to go back to the hospital?”
“For crying out… I meant the weird text messages Buck sent me,” Chimney said with an eyeroll, shaking off Eddie’s hand to fish out his phone from his jeans pocket. “Y’know, from the night of the bachelor party slash my own living nightmare.”
Buck froze, seeing Eddie do the same out of the corner of his eye. “I sent you weird messages. Plural?”
“Oh, my dear, sweet brother-in-law,” Chimney smirked. “You sent a lot of things.” He scrolled his phone screen until he found what he was after. “Okay, let me just adjust to the crimes committed against spelling and grammar and pretend a scholar sent me these.” He cleared his throat with gusto. “Hey Chim!” he read. “You’re missing out on some cool shit! Crockett and Tubbs in the flesh!” He paused to show the selfie Buck took of himself and Eddie in the karaoke room; their sweaty, beaming faces smooshed together. “Best partners!” he continued reading. “Fuck you, Bert and Ernie! Eat shit, Batman and Robin! Eat more shit, mac and cheese! Hang on wait. I love mac and cheese we can be them. I’m gonna tell Eddie.”
A spark of memory suddenly flashed through Eddie. He glanced at Buck, who was glaring at his plate of food like it had somehow betrayed him. “You stealing a microphone and screaming ‘I’m cheese!’ at me repeatedly makes a lot more sense now,” he murmured.
“Chimney… What else did I send you?” Buck asked nervously.
Eddie gnawed on his bottom lip. “Uh, anything from me at all either?”
The grin unfurling across Chimney’s face was epic. “You two clowns really don’t remember much of anything, do you?” He let out a delighted cackle. “Not the only one who had memory loss,” he crowed, pointing at himself. “Score!”
“Chim, come on,” Buck pleaded. “I accidentally deleted a crap ton of stuff off my phone when I was drunk. I don’t know what I’m up against here.”
“And you, Edmundo?” Chimney questioned.
Eddie flinched. “I haven’t looked back at anything yet. Every time I think to check, I swear a waft of tequila comes through the phone to haunt me.”
Chimney waggled his eyebrows. “Almost like a spirit?” Hit with the double whammy of both men giving him the middle finger, Chimney reined in his glee. “Okay, calm down Mulder and Scully, we’ll crack the case but we’re gonna have to open this up to the class.” He grabbed an empty champagne flute off the table and tapped a fork against it. “Attention everyone! It appears our dynamic duo are having some trouble recalling the night of the bachelor party, so I’m wondering – who here received any messages, videos or perhaps even morse code from them that evening?”
The color drained from both Buck and Eddie’s faces as everyone’s hands shot in the air: Chim, Maddie, Bobby, Athena, Hen, Karen, Ravi and Josh.
“Just happy to be included,” Josh drawled.
“Speak for yourself,” Athena replied, raising an eyebrow at the boys.
“You’re just lucky I did a phone detox the night before the wedding and wasn’t keeping tabs on the shenanigans,” Maddie smirked. “Otherwise, I would’ve been demanding more fun video updates! … And probably getting worried about Howie earlier, but I digress.”
“You know what? Maybe I don’t need to know,” Eddie stammered, feeling a sheen of sweat attack his upper lip. “Mysteries are fun. Love a good mystery. Unsolved Mysteries is my favorite show.”
“Eddie’s right,” said Buck with a tight smile. “And besides, tonight isn’t about us. It’s about my beautiful sister, her new husband and their wonderful marriage.”
“Oh, so you don’t want to see the footage of you ripping Eddie’s shirt apart then?” Maddie asked innocently, swallowing a laugh at the deep maroon of her brother’s face and Eddie’s sudden coughing fit.
“I hate you and I hope you get divorced,” Buck replied through gritted teeth.
“Hey, no harm no foul,” Chimney soothed, holding up his hands in placation. “You’re among friends, there’s no Tommy or Marisol or children to get embarrassed in front of… Why not have a nice stroll down memory lane?”
“No.”
“Aren’t you the least bit curious how your pants caught on fire?” asked Hen. “Because that update both terrified and delighted me.”
Buck winced as he noticed Bobby tiredly rubbing his temples like he’d just aged ten years. “Uh, no thank you. I’m good.”
“So, no inclination whatsoever to find out who you both decided was actually Crockett?” Maddie teased.
“… No?”
“Fine,” a voice exhaled next to Buck.
Buck whipped his head to the side so fast his neck cracked. “What the hell, Eddie?!”
“You know they’re gonna do it anyway,” Eddie said defeatedly, draining the last of his beer while Chimney excitedly handed him a fresh one. “And honestly, I kinda lied. Part of me wants to know how the hell I got so hungover so I never do it again.” He scrunched up his nose. “Maybe even find out who puked on my sleeve.”
“Ooh, that’s part of our bingo card,” Karen chimed in, hitting Hen’s arm like they’d won something. “But we should try work in chronological order. It’s more fun that way.”
“Yeah, fun,” Buck muttered, the uneasy fluttering in his stomach becoming more pronounced. He closed his eyes with a sigh and held out a hand to Chimney. “Anything stronger than beer?”
“I think that’s what got you in trouble in the first place,” Ravi said cheerfully, bringing up a video on his phone.
* * *
“Shots! Shots! Shots!”
Buck and Eddie stirred the karaoke crowd into a frenzy, sloshing bottles of tequila into the wealth of plastic shot glasses being held up in a circle.
“Happy wedding!” Buck roared, cheers-ing with Eddie before they both downed their drinks.
“Merry bachelor!” Eddie hollered. He chased his tequila with a gulp of beer before flopping onto the bench seat next to Buck.
“Everyone’s so nice, this is my new favorite place in the whole entire world,” Buck enthused, pressing the outline of his body close to Eddie. “I wish the others could’ve stayed to meet all Chimney’s new buddies.”
Eddie nodded wildly. “Exactly, man. Like, I dunno anyone’s name, but I can tell they recycle and pay their taxes on time, y’know?”
“Yeah, yeah, exactly,” Buck agreed, clinking his tequila bottle against Eddie’s beer. “Although, I thought more people would eat the sliders,” he added with a slight hint of melancholy. “Maybe I picked the wrong menu… I pick a lot of wrong things.”
“Hey, shut up, you chose great,” Eddie said, stabbing his finger into Buck’s chest. “I’ll do one. I’ll get slide-y, you can’t stop me this time.” He cast his eyes around feverishly before realizing there was a whole plate next to him on the table. Eddie bit into half a burger, immediately regretting his choice and spitting it into a napkin.
Buck grimaced. “That good, huh?”
“They’re cold. Forgot they’d been sittin’ there forever,” Eddie said, looking repulsed to own a tongue. He swiftly chugged more beer. “My whole mouth tastes sad.”
Buck snorted, looping an arm around Eddie’s shoulders in solidarity. “Well, I appreciate your mouth.” He paused, eyes comically widening. “For taking one for the team. The burger team. Go team sliders!” Buck only felt himself unclench when Eddie chuckled in return.
“Two for the team,” Eddie replied meaningfully, tugging on the collar of Buck’s blazer. “Don’t think anyone else got the 80s memo.”
“Yeah, that kinda sucked,” Buck said, a flash of Henley spiralling through his mind. “Thanks, Tubbs.”
Eddie narrowed his eyes. “Why are you thanking yourself?”
“Dude! For the last time, I’m Crockett and you’re—”
“Adorable!” a voice yelped in front of them. Buck and Eddie looked up to see a woman positively beaming at them. “You two are the cutest pair.”
“Thank you,” Eddie preened. “It was my idea.”
“You can’t take all the credit,” Buck scoffed. “I told you where to get the suits. And I organized the venue.”
“And what about the rings?” the woman asked.
“Um, my sister Maddie chose them?” Buck replied in confusion.
The woman put a hand over her heart. “Your sister, that’s so sweet. So, when’s the big day?”
“Tomorrow!”
“Oh wow, are you guys nervous?”
Eddie vigorously shook his head. “Nope. Just gotta show up on time or this guy will kick my ass again for being late,” he grinned, laughing when Buck whacked his stomach.
“Here, give me your phone,” the woman said, making grabby hands at Buck. She tapped the screen to start a video. “You guys need something to look back on. How are you feeling right in this moment?”
“Happy!” Buck exclaimed, waving around the bottle of alcohol. “Like… Eddie, what was that thing we watched one night, and they said the thing?”
“Shrek?”
“Nonono, the sad thing that made me cry but then it got happy again?”
Eddie pursed his lips, deep in thought. “Shrek 2?”
“Yeah! Wait no, I can’t remember.” Buck grinned at the woman filming them. “Whatever that feeling was it was like a bright, shiny constellation. Like, um… Cassiopeia or, or Canis Major! Do you know them?”
“Not really, no,” the woman said in amusement.
“He knows a lotta stuff about things,” Eddie bragged, clumsily patting Buck’s face. “My kid loves it.”
“A kid! Oh my god, be more adorable you two. Okay, get a bit closer, that’s it.” She giggled as they pressed their heads together, mussing up their hair. Buck threw his leg over Eddie’s, who in turn clapped a hand on Buck’s thigh, Eddie not registering why the grip on his shoulder suddenly tensed. “Say ‘newlyweds!’”
“Newlyweds!” the boys whooped.
* * *
Raucous laughter surrounded Buck and Eddie as Ravi played another video loop of the pair drunkenly calling out to the camera.
“Whoever took this absolutely, one hundred per cent thought you two were getting hitched!” Hen chuckled, wiping a tear from under her glasses. “Did you not think to correct them, or was the alcohol seeping out your pores already?”
Buck slouched further into his seat, suppressing the urge to fan his face as memories floated to the surface. “I guess it was strange she asked me about wedding rings before that,” he murmured, ignoring the snort from his sister.
“Huh… Ohhh,” Eddie stared off into the abyss, having a moment of clarity. “She didn’t mean ‘cute 80s detective duo’ when she said we were a ‘cute pair’.” He nearly dropped his drink when Chimney slapped his arm in unabashed joy.
“I take back any negative thing I said about having a party,” Chimney grinned. “This is gold.”
“There were some photos taken from the video too,” Ravi helpfully contributed. “This one’s my favorite.” Everyone’s phone beeped as he forwarded it to the group chat.
“Why the hell did I send all that to you?” Buck asked, genuinely baffled.
“To let me know – and I quote from a follow-up text – how much fun ‘Crubbs’ were having without everyone.”
“Crubbs?” Bobby slowly repeated, hoping the word would make more sense by the time it left his mouth.
“Wow. Didn’t want to workshop the portmanteau first to sound less like ‘crabs’?” Josh chimed in, gesturing between Buck and Eddie with his wine glass. He smirked at the silent response. “Nice try, Diaz, but I’m immune to your laser beam death stare.”
“What about when he throws out the heart eyes?” Karen quipped, shooting Eddie a wink.
Face burning, Eddie unlocked his phone to look at the photo. It was a fairly blurred shot of Buck mid-sentence, face alight with exhilaration as he was saying something to Eddie, who yes, was staring at him in awe. “I was on my hundredth shot – talking to a tree stump would have thrilled me,” he protested, disregarding the offended huff he could hear next to him.
“Well, I think it’s a very nice photo of two good friends,” Bobby offered.
“Thank you, some common sense prevails,” said Eddie.
“And I’ll be sure to keep a copy to put on your anniversary cake next year,” he added, clamping down a grin as Athena buried her laugh into his shoulder.
Eddie sighed, contemplating his phone. “How do I activate Siri and ask what fire stations are looking for new hires? It’ll be worth the robot takeover.”
“Wait, I can play that game too,” Chim said, holding up his own phone. “Hey Siri? What’s the best song for two platonic bro-friends to sing together at karaoke?”
Flashes of party lighting and blaring music spun through Eddie’s mind. He darted his eyes towards Buck, who appeared as though he was willing the ground to open up and swallow him whole. Then regurgitate him. Then swallow him again.
“We don’t need to find that out,” Buck croaked.
“Oh yes we do, Buckaroo,” Hen said eagerly. “I need to hear those dulcet tones.”
“In this case does dulcet mean ‘feral cat fighting an angry moose’?” asked Ravi. “Because that’s what he sounds like singing in the showers sometimes.”
Eddie dutifully caught Buck’s wrist before he flung an entire chicken wing at Ravi’s forehead.
“Any song guesses before we proceed?” Chimney queried.
Josh raised his hand. “Not to be that guy, but please be It’s Raining Men.”
“Sadly no.”
“I Got You Babe?” Karen suggested.
“Nope!”
Athena took a smug sip of her wine. “I don’t have a clue for this round, but I sure as hell have a song in mind for later.”
“Oh god,” Buck whispered.
“Consider me very intrigued – but first, the musical stylings of mac and cheese,” Maddie proclaimed, encouraging Chim to start a drumroll while she found the video in her favorites folder. “Shout out to whoever airdropped this masterpiece to my brother.”
Eddie buried his face in his hands in perfect synchronization with Buck as the group crowded around Maddie’s phone. “Joke’s on you guys,” he said feebly. “I’m pretty sure we sang whatever was already queued up.”
* * *
“I got our song!” Eddie shouted, careening over to Buck from the karaoke station. He held out his hand for a high five.
Buck attempted a few mistimed swings before connecting with Eddie’s palm. “Hell yeah!” He downed another tequila shot, wiping his hand across his mouth to collect the excess. “We up now?”
“Almost!” Eddie said, grabbing Buck’s bicep and dragging him over to the microphones. “Remember how much Chris loved this song?” he said, his affectionate ‘my son is the best’ look lighting up his whole face.
Buck grinned, his face also in full high beam. “How could I forget? He made us watch that movie like, what? Eighty million times?”
They swayed into one another as they laughed, thinking of the way Chris used to get them to re-enact the cartoon characters singing while Buck made them breakfast. Or when Eddie was fixing something out in the yard while Buck helped Chris with homework on the porch. There were also the times when Chris wasn’t even around, like when they burst into song to put each other off winning Mario Kart. Or leaving singing telegram voicemails to each other to lighten the mood if one of them had a bad day at work.
“You ready?” Eddie asked with a gleam in his eye as the song intro kicked in.
Buck flipped the microphone over in his hand, catching it by sheer luck. “Always.”
A few phones were pointed their way to film as the ‘What I Like About You’ lyrics popped up on the big screen, but Buck and Eddie already knew them off-by-heart, belting out the first verse and chorus with gusto. They gripped onto each other for ‘hold me tight’ and pointed in ferocious enthusiasm for all the ‘what I like about you’ hooks.
Whistles and cheers burst from the crowd when Eddie dropped to one knee with a faux proposal on ‘true romance’. Buck gleefully put the imaginary ring on and grabbed Eddie around the waist, lifting him into an off-kilter twirly hug. They wiggled and bopped around on the spot, Buck grinning like Christmas had come early when Eddie slung an arm over his shoulder. He lost his place in the lyrics for a second when Eddie pressed his nose against Buck’s cheek, dropped his voice low and performed the ‘keep on whispering in my ear’ portion a little too precisely.
The last ‘Hey!’ rang out to thunderous applause, an exhilarated Buck and Eddie breathing heavily in their back-to-back pose like an 80s buddy-cop movie poster.
* * *
“Pure cinema,” Chimney said with a chef’s kiss. “I’ve watched this about ten times and still no notes.”
“Some notes,” Josh winced, glancing at Maddie. “Like why did you only get blessed with the singing genes?”
Maddie gave Buck’s frozen face on the screen a little pat. “He can’t be that loveable as well as a good singer, it’d be annoying.”
“Well, you’re both, so what do you say to that theory now?” asked Chimney, kissing his wife on the cheek as she grinned.
“Aww!”
Hen tapped the phone screen to play the video through once more. “What would we give Eddie? Six outta ten? A two-chair turn?”
“I’d give him some dance lessons,” Athena mused, prodding Hen’s side as they shared a laugh.
“I heard rumors he might actually be able to bust quite the move,” said Bobby, sipping his soda.
“Bust a hip maybe,” Athena replied, watching the repeat performance. “They’re like two excitable puppies getting picked up from doggy day care.”
Ravi bit into another slider, chewing thoughtfully. “I’m still stuck on the ‘true romance’ part. Surely they’re just trolling us by now?”
“Let’s ask the sources,” Karen said, whirling around mischievously. “Guys, are you…” She trailed off, realizing the rest of the backyard was void of bodies. “Guys?”
Inside Athena and Bobby’s house, in the relative silence of the kitchen, Eddie and Buck stood slumped against the counter, contemplating their lives.
“I hear Australia’s nice this time of year,” Eddie reflected, staring at the wall.
Buck nodded vacantly. “Maybe even Antarctica. Or the sun.”
“We’ll grab Chris and leave in the morning.”
They cringed at the sound of laughter echoing through the closed door. Buck scuffed his white sneaker across the floor. “I think the angry moose comparison was actually being generous,” he reflected. “I’m not sure why my body knows how to make sounds like that.”
Eddie gingerly touched his own throat. “I’m scared to play that video in public in case a wild goose overhears and thinks I’m sending out a mating call.” He felt shaking next to his arm and turned his head to find Buck barely concealing his mirth. Eddie tried to remain miserable but couldn’t help his lips from twitching. It didn’t take long for them both to burst into a flood of laughter.
“Holy shit that was terrible!” Buck wheezed, gripping onto the counter for support.
“I just had this s-sudden memory of being in the moment and thinking…” Tears leaked down Eddie’s face as he threw his head back in another fit of cackling. “And th-thinking… God, we must look so cool!” He started coughing on a sharp inhale, choking on his own spit.
Buck thumped Eddie’s back with vigor, still hysterically laughing as he transitioned into rubbing soothing circles on Eddie’s shirt. “I can’t believe I v-voluntarily sent that to Maddie,” Buck said through a hiccup. “That’s blackmail material for life.”
“We’ve got to delete all copies,” Eddie rasped, instinctively leaning more into the comfort of Buck’s touch. “And then we have to go back in time and stop the invention of the iPhone.”
Their giggles slowly subsided as they tried to take deep breaths to calm down. Realizing he was still tenderly caressing Eddie’s back; Buck wavered before dropping his hand to shove in his pocket. “You don’t wanna make it an easier time travel process and just stop ourselves from singing the song instead?” he asked, quirking his lips.
“Nah,” Eddie smiled, feeling a little bereft from the loss of warmth on his back. “Embarrassing as it was without the beer goggles, I still had fun with you.”
Buck dipped his head, hiding a pleased grin. “Me too.”
They pivoted when they heard the door open and found Karen walking in with a sheepish smile. “I’m here as the designated apology friend to get you two to come back outside.”
Eddie sighed, rubbing a hand over his flushed face. “I know we agreed to be subjected to the comedy roast tour, but I’m now realizing drunk me should maybe remain an enigma.”
“Sober me would like to toss drunk me into the ocean,” Buck said emphatically, opening up the container of homemade cookies he’d brought over and stuffing a choc-chip one into his mouth.
Karen smirked, resting her arms on the top of the counter. “What I like about you both – stop groaning at me, that was funny – is that you two are very resilient. And you know we’re all just teasing from a place of love.” She paused, tipping her head to the side. “Well, most of us. Josh has some thoughts on that karaoke.”
“Josh has some nerve more like it,” Eddie muttered, earning a snort from Buck.
“We’re sorry if we piled on too much,” Karen said gently. “But I promise not everything was embarrassing, some of it was kinda cute.” She laughed at a memory. “At one stage you were both texting me space themed pick-up lines and asking me to rate them.”
Buck scrunched up his face. “I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, I was just impressed you managed to contain yourselves to only one Uranus joke.”
“Yay us,” Eddie said with a weak cheer.
Karen held out her hands, wiggling them so the boys would take one each. “If you still want to piece together the night with our, well, help feels like the wrong word… Our added guidance perhaps, then you can always veto something if it gets too much.” She squeezed their hands reassuringly. “But if you don’t want to watch or hear any more stuff with an audience, we’ll stop, we promise. We can always send you everything to look at privately.”
Buck glanced at Eddie, raising an eyebrow and receiving a minute shrug in return. Buck then huffed out an amused exhale through his nose, causing Eddie to roll his eyes in affection.
“God, I get what people mean now when they tell Hen and I off for doing the silent communication thing,” Karen said, dropping the boys’ hands with mock disgust. “That was nauseatingly endearing. I’m guessing you’re back in, though?”
“For now,” Eddie replied, nudging Buck forward with his elbow. “Or until I want to burst out of my own skin again.”
Buck grabbed the container of cookies as they trailed after Karen. “Ditto.”
The atmosphere in the backyard was eerily subdued when Buck and Eddie emerged from the house. Karen gave the group a thumbs up as she rejoined her wife.
“Firefighter Buckley, Firefighter Diaz, welcome back to our fine soiree,” Chimney said politely, gesturing to their empty chairs. “Please, won’t you join us for more frivolities and refreshments.”
Eddie and Buck exchanged disturbed looks.
“Does the veto only work on the bachelor party stuff, or can we veto this Twilight Zone routine too?” asked Eddie, dropping hesitantly into his seat next to Buck.
“Whatever do you mean? I am merely extending my goodwill towards my fine friends and— Hey what’remmmph…”
Buck dusted off his hands after successfully cramming a cookie into Chimney’s mouth. “OK, who was next with the videos? Let’s go, people, tick tock.” He flinched, warily observing Ravi. “Unless we somehow ended up on TikTok, in which case, I don’t wanna know.”
“Like I’d want you on my account anyway,” Ravi scoffed. “I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”
“Oh yeah? Uphold this,” Buck retorted, pretending to wind his middle finger up.
“Buck,” a voice sighed.
“Sorry, Cap,” Buck said pleasantly, slowly winding the finger down while maintaining direct eye contact with Ravi.
“Evidently not as sorry as me for missing this Facetime call after I went to sleep,” Bobby replied, showing everyone a photo on his phone. He zoomed in to really enhance Buck and Eddie’s mock looks of outrage at him not picking up.
Eddie leaned in closer, trying to make sense of the image. “Why am I holding a rose stem between my teeth?”
“I’m more concerned about the hotel employee in the background looking like they want to kill us,” Buck admitted.
Bobby calmly swiped the photo away and clicked on another message. “I’ll let the not-at-all lengthy and rambling voice note explain.”
* * *
“I can’t believe he didn’t accept our rose,” Buck complained, yanking the flower from Eddie’s mouth and inelegantly shoving it back into the vase at hotel reception.
Both men refocused their energy on the front desk worker, beaming at him with winning smiles, too much on the wrong side of sober to notice how exasperated he was.
“I pinky promise you…” Buck paused, trying to re-read the man’s nametag, “Camera, my guy, that we were at the Bachelor Mansion once.”
“My name is just Cam….”
“Sorry, sorry, but you believe us, yeah?”
“We cross our hearts and hope to… wait, no, shh,” Eddie cut himself off in alarm, pressing a finger not only to his own mouth but Buck’s as well. “Not the ‘d’ word,” he whispered, anxiously scanning the lobby for catastrophes. “Bullets and lightning are no joke, Camouflage.”
Cam wrapped a taut smile around his weary customer service embattled soul. “Of course.”
Eddie felt jagged puffs of warm air hit his finger and realized he was still holding Buck’s lips hostage. He moved his hand, patting Buck awkwardly on the chest. “Let’s leave Cap a message instead.”
While Buck fumbled with his phone, Eddie signalled behind his back to the crowd loitering outside the hotel. The plan they’d decided back at the karaoke bar was to create a distraction at the front desk so all the partygoers could make their way up to Chimney’s room in small groups without raising suspicion.
“Cap, hey, it’s your favorite work son Buck – and Eddie’s here too,” Buck said as he hit record on the voice note, laughing when Eddie jabbed an elbow into his stomach. “We’re with a new best friend called ‘just Cam’ – say hello!”
“… Hi.”
“And we were telling him about having to save someone at the Bachelor house, and you were meant to be our proof, but you won’t pick up. Why’re you being mean?”
Eddie grabbed Buck’s arm, snatching the phone closer to himself. “We need you to call back and say that we firefought… firefit… did a rescue for the TV.”
“But we weren’t on the actual TV.”
“Ha! No, that’d be weird.”
Buck leaned in further, knocking foreheads with Eddie. “Or, or tell him about all the other cool stuff we’ve done! Like the earthquake, and the leg grenade… and the… the tapeworm out that guy’s ass!”
“The what?” Cam interjected, trying to ignore all the clusters of people comically scurrying through the lobby.
“Only you’d think that was cool,” Eddie chided, clinging onto the lapels of Buck’s jacket to give him a playful shake. “And you can’t say firefly stuff I wasn’t there for, ‘s not fair.”
“Oh yeah, holy shit!” Buck exclaimed in wonder, clutching Eddie’s arm in a vice-like grip. “I can’t believe there was a universe where we weren’t partners. That’s fucked.”
“So fucked,” Eddie nodded, soulful brown eyes in full effect. He gripped Buck’s jacket a little more fiercely and swayed closer to let him in on a secret. “I love being firefighters with you,” he said earnestly, breaking into a smile. “Hey, I got it.”
“I love being firefighters with you too,” Buck grinned, all dimples and joy. They stood basking in each other’s presence until a throat cleared behind them.
“Absolutely thrilled for you both,” Cam said wryly, “but my shift just ended, so…”
Buck blinked back into reality as Eddie clumsily smoothed down the lapels of the jacket he’d crushed. “Uh, r-right, sorry,” said Buck, angling his phone closer. “See ya tomorrow, Cap! Love being firefighters with youuuuu toooooo!”
“Ditto, Cap! Mwah!” Eddie chimed in, adding a few more air kisses for good measure as Buck stopped the recording. They left Cam in the dust, stumbling over to the elevator, shoulders bumping together with every step, lost in their own little world.
* * *
“Hey Hen,” Chim said with a shit-eating grin. “I love being firefighters with you.”
“Oh my god, no way! I love fire-foughting with you too!” Hen blew him a kiss, which he caught and put in his pocket.
“Cheers to fire-fitting!” Ravi declared, holding up his drink.
Bobby checked in with Buck and Eddie, who were curved towards each other like mortified parentheses. “Definitely not advocating the excessive drinking,” Bobby said kindly. “But it was still nice to feel the love, fellas,” he added in fond amusement.
“Okay, so they’ve made it up to the hotel room,” Karen intervened, earning grateful looks from Eddie and Buck. “What piece of the puzzle comes next?”
“From what I recall of Mr Fire Safety Hazard 2024 and the Chippendale stripper turning up to the wedding,” Athena said, casually scrutinizing the boys, “I’m assuming something pre-clothing defilement.”
“Ooh, maybe the photo montage?” Maddie said, prodding Chim.
He grabbed his phone to double check. “I think you’re right, they’re both still dressed in all their pastel glory.” Chimney began to send through a dizzying array of shots to the group chat. “Our two loveable geniuses thought they’d have a little photoshoot in front of the room they assumed I was asleep in.”
“Very considerate,” said Josh.
Eddie peered over Buck’s shoulder at the snaps, cringing at one where he was flexing his biceps like a bodybuilder cosplaying as a bottle of Pepto Bismol.
“Wait, are you guys with drag queens in some of these?” asked Ravi, pinching his phone screen to zoom in. “That’s so cool.”
Hen looked thrilled. “Where on earth did you meet drag queens?”
“I legitimately have no idea,” Buck admitted, as hazy memories filtered through his mind. “But they brought a whole DJ deck with them. It was kind of awesome.”
“Oh, I have footage of that too!” said Maddie.
“Course you do,” Buck sighed.
Eddie leaned across to keep swiping through the photos on Buck’s phone. Some were selfies with random people from the party, but a lot were just pictures of the two of them goofing off. He huffed out a laugh at one of Buck doing a crooked handstand while Eddie supported his legs in the air, mildly panicked.
“The distrust on your face, I’m offended,” Buck teased, nudging into the shoulder braced against his.
“Says you bragging about keg stands then nearly kicking my teeth out with your giraffe legs,” Eddie retorted. He flicked to the next shot of them both crumpled on the floor together in a heap of limbs and laughter.
“I’m gonna tell my grandkids that was Cirque du Soleil,” said Ravi, taking a few cookies while Buck was preoccupied.
Josh waved his phone around to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, this video must be in the same timeframe because they’re both still relatively clothed and clean.”
“Relatively?” Eddie asked.
“Jackets are a thing of the past, but you’re still very modest, don’t worry,” Josh replied, nonchalantly sipping his wine. “Now in the spirit of veto, what say you both to push-ups and beer drinking?”
Buck looked lost and Eddie shrugged.
“Excellent,” Josh smirked.
* * *
“You must be a firefighter, because I’m feeling the heat between us!”
Eddie gave the muscly man in front of them a so-so gesture with his hand, while Buck doled out a more respectable show of applause. Somehow, they’d gotten into a pick-up line contest with a small crowd of people after someone asked Buck how the groom scored their partner before they dated. Buck and Eddie had no idea if Chimney had put any smooth moves on Maddie, but the partygoers seemed more interested in the two of them anyway, much to their bemusement.
“We can do better, we can do better,” Eddie said, pointing to the guy in the blue shirt next to him. “You next!”
“Uh… is it true that firefighters have long hoses? Because I’ve got something that needs to be extinguished!” the guy said, aiming a wink towards Buck.
Eddie’s eyebrows shot up, impressed but distressed, while Buck put his hands on his hips, peacocking. “Well actually, speaking of fire hoses…”
“All right, reel it in, cowboy,” Eddie said with a strained chuckle, curling his finger under the sleeve of Buck’s t-shirt and tugging him backwards.
“Ooh, cowboys! Yeah!” Buck said, tripping over Eddie’s foot. He grinned when Eddie put an arm around his waist to steady them from falling. “This one’s from Texas,” he stage whispered, unsubtly pointing in front of his hand towards Eddie.
“Give us your best yee-haw then, partner,” the muscly dude encouraged Eddie, phone out already filming.
“Yeah, partner,” Buck teased, smiling indulgently at Eddie like he didn’t have it in him. “Lay one on me with that rizz.”
Eddie screwed up his nose. “Chris needs to stop teachin’ you words.”
Buck thoroughly ignored him, starting up a chant instead. “Rizz me! Rizz me! Rizz me!”
* * *
“Veto!” Eddie called out.
“Wait, hang on, where’s the push-ups?” Buck asked.
“That’s the part you’re concerned about in this scenario?”
“… Kind of?”
“Personally, I want to find out if you become the Rizzard of Oz,” Chimney said.
“I swear I’ll get you,” Eddie muttered darkly.
“Yeah, yeah. And my little dog too, I know.”
Eddie glanced at Buck, who gave him a small imploring head tilt. “Fine,” he said on a long-suffering sigh. “Un-veto.”
* * *
“… Rizz me! Rizz me!”
Buck was looking far too cocky for Eddie’s liking. In the blink of an eye Eddie’s face morphed from annoyed to devious. He slid his arm back from Buck’s waist, holding up a finger in a ‘wait here’ motion.
Eddie disappeared into the crowd, returning momentarily with a pink glittery cowboy hat he’d noticed on someone earlier. He swaggered up to Buck, placing it on top of the now suspiciously silent man’s head, giving the ridge a rap with his knuckles.
Buck felt warm all over when Eddie leisurely leaned in, resting his hand on Buck’s shoulder.
“Well, howdy there, stranger,” Eddie drawled in a Texan twang. “You heard of ‘save a horse, ride a cowboy’?”
“Uh-huh,” Buck murmured, glimpsing down to where Eddie’s thumb was rubbing softly against his neck.
Eddie smirked. “Whattabout ‘save a horse, ride an outlaw’?” He pressed in more firmly to Buck’s erratic pulse point. “… ‘cause I’ve been a bad, bad boy.”
A sharp, surprised breath punched its way out of Buck’s lungs as he stared at Eddie, lashes fluttering rapidly. “Y-yeah, that’s um, th-that’s… fuck.” He became aware of the wolf whistles surrounding them as Eddie triumphantly spun away to bask in his glory.
“You been rizzed! Boom!” Eddie rejoiced, dropping an imaginary mic to the ground. He plucked the hat from Buck’s head and placed it on his own, tipping down the brim. “Wanna do me?” he winked.
* * *
“Veto!” Buck yelped, abruptly emerging from his stupor.
“Oh now ‘Mr What About the Push-Ups’ has a problem,” Eddie mumbled, holding his bottle of beer to his face in an attempt to douse the heat. “Jesus Christ.”
“The big JC indeed, for he is rizz-en,” Chimney said in awe, starting a rousing slow clap. “Quick! Someone send out the bat signal; the Rizzler’s in town.”
“Seriously, man?”
“Damn, no wonder you’re a first rizz-ponder. Do you also—"
Maddie gently pinched her husband’s arm and shook her head.
“Not for nothing, but are the push-ups in the room with us now?” Ravi asked, shrugging when Eddie and Buck let out objections of annoyance. “What? We were all thinking it.”
“I’ll be kind and give the Cliff’s notes version, which honestly is a courtesy to everyone because my god was it long,” Josh said, pocketing his phone. “Basically, before Buck can even blink, the handsome guy in the blue shirt drops a line on – plot twist – Eddie. Buck immediately jumps in and has an, ahem, shall we say ‘spirited’ pick-up battle with blue shirt. A few different careers are covered and consulted.”
Karen raised her hand, smiling. “Space pun pick-up line expert now. Thanks, guys.”
“Buck and blue shirt then decide to have a push-up competition to elect the overall winner, because why the hell not,” Josh continued, relishing in his storytelling. “Buck ropes Eddie in as pit crew mid-comp and screams at him to pour beer down his throat, which I will also pointedly gloss over. Revitalized, Buck wins the pun measuring contest, he and Eddie crack open champagne about it then Eddie yells into the camera that he needs to inform 9-1-1 of a murder. And that, my friends, is how I ended up with a director’s cut of Miami Vice: After Dark,” he finished, finally drawing breath and taking a bow from his seat to the smattering of applause.
The group swivelled their heads around to Buck and Eddie with the proficiency of an Olympic synchronized swimming squad.
“Athena, Bobby, thanks for hosting,” Buck said breezily, clasping his hands together in a prayer-pose while rising from his chair. “But I gotta go jump off the nearest cliff, so…”
Eddie yanked Buck back by the belt loop. “Do. Not. Leave. Me. Alone,” he hissed through his teeth.
“Okay, I think we might have gone a tad overboard, gang,” Bobby said, paternal vibes kicking in. He got up and clapped both men on the back. “We can stop now if you want.”
“We can,” Hen countered, “and we most definitely will if that’s what the boys decide. But my contribution isn’t bad,” she offered. “I promise it’s fun. Adorable even – plus there’s something Chris will get a kick out of.”
Eddie and Buck whispered amongst themselves.
“We’re going to proceed on two conditions,” said Eddie firmly. “One, Chimney has to go stand inside and keep his ‘witty’ commentary to himself.”
“Hey!” Chimney protested.
“And two,” Buck said, blanking him, “if it turns out to be humiliating then me and Eddie don’t have to do kitchen or truck cleaning duties for a month.”
Smiling, Hen held out her hand for them both to shake. “Deal.”
Chimney gasped. “Henrietta!”
“I love you, Chim, but get your butt inside,” said Hen, motioning for him to scamper away.
“Maddie? My queen?”
“Oh no, I’m fully with these guys,” Maddie replied. She placed a cookie in Chimney’s hand as a consolation prize and sent him on his way with a cheek smooch. “Love you, babe, see you soon!”
Hen waited until Chimney had completed his sad Charlie Brown walk into the house before whipping out her phone. She took pity on Buck and Eddie sitting rigidly in their seats. “So, the first message was a nice compliment about me being a responsible ring bearer. Then a follow-up picture of Gollum with a red strike across it, warning me to stay away at all costs if I happen to see him.”
A faint smile crossed Buck’s lips as Eddie let out a soft snort.
“After that, Eddie sent me a screenshot of his notes app with the heading I eventually deciphered as: ‘Hen! Important! Keep safe with the rings! Future Crubbs needs to know! Love you! Kisses!’.” Hen stopped to count something on the screen. “Followed up with thirteen love heart emojis, and weirdly, one random violin.”
“He probably accidentally pressed it,” Buck said with an eye roll. “It’s in his most-used section. Thinks he’s a comedian.”
“Well excuse me if I keep getting texts from you that warrant a tiny violin,” Eddie flippantly replied. “Oh, the cat next door hates me. My shirt button popped off again. People keep asking me to get stuff off the high shelf in the grocery store.”
“People?” Buck huffed out a laugh. “That was you to me last week with the waffle mix!”
“Pfft!” Eddie waved his hand around in mock annoyance. “We’re practically the same height.”
“Anyway!” Hen chimed in, exchanging a look with Karen. “There were dot points on there about getting a broken door fixed, an Instagram handle of a guy called @partyshirtpetey with the puke emoji and you rambling about dry cleaning bills.”
Eddie’s eyes lit up with recognition. “The dude with the ugly dancing toads shirt!” he exclaimed, snapping his fingers and pointing at Buck.
“Oh yeah! I remember he vomited all over your arm after everyone was in that disco mosh pit,” Buck said, shaking his head in amusement. “So gross.”
“Then you demanded some sort of ID from him so I could get compensated,” Eddie chuckled, holding a hand over his heart. “My hero.”
“And not a tiny violin in sight, asshole,” Buck retorted with a grin.
Josh slowly ate a handful of pretzels as he observed the back-and-forth, leaning in close to Maddie to whisper. “Do they realize…”
“No,” Maddie quietly exhaled, taking a pretzel from him. “Whatever the rest of the question was, it’s infuriatingly no.”
“… the reminder to split the Uber fares,” Hen continued reading out, “the word ‘umbrella’ by itself in all caps,” she paused, glancing at the boys for more information.
“No clue,” said Eddie, while Buck shrugged.
“Then finally, saving the best for last, the note to tell Chris about the game,” Hen smiled warmly. “And Denny too, which was sweet.”
“Wait, what game?” Eddie asked, brow furrowing.
“I can’t think either,” Buck fretted, hating he was letting Chris down.
Hen brought up a video from her message thread. “Don’t worry, I got you both.”
* * *
“Hi, Christopher! My name is Lisa!”
A woman in her twenties with pink hair waved happily at the phone Eddie was holding up. Buck and Eddie stood on opposite sides of her, identical pleased grins on their faces.
“I work for the company that makes Dynasty of Demons,” Lisa continued. “I heard that’s your favorite video game at the moment.”
“Always playin’ it twentyfourseven,” Eddie shook his head fondly, his words running together.
“Chris’s so smart at it,” Buck informed Lisa with wide-eyed admiration. “Big brains. Not from this one though,” he snickered, jerking his thumb at Eddie.
Eddie swatted at Buck with his free hand. “Shaddup.”
Lisa chuckled at them both. “I thought since your dads were so nice to have us at their party that I could send you some merch to share with your friends,” she told the camera. “And just between us,” she added in a play-whisper, “we’re bringing out some bonus content too I can share early with you.”
Buck and Eddie high-fived over Lisa’s head.
“Are we good or what?” Eddie bragged.
* * *
“Chris is going to lose it!” Eddie said, sharing an ecstatic grin with Buck. “I might finally earn back some cool points.”
Buck barked out a laugh. “I think you uttering the phrase ‘cool points’ sets you back another million of them, grandpa.”
The complete lack of ‘dads’ acknowledgement from the two men in question triggered a dumbfounded look train between Karen, Hen, Athena, Maddie, Josh and Ravi – even making a stop at the Bobby platform.
Banging was heard from the house where Chimney had his hands pressed against the window, nose smushed and breath fogging up the glass. “What’s going on?!” he called out, voice muffled. “You all look weird! What’d I miss?”
Eddie and Buck observed everyone gawking at them.
“What?” said Eddie, truly stumped.
“I-I’m sure we can give you all merch too, guys, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Buck added, rubbing the back of his neck and studiously inspecting his shoes.
“Trolls World Tour up in here,” Ravi said in disbelief.
Athena nonchalantly took her phone off the table and unlocked it.
“Can you send me that video please, Hen?” Eddie asked, still not understanding why he was under the microscope. “Just in case I lost it.”
“I’m gonna lose it in a minute,” Hen muttered, forwarding it to him.
Buck took an uneasy swig of his drink, jolting in his chair when he noticed Maddie eyeballing him like a horror movie jump scare. “Jesus, Maddie, what?” he sputtered, wiping beer from his chin.
“Nothing, Evan,” she said with a pointed smile, popping another pretzel into her mouth.
“Well stop…” The rest of his sentence was swallowed up by music ringing out from Athena’s phone. Buck froze while Athena continued to sit there enjoying her wine, holding the screen towards herself with a playful smile. A tingle ran up Buck’s spine at the familiar melody.
And at the familiar voice yelling over the track.
* * *
“Athena you gotta get down here!” Buck cackled with glee from the sofa. He filmed the makeshift dancefloor in front of him filled with partygoers, and one particularly enthusiastic dancer. “Come arrest this man for crimes! All the crimes!”
The drag queen DJs cranked up a remix of ‘Whatta Man’ as Eddie pushed through the people in front of him. His shirt had disintegrated to just the pink collar around his neck, which he adjusted with a cheeky grin as he slithered his way over to Buck.
* * *
Buck leapt to his feet. “OHMYGODVETO!”
“What? What?” Eddie cried out; confusion etched into every pore as Buck turned each shade of red on the color wheel. “What the fuck are we vetoing?!”
* * *
Eddie gyrated his hips and flicked up the brim of the pink cowboy hat he’d rediscovered. He tried to control his laughter as Buck grinned up at him in pure elation.
“Heard this bachelor party needed a sexy dan—”
* * *
“OH SHIT! VETO!” Eddie shouted urgently.
Athena switched off her phone before the rest of the group could swarm her, swinging her crossed leg up and down and taking another leisurely sip of her wine.
“Athena!” Hen gasped with reverence.
“What? I wasn’t going to play it any further, and it cuts out not long after that anyway,” Athena shrugged. “Just thought this would bring a nice end to the Buck and Eddie portion of the evening otherwise Maddie and Chimney would never get around to their cake.” She patted Bobby’s arm affectionately. “And my husband worked very hard on that masterpiece.”
“I could go for some cake,” Chim piped up, scaring the shit out of Buck and Eddie as he appeared behind them. “Yeah, hi, I got bored inside. Besides, if Athena can break rank, then my punishment is null and void anyway.”
“I think their systems need to be re-booted,” Ravi murmured out the corner of his mouth to Bobby, as they took in Buck and Eddie rooted to the spot like Sims characters.
Bobby walked over and placed a gentle hand on Buck’s arm so not to startle him. “Come and help me with this dessert,” he said, guiding him towards the house. He then carefully steered Eddie over to Karen and Hen, who wanted to talk about setting up a sleepover for Chris and Denny when the games merch came through.
After the cake was brought out and speeches were made, Eddie and Buck lasted another thirty minutes engaging in idle chit-chat with everyone before gravitating back towards each other in the kitchen. Buck quietly washed a few of the larger dishes in the sink, while Eddie picked up a towel and dried in companionable silence.
“So…” Buck said, placing the sudsy mac and cheese bowl in the dish rack.
Eddie found a home for the tray he was drying and then leaned back against the sink next to his friend. “So…”
“You can dance, huh?” Buck said lightly, allowing himself a small grin when Eddie snorted.
“Apparently.” Wringing the towel in his hands, Eddie focused on a cherry tomato that had wound up on the floor. “Is it weird if I still want them to send us everything so we can piece together the rest of the night?”
Buck let out a relieved sigh and turned towards Eddie. “No, because for some illogical reason I do too.”
“Pair of clowns.”
“Absolutely.”
Smiling, Eddie playfully flicked Buck’s arm with the dish towel. “Gotta find out how you burnt your pants at least.”
“Exactly,” Buck said with a wry grin. “In amongst a million other mysteries.”
* * *
“Whatta man, whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man…”
Buck’s eyes widened as Eddie loomed over him.
* * *
“You, uh, you want to get an Uber back to mine?” asked Eddie.
“Y-yeah,” Buck said, licking his bottom lip. “Let’s get an Uber.”