Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

pressed against
    the beard growing in after five days without shaving. He could feel
    Ty‟s breath on his neck as he whispered, “I know I smell like beer. But
    I‟d rather have you in my bed tonight than the Irish.”
    Zane shivered. No Nick, then. “You smell like you, mostly,” he
    said.
    Ty kissed him without another word. It was a quick, almost
    furtive kiss, but there was heat behind it, too, and the sour tang of the
    beer was fainter on Ty‟s lips than Zane had expected. The steps below
    creaked, and Ty pulled away from him and gave his shoulders a turn,
    heading him in the general direction of the bedroom. A moment later
    Nick was murmuring goodnight to them both as he passed on to the
    third-floor stairs, and Ty shut the door to his bedroom behind them.
    “Won‟t he think this is weird?” Zane asked, keeping his voice
    down.
    “There‟s only two beds in the house. He usually sleeps with me,
    the others fight over the couches. I told him you needed to be within
    stumbling distance of the bathroom, less stairs.” Ty‟s hand found its
    way to Zane‟s lower back. “Would you rather he sleep here and you go
    upstairs?”
    “Hell no,” Zane swore under his breath. “It‟s just… he‟s your
    friend and all. A Marine. I didn‟t know if you had… in the past… does
    he know that you….” Zane paused for a breath. “Never mind. I‟m tired
    and you‟re drunk. Time to sleep.”
    Divide & Conquer | 199

    “Are you asking if Nick and I have fucked?” Ty asked, plowing
    through all the gentle euphemisms he could have used, getting right to
    the point.
    Something inside Zane curled awkwardly, and he flinched, aware
    of being silent for too long. “I actually hadn‟t gotten that far in thinking
    about the „friends through thick and thin‟. More along the lines of
    would he have any reason to think we might be more than work
    partners.” But now he also wanted to know the answer to the question
    Ty had thrown out there.
    “If you‟re uncomfortable, I can sleep on the couch,” Ty offered,
    voice low and soothing, just like it had been for most of Zane‟s
    blindness. It was the same tone he‟d adopted with Nick, telling him to
    stay in the present instead of dwelling on trauma of the past. Zane had
    never consciously noticed Ty had that ability, to calm and reassure with
    his voice, or even that he‟d been doing it to him all week, until now.
    Zane remembered abruptly that Ty did have a degree in psychology,
    and he wondered if he was really that easily manipulated. Although Ty
    wouldn‟t even have to try, not really.
    Zane frowned. “No. No, I‟m not uncomfortable.” He wasn‟t sure
    he could explain this well enough to get through the filter of beer,
    stress, and exhaustion. “He doesn‟t know about us, right? I‟m just
    trying to be careful.”
    “He doesn‟t know,” Ty affirmed. Zane could hear the rustle of
    clothing as Ty got undressed.
    He‟d never actually answered the other question. Zane didn‟t feel
    right asking, though he knew it would bother him now. He took a
    steadying breath, pulled his T-shirt over his head, and dropped it to the
    floor. He made it to the bed and under the covers, leaving on his
    sweats. A moment later Ty crawled in next to him, his skin warm
    against Zane‟s, the smell of the bar just faint enough to be slightly
    arousing instead of nauseating.
    Ty pulled him close and kissed him carefully. “He‟s never been
    anything more than my best friend, Zane,” he whispered. “Stop
    worrying.”
    200 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    Zane didn‟t realize he‟d tensed up until he relaxed after Ty‟s
    words, and he set his forehead against Ty‟s with another sigh. “You
    know me pretty well, huh.”
    “Not as well as I‟d like,” Ty replied, voice barely there. He kissed
    Zane again, letting his lips drag across Zane‟s. Then he sighed heavily
    and rolled onto his back, his movements restless and slightly inebriated.
    Zane let him sprawl, knowing that trying to hold onto Ty in this state
    would just make him squirm more.
    He was fairly confident there wasn‟t anything he wouldn‟t tell Ty,
    besides some few select experiences better left buried. But it was a
    discussion they‟d had before, and Zane didn‟t expect a reply, so he
    turned away and onto his side, pulling the pillow up against his chest.
    A moment later Ty tossed an arm and a leg over him, snuggling
    up to him like Zane was his pillow. He nuzzled his face into the