Cut and Run 5 - Armed and Dangerous

realized he felt uncomfortable with Ty kneeling so close to him.
    Rather than being impressed or intimidated, Ty just laughed. “I know,” he said as he pushed himself to his feet.
    “So why bother with the search?”
    Ty sat down beside him on the double bed, too close to him. Yeah, he definitely made Cameron uncomfortable, like patrons at the restaurant that got too flirtatious. Only Ty hadn’t done anything even remotely like that, so Cameron couldn’t figure out what it was that made him uneasy. Maybe Ty was just one of those people who exuded that sort of feeling.
    “You ever seen two big dogs fight over a bone?”
    Cameron shrank back. “No. But I know what you’re getting at.”
    Ty nodded. “In theory, the one with the spikes on his collar has the advantage. But really it’s the one who ain’t worried about protecting a puppy hiding behind him.”
    “Great. Now I’m a puppy.” Then it hit him. “Wait. You’re not talking about you, are you? You’re talking about them, out there alone, fighting over… something?” Cameron’s voice had risen as he started to panic.
    Ty shook his head and began rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “It’s a general metaphor. Don’t take it literally,” he said, but then he waved his hand. “Look, all I’m saying is you coming with him, it put him at a disadvantage. But you keep your dog on a leash, I’ll keep mine on one too.”
    Cameron looked at him, uneasy. Then he nodded. “I’ll try.”
    Ty nodded and stood.
    The nerves faded once Ty wasn’t beside him anymore. Yeah, it was definitely just a feeling Ty gave off.
    Ty took his phone out of his pocket and dialed. Then he said, “We’re good.” He looked down at Cameron as he put the phone away. “You’ll have that bed. Don’t move,” he said as he turned and headed toward the bathroom.
    Cameron opened his mouth to object but swallowed it instead, shaking his head as Ty disappeared into the bathroom. The handcuffs comment made sense now. Well, he was in for a surprise, then, because if Julian ended up sitting on the floor handcuffed to a table leg or safe or mini refrigerator, then Cameron would be sitting right there next to him.
    Cameron mulled over what Ty had said, and the unusual discomfort of the situation, until the door to the room opened and Julian walked in. He still appeared calm and stoic, but Cameron recognized the tension in his shoulders. As soon as he saw Cameron, though, he relaxed. Obviously he’d been having the same flashes of alarm Cameron had experienced when Ty took him up here alone, and that made Cameron feel both a little better and a little worse.
    “Have a nice chat?” Cameron asked, putting on a smile he didn’t feel.
    “Oh, it was enlightening,” Julian said, drawling the words out in amusement.
    He took a step toward Cameron, but Ty appeared out of the bathroom before Julian could get past the door, and snapped the spare handcuffs onto one of Julian’s wrists. Then he grabbed the back of Julian’s coat, almost as if he were scruffing a cat, and dragged him into the bathroom. There was a brief and noisy struggle, complete with bangs and crashes, during which Cameron heard Julian say a few choice words he’d never heard his lover utter. A few moments later, Ty stepped out of the bathroom, primly adjusting his clothing as he gave Zane a dashing smile.
    Zane’s lips were pressed together hard. Cameron would have sworn that he was trying not to laugh.
    “Secure?” Zane asked with difficulty.
    “Unless he decides to rip the shower enclosure out of the wall… yes.”
    After hearing what had come out of Julian’s mouth, Cameron wasn’t too sure Ty should be so happy with himself.
    Julian’s dry voice drifted out of the bathroom. “You’re an imbecile.”
    “But I ain’t handcuffed to a shower.”
    “I want to sit with Julian,” Cameron said.
    “No,” Zane said in a pleasant voice.
    “Why not?” Cameron asked, standing and holding up his handcuffed hands.
    “Because we fucking said so,” Ty said. “Get in bed. Do it now.”
    Zane shrugged out of his coat and hung it in the closet before picking up his duffel. “You get in bed too,” he told Ty with a jerk of his head toward the second bed. “I’m not sleeping.”
    Ty looked at Zane as if he wanted to object, but he kept his mouth shut. He stripped off the T-shirt he’d changed into earlier and toed off his boots. He fell into the bed in just his jeans and burrowed his head under one of