Cut and Run 5 - Armed and Dangerous

oddly familiar, as if they shared a secret. “Studying the way animals stalk is an effective way to… sell antiques.”
    “Yeah,” Cameron drew out, keeping his eyes on Julian and shaking his head.
    Zane groaned and rubbed his eyes.
    “C’mon, Simba, go buy me some lemonade while I find a table,” Cameron said, hooking his arm through Julian’s.
    Ty and Zane remained behind them for only the briefest of moments, glaring at each other, before Ty broke away to trail behind them. Cameron got the very distinct feeling that they were communicating silently and that they would be discussing elephants the next time they were alone.
    When Ty joined Cameron at the table, it was just the two of them. Zane had gone off to find a restroom, and Julian was waiting in line for a lemonade.
    Cameron sat in the metal chair with his club sandwich as he watched Julian. It was always interesting to observe him interacting with strangers, whether he was a lion or a shark or a teddy bear. He was much the same as when Cameron had met him: mostly silent, otherwise soft-spoken and succinct. It had made for a challenge when Cameron served as his waiter at Tuesdays, the gourmet restaurant where they’d met. It still made him smile, thinking about how he’d been so sure Julian hadn’t even known he existed.
    Ty thumped down beside him and huffed, breaking his reverie. “You know how you can tell when someone’s really in love?” Ty asked him out of the blue, his tone casual. He glanced sideways at Cameron, one eyebrow raised. “You’re sitting here, watching him do something completely mundane, and you’re grinning like an idiot.”
    “And what’s wrong with that?” Cameron asked with a light laugh.
    “Whatever, you make my teeth hurt,” Ty grumbled, though Cameron could see the barest hint of something beneath the gruff exterior, perhaps amusement.
    “I think you’re just as sentimental as I am. You hide it better,” Cameron claimed, remembering Ty’s snappy response about being away from his loved ones. “I just don’t have to hide it at all. It’s really freeing.”
    “I bet,” Ty murmured. Though his eyes still followed Julian’s movements, they seemed to be staring off into the distance as well, as if he was seeing someone or something else. Cameron wondered, as he looked at Ty, what sort of person a man like him would love. Ty shook it off and glanced down, then looked away as if he sensed Cameron’s eyes still on him.
    Cameron took a bite of his sandwich. “Don’t you get tired of it?” he asked. “This tough guy image?”
    Ty didn’t look at him, but Cameron could see his eyes gaining distance again. “It’s all I’ve ever known,” he answered, voice matter-of-fact and melancholy.
    A glance showed Cameron that Julian was accepting the cups from the lady at the counter. Ty would totally clam up once Julian walked over. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Julian was able to adapt,” Cameron offered, hoping Ty might be able to see it could be done. “You just have to love the right person.”
    “What makes you think I don’t?” Ty asked in an oddly distant voice.
    Cameron was brought up short, staring at him with narrowed eyes. “I have a finely tuned macho bullshit detector, and it’s shrieking,” he said.
    “You get a lot of macho bullshit from your boyfriend over there?” Ty asked in what seemed to be sincere curiosity. But with Ty, it was hard to tell what was said in seriousness and what wasn’t.
    Cameron shifted uncomfortably. “It doesn’t bother you?” he asked, watching Ty.
    “What? Bullshit? I work for the government, man.” Ty laughed and shook his head.
    Cameron repressed a smile. “No. That Julian and I are lovers.”
    Ty was already shaking his head, as if he’d known all along that was what Cameron had been referring to. “Now who’s making generalizations? Just because I wear flannel doesn’t mean I’m an asshole.” His knee was no longer bouncing, and he seemed to have finally relaxed a little as he sat there. “Guy’s willing to charge into a room full of guns to protect you and then drag you across the country in handcuffs to keep you with him. Seems like a keeper to me.”
    “Yes. He’s a keeper,” Cameron agreed, even though Ty’s words were sarcastic. He cleared his throat. “And Julian is indeed a master of macho bullshit.”
    “Yeah, he seems the type.”
    “So do you.”
    “Oh, I know it,” Ty said. He didn’t seem to take it as an insult,