Cut and Run 6 - Stars and Stripes

one of the buttons of Zane’s shirt. “Too bad I don’t have a hat, though. Can’t ride without a hat.”
    Zane caught Ty’s good hand and placed it on his chest. “Sure you can.”
    Ty tried not to smile as he met Zane’s eyes. “Better safe than sorry, huh?”
    “No one else will come by,” Zane growled. Then he shrugged and added, “And if they do . . .”
    The invitation tugged at Ty, and he took a deep breath as he mulled it over. He didn’t want Zane to come out to his family by being caught in a reverse cowboy on the couch, but the idea had its merits all the same.
    Ty’s body was responding, anyway.
    He exhaled to calm himself, kissing Zane again as Zane finally straightened up and loosened his hold. They both knew thirty minutes wasn’t enough time.
    “Zane?” Ty said, voice more serious. “What do you plan to tell your family about us?”
    Zane stared out the bank of windows for a few moments before looking back at Ty. “I’d like to tell them the truth. Can I rent Chester, do you think?
    Ty laughed and pushed his fingers through Zane’s hair, fighting against the bout of nerves that fluttered through him.
    “I’d like to tell Annie, for sure. She already knows about me; it’s just telling her about you. I think . . . I hope Dad would be okay with it. He’s pretty laid back.” Zane rubbed his cheek against Ty’s shoulder like he could burrow deeper. “If I had a choice, I wouldn’t tell Mother.”
    “I’ll follow your lead. I don’t mind telling them we’re just partners if it makes your life easier.”
    “I know,” Zane whispered. “But I’m tired of easy. Like you said, we deserve better.”
    Ty kissed the side of his mouth, then ducked his head for more.
    Zane’s grip tightened on Ty’s hips until it was almost painful. “I love you, Ty. More than anything.” He took a deep breath, as if steadying himself. “But it’d be smarter to wait until things have settled down here.”
    “Whatever you think is best.”
    Zane nodded, looking drawn and worried. Ty slid his fingers down his lover’s face. He knew where the stress was coming from.
    Zane rested his head on Ty’s shoulder and Ty rubbed a hand down his back. “Let’s go get ready.”
    Zane held on tight. “Not letting go,” he whispered.
    “Okay.” Ty drew out the word with a frown. “But that’s going to make dinner awkward.”

    They drove down the private road that serviced the Carter Garrett Ranch, arms hanging out the windows. The land was wide open on both sides, surprisingly green with those strange, knobby little hills and scrub trees, dotted with cactus flats and brush. It seemed tame, but Ty could see just how difficult it would be to traverse, either on foot or in a vehicle.
    The land wavered with heat, even as the sun descended. Summer evenings in Texas were apparently blazing hot right up until the sun went down, when they became merely uncomfortably warm.
    Zane was so quiet that the silence started getting to Ty, who fidgeted and squirmed more and more. He took his baseball hat off and messed with the bill, then put it back on and removed his sunglasses, wiping them clean before putting them back on and finding something else to mess with. He moved the air vents around and fiddled with the radio buttons, flipping through station after station of static before turning it off altogether.
    “Aren’t I supposed to be the nervous one here?” Zane asked.
    “I’m afraid I’m going to say something that screws things up for you,” Ty admitted as he slouched down in his seat and propped his booted foot on the dashboard.
    “You? Say something untoward? You would never !”
    “Okay, smartass, make fun of me.”
    “Just be yourself, Ty,” Zane said, glancing over and offering him a warm smile. “I don’t care what you say to Mother and neither will anyone else.”
    “What’s your mom’s deal?” Ty took his sunglasses off again and frowned down at them. They had scratches he hadn’t noticed before.
    Zane snorted. “She’s just . . . very determined.”
    “So are you, but you aren’t a frigid bitch. Usually,” Ty added as he slid his sunglasses back on and scrunched up his nose when they wouldn’t fit right. The frames seemed to be bent.
    “Ugh.” Zane shook his head and slowed the truck to pass over a burbling creek. The wheels hit a metal grate in the road, jarring the vehicle. It wasn’t the first grate Ty had seen; they were all over the main roads too. And while he’d