Cut and Run 6 - Stars and Stripes

Beverly would do. Ty was beginning to think that perhaps all this family money was hers. If not the money, then definitely the power.
    “She’ll find out through the grapevine soon enough,” Zane said as Ty tried to shake him off.
    “Well, yes, I suppose she will,” Annie said, wincing.
    Harrison lit the cigarette he’d rolled before dinner, and Ty gave one last swat with his cast before he stopped struggling against Zane’s fingers.
    “You prepared for what might happen when you mother finds out?” Harrison eyed Zane’s grip on Ty’s collar, shook his head and smiled. “Let your friend go, Z.”
    Zane released Ty’s shirt collar, and Ty squared his shoulders and straightened his shirt, giving Zane a glare. Zane smiled serenely when he met Ty’s eyes.
    “I say let her find out when she finds out,” Zane said. “I told the important people.”
    “If that’s the way you want to play it,” Harrison said. “But I do have one question.”
    “Okay . . .” Zane said.
    “Not for you.” Harrison nodded at Ty instead.
    Ty raised his chin and braced himself for whatever Zane’s father could throw at him. After facing down his own father, he didn’t think anything could scare him now.
    “You know anything about horses, son?”
    Ty raised an eyebrow and leaned closer, not sure if he’d heard right. “Not much, sir,” he answered. “I know how to get on one, and I know how to fall off one.”
    Annie snickered and Harrison nodded. “Well, then. I guess we can’t all be perfect.”
    Ty narrowed his eyes at Harrison. “I have a question.”
    “Fair enough.”
    “How in the hell do you do that with your mustache?”
    Harrison gave him a grin and wink as he turned away.

    Zane and Annie watched in total exasperation as Ty spent most of the evening teaching Sadie how to jab a pressure point with two fingers, and where the most effective pressure points were located.
    Zane could only laugh as Sadie jabbed at Ty’s carotid and Ty sprawled in the grass, complete with his tongue hanging out for effect. Sadie was enjoying it a little too much. But then, so was Ty.
    It was well past dark when they returned to the guesthouse and Zane finally had Ty to himself. As soon as they walked in, Zane pulled Ty toward him and kissed him, taking his time, drawing it out.
    Ty grinned against his lips. “How does it feel?”
    “Damn good,” Zane growled as he squeezed Ty’s ass.
    “That’s not what I meant.”
    Zane laughed. He didn’t let Ty go, but he nodded. “It feels good. I can’t believe my dad took it like that.”
    “Your dad is pretty epic, Zane.”
    Zane laughed again, harder this time. He met Ty’s eyes, taking in the whole package. The hat brought out the hazel, making them sharper, shadowing them and giving Ty that mysterious cowboy aura that so many people tried and failed to achieve. Ty could almost pull off the hat better than he could and Ty’d only had it for a few hours. The way Ty had handled himself tonight, the way he’d charmed Annie and Harrison and even little Sadie, and held his own with Beverly, made Zane proud.
    Having someone to be proud of was an indescribable feeling.
    “I love you,” Zane said as he gazed into Ty’s eyes, reveling in the truth behind the words. Every step they took as a couple felt so damn good.
    Ty smiled, eyes bright. Then his expression fell and he smacked Zane’s chest. “Why didn’t I know you can draw?”
    “What?”
    “I saw your painting. And Annie said you do charcoal sketches.”
    “I—”
    “You are going to draw me something, and you’re going to do it tonight.”
    Zane laughed. “What?”
    “You should draw me a tattoo!”
    Zane raised an eyebrow, arrested by the thought. He hadn’t drawn in years, hadn’t even thought of it, but the idea of using Ty’s skin as a canvas was appealing in so many ways. “I might have to do that,” he rasped.
    Ty nodded. Zane pulled the hat off Ty’s head and stepped in close to kiss at the corner of his mouth. Ty reached to tug him closer, but stopped when his cast got in the way. He couldn’t grip Zane’s arm, couldn’t drag his hand over Zane’s back, couldn’t even work at any of Zane’s buttons. Zane huffed in annoyance and started on his own shirt buttons.
    Ty grunted and turned his hand over.
    “How much longer are you in that thing?”
    “Couple more weeks, at least.”
    “That’s really going to cause some chafing if you’re not careful.”
    “Zane, come on, that’s just