Cut and Run 7 - Touch and Geaux

means you’re our brother too, you know?”
    Ty watched Nick’s profile as the man settled back in his chair, throat constricting again. Nick calling someone his brother was the ultimate in acceptance from him. There was no higher honor in Nick’s mind.
    “I, uh . . . thank you,” Zane stuttered.
    Kelly leaned forward, holding his beer up. “To Sanchez.”
    Ty swallowed hard and held his beer out. Zane joined with his water bottle. The glass clinked as they each said a solemn, “Oorah.”
    “Happy birthday, buddy,” Kelly said as he stared out into the night sky and finished off his beer.

It was over-warm and stuffy in their suite, and Zane woke up feeling half-suffocated. New Orleans in late April was pleasant after the chill of Baltimore, but it seemed the air conditioning was having trouble keeping up. It didn’t help that he was half-draped over Ty as they slept.
    He slowly extricated himself from Ty’s arms and sat up, rubbing his eyes before looking down at his lover, who lay sprawled beside him. The heavy curtains blocked the morning sun, and he could barely see Ty as he tossed and turned.
    Ty wasn’t an unusually restless sleeper, a fact at great odds with his waking hours. But now he seemed unsettled. He tossed his head and shifted his legs, a soft groan passing his lips. He rolled onto his side, his shoulders beginning the slow, rhythmic rocking that often kept Zane awake.
    Zane watched him for a few moments, wondering if it was a dream that was causing the grimace on Ty’s face. He got up to head for the bathroom, only to find Kelly and Nick both tangled on the floor at the foot of the bed. He knew they hadn’t made it back to their room last night, but they had both started on the pullout sofa. It must have been uncomfortable as hell to make them move to the floor.
    Nick was using a pillow Ty had tossed him in the middle of the night, and Kelly was using Nick’s stomach to rest his head as he snored. Zane snorted.
    He rolled his eyes and stepped over them to head for the bathroom, where he took his time, brushing his teeth, shaving, savoring the silence of the early morning. He fumbled in the dark for the pile of clothing he’d left last night and grabbed his pants to hunt for his cigarettes, remembering too late that his lighter had gone missing. “Dammit.”
    He was surprised when his fingers brushed the tip of the lighter, though, stuck down in his jeans pocket. He dug it out, and a piece of paper came wrapped tightly around it. Zane scowled as he unrolled it and held it up to the sliver of weak light coming through the part in the curtain to read the words scrawled on it. It was a phone number and the name “Liam” in small, neat lettering.
    Zane snorted. He remembered Liam’s hand at his hip. Had the man pickpocketed him just to make an impression? He’d certainly forced a memorable way of lighting his cigarette. He’d stolen Zane’s lighter, then put it back with the number around it. Impressive. And just a little flattering. Also creepy.
    Zane glanced at Ty, smiling fondly as he thought about just how riled his lover would get if he saw that note. Ty didn’t consider jealousy a part of his emotional spectrum, but it sure as hell was. Zane would always be more flattered by that than a stranger’s number in his pocket. He balled it up and dropped it and his jeans back to the floor. He’d smoke later.
    He had to navigate his way through the tangle of Sidewinder limbs on the floor to make it back to the bed. He was a little annoyed that he wouldn’t be able to greet Ty in the way he wanted, but he supposed he could sacrifice a morning of groping for Ty to have some time with his friends. If they ever woke up.
    Kelly snorted in his sleep and tried to burrow his face into Nick’s stomach, causing Nick to groan and push him away. Neither man woke.
    Ty tossed onto his side, echoing the groan. Zane recognized the signs of a nightmare. Sometimes Ty woke disoriented and dangerous. Other times he woke shaken and frightened. And sometimes he dreamt of pain.
    Zane lay back down on his side and scooted close to Ty, hoping he might be able to get him to rest a little more without having to wake him up from the nightmare. He placed his hand on Ty’s back and rubbed.
    Ty groaned again, a louder, more pained sound as he rolled back toward Zane. He gasped in a breath, as if surprised that he’d woken, and blinked blearily at Zane.
    Zane frowned. Ty was damp to the touch, more than he