Cut and Run 7 - Touch and Geaux

the closet, never missing a morning run. When the fuck were you planning on telling me this?”
    “I was . . . I was hoping I wouldn’t need to. The contracts expire in December.”
    Zane sniffed in disgust. “Jesus Christ, Ty.”
    Ty raised both hands. “It’s not like it’s something I can just go around telling everyone.”
    “I’m not everyone!”
    “I know that! But Zane, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
    “And that makes it okay not to tell me?”
    Ty shook his head.
    “Give me details,” Zane demanded.
    “I can’t tell you more. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that much.”
    “The fuck you can’t. You’re standing here telling me you’re still a fucking Marine, that you and your team are still on some sort of long-term fucking—”
    “Zane, calm down.”
    Zane slammed his fist into the wall. Blood was roaring through his ears and he had to shout to hear himself. “I’ve been living with you for a year and you can’t tell me more?”
    “I’m—”
    “Bullshit!”
    “I can’t tell you, Zane!” Ty shouted. “God! What I’ve said already could get me thrown in the Disciplinary Barracks at Leavenworth! Do you understand? I am still subject to USMC laws and codes of conduct!”
    Zane ran his hands through his hair.
    “And frankly, Liam Bell scares me more right now than any secrets I’ve been keeping from you.”
    “Are there more?” Zane asked sarcastically.
    Ty hesitated, and Zane caught a flicker of guilt in his eyes.
    “Oh my God,” Zane whispered. “There’s more. There’s something worse than this?”
    “Zane.”
    “Tell me what else you’re hiding.”
    Ty raised his head and squared his shoulders, his nostrils flaring. “No.”
    Zane stared. His heart was pounding. He’d known they had secrets between them, things they weren’t ready to share. They’d discussed these things, shady parts of their pasts they’d rather not take out of the box. But Zane had never expected Ty’s secrets to be something that could hurt him. Hurt them.
    Zane studied his lover, letting that truth settle somewhere deep inside him.
    “Tell me now, tell me everything I need to know.”
    Ty’s jaw muscles jumped, but he stayed straight and tall, matching Zane’s glare with his own. When he spoke, though, it came out broken. “No.”
    Zane gritted his teeth and slammed his palm against the wall. “Tell me the truth or I walk!”
    Ty swallowed hard, but it was obvious that he was weighing whether or not he should speak.
    “You really have to think about it?” Zane shoved away from Ty, unable to tear his eyes from him even as the pain twisted in his chest like a knife. “I guess we finally found the one thing more important to you than I am.”
    Ty’s face hardened. “You know that’s not true.”
    “Fuck you, Ty! I feel like I don’t know a goddamned thing now!” Zane jabbed his finger toward Ty. “I tell you I’m going to walk and you have to fucking think about it? Just fuck you!”
    Ty took a deep breath, but it didn’t help the strength of his words when he tried to speak. “If I told you . . . I’m afraid you’d walk anyway.”
    Zane threw his hands out. “What have you got to lose?”
    Ty’s jaw tightened. Zane held his breath, waiting, giving him a last chance to come clean, unable to imagine what Ty could have been keeping from him that he was so afraid to admit to.
    Ty shook his head, his jaw set.
    Zane took a step back. He was devastated to have been backed down, called on his bluff. He had no idea where to go from here.
    Only one place came to mind, one place to retreat from the stone wall Ty had just raised. It wasn’t just a wall to protect Ty or his secrets. It was a wall to protect Ty’s secrets from Zane .
    He turned on his heel and grabbed up his cigarettes and lighter from the floor. He brushed past Ty as he headed for the door.
    “Zane.”
    Zane turned.
    “There’s a man out there who wants to hurt you. And he’s good. Please don’t go off alone.”
    “Go to Hell, Ty,” Zane grunted, and he wrenched the door open and stalked out.

Nick was waiting when the door opened, but Zane brushed past him when he tried to stop him. He had to jog to catch up with Zane’s angry strides, and he felt like a puppy hopping along with its master as he tried to keep abreast of the man stalking down the hall.
    “I know you’re pissed, man, I am too. But Ty keeps secrets, that’s what he does. That’s what he’s trained to do.”
    “You don’t