Divide & Conquer (Cut & Run #4)(59)
Author: Abigail Roux

“Im outta here, man,” Owen snarled as he grabbed his coat off the back of the chair, tipping the chair backward. It crashed to the floor as Owen turned on his heel and stalked out of the bar.

They watched him go in stunned silence.

“What a f**king prick,” Kelly finally said in a shocked voice. “Dont worry about him,” Nick said to Ty softly.

Ty gave him a weak smile and nodded. “Handled it better than I thought he would,” he admitted. “Fucking ass**le,” Digger muttered as he picked up the chair and righted it, then sat back down heavily, still watching the door where Owen had disappeared.

“Forget it,” Nick said with authority. Ty glanced at him, and Nick actually smiled at him and leaned toward him. “Grady, nothing you can tell us after all this time will truly surprise me,” he whispered seriously, though he was still smiling. He held out his hand to Ty, palm facing his chest in the same manner he had thousands of times before. Ty reached out and pressed his palm to Nicks, grasping his hand and crossing their wrists. It pulled their faces closer together, a position theyd been in many times over the years as theyd reminded each other not to get shot during a mission.

Nicks voice was low and warm when he spoke. “I can see the fear in your eyes. But I dont give a damn if youre queer, man. And you owe me an apology for thinking I would.”

Ty felt like crying in relief, but he managed to just smile and shake his head at the audacity. “Youre right,” he conceded in a whisper. “Im sorry for thinking you might be a prick.”

Nick patted him on the shoulder with his beer bottle, then let go of his hand and leaned back. He propped one foot up on the chair Owen had vacated and tossed back the bottle, taking a long gulp. “So. I mean, really, is he the best you can do?” he asked again, teasing.

Ty rolled his eyes and took his time drinking a few swigs of beer. “I love him,” he finally answered, giving it to him straight. He looked at Nick and nodded, lips pressed tightly together.

“Seriously?” Nick asked in honest surprise. “Like, with-the-heart love or with-the-dick love?”

Ty snorted. “To be honest, its a little of both.”

“He knows, right? You said youre f**king, so I assume its a relationship?” Kelly asked. “Yeah. He knows.” His chest tightened. It was a relief to be able to talk about Zane with someone besides Deuce. He bit his lip and finally looked up to meet Kellys eyes.

“But?” Kelly prompted.

“I told him I loved him after the last UC case we worked,” Ty admitted with a slight flush. “Wow,” Nick offered.

“Couldnt help it.”

“But?” Kelly repeated with a deeper frown.

“When I told him, he didnt really say anything.”

His three friends gave him a chorus of pained noises in response.

“Shit, man,” Digger practically shouted. “Go pick that waitress up and make yourself feel better!”

Ty laughed out loud and closed his eyes, rubbing at his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Jackass,” Digger grumbled disconsolately.

“At least he didnt say thank you,” Kelly pointed out wryly.

Ty laughed before putting his bottle to his lips and taking a long, relieved gulp of his beer. This had gone better than hed ever imagined it would.

“So, he doesnt feel the same?” Nick asked, confused. “No,” Ty answered, shaking his head. “No, he does. Im just not sure he knows it yet.” “You cant do anything easy, can you?” Kelly asked, laughing. “Bet that waitress would be,” Digger grumbled.

The others began laughing and talking once more, drowning the silence. But Nick watched him, still frowning in confusion. Ty waited for him to comment, unconsciously holding his breath. “You love him. You think he loves you, but he hasnt said it,” Nick finally laid out.

Ty shrugged and nodded.

“What if youre wrong?”

“Then Ill get to throw his shit off my balcony. Should be fun.”

Nick snorted, staring at him in wonder. “How do you live life without looking back or forward? God, I envy that.” Ty merely smiled enigmatically at him. It wasnt the first time hed heard that. Not many people—not even Nick, whod lived through his past with him, or Zane, who woke up to his nightmares—knew just how hard it was for Ty to shake off the past and the future and just live in the here and now.

“So its been like two months, and he still hasnt manned up and decided if he loves you, right? But youre still f**king.”

Ty just stared at him, trying to decide if that was an accurate statement. They didnt know Zane like he did. Ty knew his partner had to take the issue from every angle, analyze it to death, resurrect it, and then study its dead, rotting body to see the results. Yeah, it might take Zane four months to decide if he loved someone, and then more to decide if that was a good idea.

Ty didnt mind waiting.

“What a prick,” Nick muttered as he put his bottle to his lips and looked out over the barroom with a disturbed frown. Ty didnt comment. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the chair beside Nicks, crossing them at the ankles. One foot rocked slowly as they drank in silence.

“So are you the guy or the girl?” Digger asked abruptly.

Ty barked another laugh, almost snorting beer up his nose. “It doesnt really work that way,” he managed to answer.

“So how does it work?” Kelly asked in his typical soft, amused voice. Ty stared at them for a moment, surprised that not only had they accepted the news fairly easily but seemed to be showing genuine interest.

He shrugged. “Were still dealing with the dynamics,” he said vaguely. He had never been a kiss-and-tell type of guy, regardless of who hed been with. They knew that. They werent asking about sex. They were asking about the relationship itself in the only way they knew how, and Ty had no answers for them.

“He seems like the „get on your knees, bitch type of guy,” Digger grumbled under his breath. Ty nearly snorted beer up his nose again. He coughed and sputtered as Nick smacked his back repeatedly, laughing heartily. Ty closed his eyes and felt himself blushing as they continued on with the conversation. Did it bother him that they now knew he liked to get on his knees and be f**ked until he screamed? A little. He had always been their go-to guy, the brawn on point, the guy they knew they could throw at anything and hed go in swinging. Why did his being g*y have to mar that tough-guy personality?

Ty didnt know. But in his mind, it did, to an extent. He supposed that was his own problem, though. Or societys problem. He shook his head, concentrating instead on the flood of relief. Not only was it a relief that his closest friends had, for the most part, accepted the news with grace and ease, it was also a relief simply to have told them. To this point, the only people whod known he was bisexual and leaned toward favoring men were his brother and any man he happened to be f**king. It was an intense relief to just say the words. Come out, as it were.