Zane finished with the towel and tossed it to the floor. When he glanced back, that grin was still in place on Ty’s lips. Zane snorted, enjoying the sparkle in Ty’s eyes. He reached out and let his fingers coast down Ty’s cheek to drift over the compass rose at his neck. “You know how to break me.”
“That’s the last thing on my mind,” Ty murmured. He scooted forward and pressed his lips to Zane’s. He didn’t try to deepen the kiss or grope Zane like he usually did. It was a simple, sweet gesture, one that he ended all too soon as he rolled onto his back once more.
He put one arm under his head and stretched the other out under Zane’s neck. “Come here,” he said in a low voice.
Zane shifted to curl against Ty’s warm body under the curve of his arm. He slid his hand over Ty’s waist and settled his arm there so he could hold Ty as well.
Ty turned his head enough to nuzzle his nose and mouth against Zane’s. He wrapped his arm around Zane’s shoulders and held him close, bringing his other hand to his waist to rest on Zane’s hand there. He was silent, his body loose and still. Zane had rarely ever felt Ty when he was truly relaxed. Even in sleep or after drinking, his muscles always seemed to be tight and tense, his body ready for action.
Zane hummed. “Wish I had this effect on you more often.”
“What effect?”
“This one,” Zane said as he slid his hand up Ty’s torso until he could trace Ty’s lax features with his fingers. “You’re so relaxed. It’s quite a sight.”
“I’m always relaxed,” Ty mumbled, though the smile in his voice told Zane he was merely poking fun at himself. He hugged Zane closer, kissing his forehead.
“Is this the result of your little sabbatical?”
“Partly. Mostly it’s my dangerous lack of caffeine right now.”
Zane smiled, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Where’d the sandalwood come from?”
“Deuce. His crazy yoga girlfriend has gotten him on board the scent therapy stuff. It’s supposed to relieve stress. I don’t know if it works; I just think it smells good.”
Zane laughed, and Ty chuckled along with him. The warmth soaking through Zane was heady and addictive. He couldn’t remember being this content to just be still and next to Ty, although it was always pleasant. Now it meant even more, because Zane knew exactly how special this was.
He would never have imagined, even after their first night together, when Ty had held him all night, that they could ever have this.
“I was sure, when we met, that you were a straight-arrow ladies’ man,” Zane said. He pressed a soft kiss to the hollow of Ty’s shoulder.
Ty laughed. “You were half-right.”
Zane pushed himself up so he could look at Ty. “How’s that work?” he asked, a smile pulling at his lips.
“What?”
“Half-straight? Half ladies?” Zane poked at Ty’s belly, his finger hitting hard muscle. “You’ve never mentioned any other men.”
Ty shifted again and reached up to run his hand down Zane’s arm, letting his fingers play over Zane’s muscles. “I think it’s been pretty half and half, who I’m attracted to. Most of the other men I’ve been with have been one-time hookups,” he admitted, words careful, as if he were trying to gauge Zane’s reaction as he said it.
Zane wasn’t quite sure what problem Ty thought he’d have with it; that pretty much described him too. “Are you expecting… shock?”
Ty snorted and shook his head. “You’ve just never asked me about this kind of stuff, I keep expecting your head to spin or something.”
Zane laughed. He shrugged the shoulder he wasn’t lying on. “I mean, I’ve obviously switch-hit and bounced around. It’d be pretty shitty of me to judge you for the same.”
Ty nodded. “Well… you know I haven’t been a saint. Most of the people I’ve been with have been… let’s just say I remember the majority by the names of the bar or city I met them in,” he said, unembarrassed by the fact. Ty had never tried to present himself to Zane as anything but what he was. That honesty was oddly assuring to Zane now that they were exclusive.
“Was there ever anyone serious?”
“A few,” Ty answered. “A couple women I didn’t love but I could see myself with long-term, one in particular, but….” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “The connection never felt right. It was always so much more natural with a guy. I was always scared to get too involved with the guys I met, though. There was only one I ever let myself fall hard for, before you.”
It was fascinating, watching Ty from so close when his expressions were so open and honest. Zane tried to follow his eyes, but Ty clearly felt a little awkward with all the sharing, and he continued to stare at the ceiling. “I get the feeling it’s been a while,” Zane said, moving his hand over Ty’s stomach.
“I was young,” Ty said with a nod. “I don’t know if we really loved each other or not. I’m not sure if you even know what love is at seventeen. Felt like it at the time. Enough to scare us. We decided we had to get away from each other before we fell too hard.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “That’s why I joined the Marines, you know. I never told anyone that.”
Zane blinked in surprise. “Really? I thought you were following the family tradition. Semper fi and all that.”
“That just made it easy to explain. No one asked any questions; they all just assumed I was following in Dad’s footsteps. I had thought about it before, it was something I knew I wanted to do, knew I’d be good at. But suddenly it was an escape route too.”
Zane trailed his finger down Ty’s chest as he listened, raptly watching Ty’s face.
“See, my senior year in high school we were playing in a big rivalry game homecoming weekend. I was on defense. I don’t remember why, I almost never played defense. But I was that night, and I sacked the other team’s quarterback. He was a senior too, played all the same sports, so I knew him a little bit from all the games we’d played against each other. I broke his leg.”
He winced with the memory, and Zane smiled. It was always fascinating to find out what Ty sympathized with.
“His last home game and he had to be carried off the field on a little cart. The next day I went to see him, tell him I was sorry. It was his left leg, full cast up to his thigh, so he couldn’t drive a stick, couldn’t get around. I felt guilty, so….” He laughed suddenly at the memory. “I wrote my phone number on his cast and told him to call me whenever he needed to go somewhere. We ended up… we spent a lot of time together. Hit it off.”