Fish & Chips (Cut & Run 3)

Zane struggled to parse Ty"s reply, his own annoyance and doubt and now a revived nausea throwing him off kilter. He swallowed hard, trying to pull it together, trying to refocus and find that cold space again. Ty was great at giving guilt trips. “All right,” he said. Fuck, he needed a cigarette and a drink.

“All right,” Ty echoed. “That"s all you have to say? All right?”

Zane was sick from the mixture of frustration and upset that Ty"s accusations caused. It was giving him a headache. “There"s no point, is there? I was wrong. You"ve made your point very clear.” He pushed his shirt off his shoulders and dropped it on the bed.

Ty watched the shirt hit the bed, then looked up at Zane.

Something in his eyes sparked suddenly, and he moved toward Zane quickly. “You want to go for a swim?” he asked as he moved on Zane and grabbed him, taking his forearm and pulling and turning it, jerking Zane around to face the opposite direction. His fingers dug into Zane"s shoulder from behind as he held his other arm and shoved at him, using the twisted arm to guide him toward the door. “Let"s go for a f**king swim,” Ty snarled as he slammed Zane"s chest and face against the cabin"s door. He held him there with the weight of his body as he reached for the door handle.

The unexpected sudden spin made Zane dizzy, and he was so shocked by Ty"s abrupt manhandling and his head thumping hard against the door that he couldn"t even pull himself together to throw him off. Ty wasn"t gentle as he pushed him down the corridor that led out to the outer deck. He didn"t mind running Zane into walls or doorways anytime Zane gathered himself enough to resist, and Ty kept wrenching the twisted arm painfully to keep Zane from being able to struggle. When they burst outside, the cool evening air hit them; the brisk wind carried the smell of the sea. Even along the Florida coast, it was cool enough on a December night out on the ocean that the decks were virtually empty, save for the bravest or most inebriated of guests.

The pool itself was deserted, even under the glass roof, glowing a peaceful blue-green in the night as a low mist of steam hovered over the warm water.

Ty shoved him toward it, muttering about him being a drunken idiot. Something finally clicked as the past half hour flashed through Zane"s head. This could be bad. Very bad. As they approached the pool, he started to struggle a little, but he was already off-balance, and Ty just twisted his arm a little more. He"d certainly shed the submissive personality of Del Porter, danger be damned, apparently.

Ty forced him to the edge of the pool, snarling in his ear. “I"ll be goddamned if I get killed "cause you"re too drunk to care.” And with that, he hooked his foot around the front of Zane"s shins and shoved him from behind, pushing him into the pool.

Even with the warning, Zane barely got a breath in before he hit the water in the shallow end of the pool with a noisy splash. His hip and shoulder painfully struck bottom in the four feet of water, stunning him, and he gasped out what breath he had before surfacing to look for Ty. He"d just barely gotten in some air when he realized Ty was in the pool with him, right beside him.

Ty reached for Zane"s head and forced him under water again with another sweep of his legs to knock Zane off his feet. Zane reached to cover Ty"s hands, to pry them loose, but Ty"s fingers twisted in his hair, and Zane couldn"t even struggle much. He lashed out at Ty"s torso, but the water slowed him too much for it to have any effect.

Despite Zane thrashing on his knees on the bottom of the pool, Ty held him under water until Zane"s lungs were on fire, and then he was violently yanked up out of the water. Ty put their faces close together as Zane spluttered, trying to breathe and talk at the same time. Their noses almost brushed as Ty snapped at him.

“You wanna deal with me now, Zane?” he asked through gritted teeth, echoing what Zane had told him as he"d dismissed him from the poker room.

Before Zane had a chance to answer, Ty dunked him under again, holding him there for just a few seconds this time before pulling him back up. Zane coughed out water and choked desperately for breath, one hand gripping Ty"s forearm, blinking his eyes hard against the stinging saline. The combination of it all broke Zane out of the alcohol-induced mindset, and he lost what detachment he"d been clinging to.

“Stop,” he gasped out between coughs. “Wait—”

Ty shook his head and vehemently forced Zane"s face under the water again. A split-second later he pulled him back up, gripping his chin with his other hand as he continued to hold Zane by his hair. Zane choked hard, dizzy now from the lack of air, the dunking up and down, and the buzz burning off. It all brought the whole evening crashing down on him like a leaden weight.

“I"m sorry,” he got out in a hoarse, panicky garble. “I"m sorry!”

Ty was breathing hard from the effort of manhandling him, his breaths gusting across Zane"s wet face in the cold air. The hand in his hair loosened, sliding down to his neck to keep Zane"s head above water. Ty"s other hand let go of Zane"s chin and wrapped around his waist as Zane tried to get his feet under him. Ty held him up in the water and rested his forehead against Zane"s. For the moment, it was all Zane could do to weakly grasp at Ty"s arms. Despite the water being relatively warm, they were both shivering as Ty held Zane close to him.

“Damn you, Zane,” Ty panted finally as the disturbed water lapped at their bare chests.

Zane coughed and choked again as he tried to get in air, breaths hitching as the delayed panic set in, and his hands shook visibly as he tried to hold on. His legs wouldn"t cooperate. It was all he could do to nod.

Ty stood up straight, water streaming off his arms as he pulled Zane up with him. “Come on,” Ty muttered, his teeth chattering as he got Zane"s arm over his shoulders to help him out of the heated pool.

He began leading Zane toward the wide steps. Off-balance, Zane wavered a little even with Ty helping him along, and when they got out, he was shaking hard from the adrenaline and shock and was shivering from the cold.

The cold air outside the pool"s dome hit Zane like a sledgehammer, the last straw breaking any buzz, any pride, and any confidence Zane had in himself.

Ty kept his arm around him as he led him toward the entrance that would take them to their cabin. The effort seemed to have taken all the steam out of him as well, because he was sedate and silent until they got back to their stateroom. He made sure the door was locked behind him; then he pushed Zane gently toward the bathroom.