Ball & Chain (Cut & Run 8)

Ty’s eyebrows shot up, and he straightened. He almost looked like he’d been expecting the answer, like maybe he’d heard enough through the wall last night to know Nick hadn’t been sleeping, but he still seemed perturbed by it. “I gather you weren’t alone.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Nick answered. He took a deep, shaky breath. “Look, Ty, this is not the way I wanted to tell you about this. We were waiting until after the wedding stuff died down so you wouldn’t freak out and go nuclear when you’re already under stress.”

Ty narrowed his eyes. He placed the pen on his pad of paper, the movement briefly drawing Nick’s eyes. “Who?” Ty asked, his voice going low and dangerous.

“Oh, Ty, don’t freak out.”

“Who were you with, O’Flaherty?”

Nick couldn’t get enough air to take a breath to steady himself, much less extract a promise from Ty to remain calm. “I was with Kelly,” he said in a rush.

Ty stared, his brow furrowing and the tension seeping out of his shoulders. “Kelly who?”

Nick frowned. “Kelly. Our Kelly. Doc.”

Ty was still staring like he didn’t understand, his head cocked like a puppy hearing a new sound. He glanced at the door, then at Nick again. “You were f**king Kelly?”

“Yes.”

Ty was silent for several more seconds, then barked out a laugh. “I thought you were talking about Emma!”

Nick sighed in relief. This was not the reaction he’d expected, but he’d take it.

Ty laughed harder, but soon he wound down and then stood up. “Wait, you were boning Kelly? How f**king high were you two last night?”

“That’s not . . . it’s not just last night.”

“What does that mean?” Ty demanded.

“I mean it wasn’t the first time. I didn’t just bring him because he has a gun.”

“What the f**k, man, how did that happen?”

“It’s a really long story.”

“I have time,” Ty growled. “How long has it been going on?”

“It started after New Orleans, when we got to Colorado.”

“That was . . . that was months ago! Why the hell am I just finding this out now?”

Nick stood so he would be on the same level as Ty. He was glad the wet bar was between them. “It kind of caught us both by surprise. Then I got deployed before we could figure anything out. Ty, we didn’t even know what the hell there was between us. We kept it quiet because we wanted to know it was serious before we said anything.”

“Bullshit, you could have told me any— Wait, what do you mean serious?”

Nick found himself snickering again. He couldn’t seem to stop, and the more he laughed the more agitated Ty got. He put out a hand to try to calm Ty. “It’s serious.”

“How serious?” Ty asked, still looking scandalized. Nick half expected him to hold his hand to his heart any second now, maybe clutch a string of pearls. Nick howled, doubling over and holding his stomach as Ty glared at him.

“What is so funny?” Ty shouted. “I feel like I need bleach for my ear holes!”

“You,” Nick gasped. He pointed at Ty and shook his head, trying for enough breath to speak. He finally got himself under control and straightened his shoulders to meet Ty’s eyes. He smiled almost serenely. “I love him.”

Ty blinked at that, his mouth falling open.

“I love him, Ty.”

Ty stared at him, then looked down at the bar top for a long few seconds, then back up at Nick with narrowed eyes. “Are we talking with the heart love or with the dick love?” he asked, echoing Nick’s words from so long ago.

Nick merely grinned.

“Good,” Ty said softly.

“What?”

“Good,” Ty repeated. He came around the end of the wet bar, beginning to smile, then pulled Nick into a hug, holding him and patting him on the back. “He’ll treat you right and you deserve that. That’s good.”

Nick gasped as the relief hit him. He squeezed Ty tightly. “You’re not pissed?”

Ty shook his head. He stepped back, meeting Nick’s eyes. “Not pissed. Maybe a little confused, but . . . it kind of makes sense, the two of you. You fit. And to be honest, I’m relieved.”

“Relieved?”

“I thought you were mad at me, man. You didn’t call, you didn’t write.” He patted Nick hard on the cheek before turning away. “You dog, you.”

Nick found himself gaping as Ty strolled to the door.

Ty said over his shoulder, “I’ll send Zane in so he can tell you what those people looked like.”

Ty came out of the game room with a huge smirk on his face. It immediately put Zane on edge.

“What?” he asked, almost afraid to get an answer.

“I’ll tell you after,” Ty promised with a passing pat to Zane’s stomach.

Zane gave him a sideways glance as he headed for the door. Ty made his way to the lounge area where Kelly was sitting with the four other children who were on the island for the wedding, all kids of Ty’s cousins. Amelia was on Kelly’s knee. Kelly and Ty had been entertaining them during the interviews, telling them campfire stories and doing magic tricks. Both men were exceptionally good with the young ones, but then Kelly should be since he worked at a camp for at-risk youth.

When Zane stepped into the game room, he was nervous for some reason. As soon as he saw Nick, though, the nerves vanished. He was sitting on a stool behind the wet bar, his nose and forehead pressed to the polished wood, his hands flattened to the bar top like he’d just bashed his face into it.

Zane smiled, understanding Ty’s smirk now. Nick picked his head up and stared at him.

“I’m sorry,” Zane said immediately. He sat opposite Nick.

“I’ve never had to interrogate him before. Only ever seen it from the other side.”

Zane bit his lip. “I can’t imagine.”

“He accused me of police brutality.”

Zane finally gave in and chuckled.

Nick just shook his head.

“Do you want to take a break?”

“No, you’re one of the last five on my list,” Nick said. He was flipping through his notes, looking for a blank page. He started talking before he landed on one. “Do you remember seeing anyone on the beach last night during your walk?”

“Yeah, we passed a couple walking, a guy and a girl.”