Zane sighed and slowly slid his hand over Ty’s back. “It’s my birthday,” he admitted.
Ty jerked his head back and looked at Zane in shock, pushing up onto his elbow and dislodging the coat that had been keeping them warm. Even in the darkness, his expression was plain to see. “What?” he asked in disbelief.
Zane would have laughed if he didn’t feel so stupid about bringing it up. “My birthday. October fifteenth.”
Ty stared at him for a second before he thumped him hard on the chest, and Zane gasped. “I knew I should have stolen your file!” Ty claimed angrily as he settled back down again, pulling the coat over them both with a yank. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“What was I gonna say? Take me out for dinner, Grady, it’s my birthday,” Zane posed as he rubbed his chest.
“Better than not telling me at all,” Ty said with sincere annoyance.
Zane snorted and shook his head. “See how you feel once you’re past forty. It’s not really something I try to celebrate.”
“How’s that working out?” Ty asked in a wry drawl.
“Well, they keep on coming, so I guess I must be doing something right.” Zane slid his hand down to Ty’s waist and pulled him closer again in order to give his ass a good squeeze.
Ty shook his head, but he didn’t bat Zane’s hand away like he usually did when he was annoyed and Zane tried to grope him. “You should have told me, Zane,” he scolded as he shifted his shoulders, trying to get comfortable in Zane’s arms. “Would have been the perfect excuse to tell Dick we were going to some nice little tropical island instead of coming up here!” he hissed.
“Yeah, all right. Mark your calendar then,” Zane answered with a roll of his eyes. “And you can give me an IOU for this year.”
Ty smiled slowly, a hint of mischief entering his tired eyes for the first time in days. “I could do that, yeah,” he agreed slowly, his tone one that suggested he might have a better idea.
Zane tipped his head to the side as he looked at Ty speculatively. He was never sure whether to be worried or elated when he heard that tone of voice from Ty. “Or?” he prodded.
“The best presents are received in your birthday suit, Zane,” Ty advised in answer. “But we’ll wait ’til we get home to break those out,” he decided as he pressed his nose to Zane’s once more, obviously deciding to forgive him for not telling him about his birthday earlier.
“Sounds like good times,” Zane murmured. He closed his eyes, unable to stop the smile as Ty began to burrow again. He sighed slowly, the warmth of having Ty right up against him actually working to lull him to sleep as his mind worked over the things Ty had told him. He couldn’t imagine the kinds of things Ty had seen, the kinds of things he must have been reliving to evoke that look he’d had in his eyes earlier. He supposed when you got right down to it he didn’t really know much about Ty at all. The few experiences they did have with each other that extended beyond the bedroom weren’t what Zane would call personal. It seemed like there were more bad memories between them than good.
Zane thought maybe he should work on changing that.
Chapter 13
THEIR plan had been a good one, in theory.
Earl and Deuce had packed up several bags and lashed them to a couple of ATVs while Ty and Zane got the prisoners situated on the other two. Strapped down like cargo, they wouldn’t be giving anyone any trouble, and Zane had yanked off the duct tape, figuring the engines would cover any badmouthing that might send Ty overboard. The group reviewed the maps Ty found in one of the satchels, and after Earl said he had a general idea of where they were, with the help of a beaten-up old compass, they’d set off a little after dawn with hopes of making it to something resembling civilization before dusk.
But at high noon, they hit a snag.
Zane stood several feet away from the raging floodwaters the storms had created, arms crossed, wondering why he was surprised. It wasn’t like anything had really gone right yet on this nice little hike.
What had probably been a three-foot-deep babbling brook in the narrow ravine was now a rushing river full of debris, including broken tree branches as big around as his bicep. When it surged up toward him, it was probably rising about five to six feet out of the ravine. There was no way the ATVs would be able to ford it.
“I’m beginning to hate this vacation,” Ty muttered to Zane as they stood and watched the water rage past.
Zane stifled a groan and rubbed his eyes. “How about after this we agree not to say the word ‘vacation’ again, okay? Actually, no, we agree to not even think the word ‘vacation’ again.”
Ty glanced sideways at him. “We’ll use code,” he agreed. “Call it time off. Time off from hell.”
“Hell would be more relaxing than this,” Zane muttered as he glared at the water. “And I could get a tan.”
“Well,” Earl said with a heavy sigh as he came to stand beside them and look out at the water. “ATV ain’t gonna cross that. Everybody in shape to hoof it?” he asked as he looked over at them. The sound of the rushing water forced him to shout.
“Yes, sir,” Ty and Deuce both answered at the same time, their voices tired and defeated. Zane shrugged, feeling their pain. It wasn’t like they had a choice.
“What do we do with them?” Deuce asked as he turned and gestured at the two prisoners.
“Toss them in, see how deep the water is,” Ty suggested without looking away from the river.
“You really think we’re going to be able to wade through that?” Earflaps asked, voice a little thin.
“I hope you can swim,” Zane called back to them.
“We can’t untie them and let them get across,” Ty was saying distractedly. “We risk them escaping. I say we leave them.”
“We can’t let them get loose and go back to what they were doing,” Zane agreed evenly.
“Neither of you is stable,” Deuce muttered as he turned to watch the water rush by again. He and Ty stood shoulder to shoulder, squabbling quietly.
Zane turned slightly away from them. “We’re going to have to take one each with us to cross,” he said to Earl.
Earl nodded grimly. “We can’t leave ’em,” he said to Zane in a low voice. “But I’d be with Ty on this one otherwise,” he confided. “Let ’em rot.”
Shaking his head, Zane walked over to Ty and Deuce. “Guys,” he said, “let’s get going, huh? Bitching about it won’t make it easier.” Ty nodded and gave Deuce’s cheek a pat before turning to head for the nearest ATV. Zane followed along after him.