Ty grinned and rested his head on his hand.
“You havent told anyone else, have you?” Nick asked him suddenly.
Ty glanced at him, only to find Nick looking at him sadly. Ty shook his head. Nick slammed his hand down on the table, rattling the bottles and causing one to tip over and roll toward the edge. Ty grabbed for it but missed it as it fell to the floor. It bounced noisily but didnt shatter. Nick didnt even bother trying to be discreet as he stood up.
“Thats not f**king right, Ty,” he railed angrily. “You shouldnt have to be afraid to tell anyone who you are or who youre in love with.”
“O, calm down,” Ty urged quietly as he stood and put one hand on Nicks shoulder. “You know what? You fought and almost died for your country,” Nick continued, undaunted. “What they did to us out there? What happened to us when that helo went down was—”
“Okay, were leaving,” Ty said firmly. He took the beer from Nicks hand and dug around for his wallet. “You put away killers every day for a living,” Nick continued with a point of his finger in Tys face. Ty resisted the urge to reach up and grab his hand so he wouldnt get poked in the eye. “If you have to hide who you are from your closest friends, then f**k the world, man. Its not fair,” Nick spat with a wave of his hand that almost turned into a backhand as Ty quickly leaned away.
“You are a hot mess, man. How many have you had?” Ty asked with a snort as he reached out and grabbed Nicks elbow to steady him. He slapped a few bills on the table and waved at the waitress to let her know they were leaving.
“And you know what else?” Nick went on without answering. Ty began to lead him toward the door, his arm around him to guide him. “This Garrett character? Hes lucky to have a guy like you for a partner, much less have you in love with him. He cant find it in himself to return the feeling? Cant even f**king fake it for you? Well, f**k him too!”
Ty cleared his throat and tightened his grip on Nicks shoulders, pulling him closer in case he decided to continue ranting and get louder. They didnt want any trouble from the irate Orioles fans. “I think we need to take a little walk home,” he muttered as they stepped out the door into a brisk wind off the harbor. They turned toward Fleet Street, cursing at the cold. But it was only a four-block walk, and Ty wasnt exactly worried about the two of them being mugged.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried hard not to think about anything as he and Nick started off. He wasnt sure what bothered him more, that Owen was so utterly disgusted and pissed off because he was in love with a guy, or that his talk with Nick had left his best friend with all this anger and worry over his relationship with Zane. Nick wasnt the first person to question it. Deuce had repeatedly expressed his concerns: what would happen when one or both of them got tired of the other, what would happen when someone got their heart broken? Except Deuce had been worried about Zanes heartbreak. Nick seemed to think it would be Tys, in the end.
As they were passing the darkened side of the Broadway Market building, Nick suddenly reached out and took Tys shoulder. “Ty,” he said urgently. Ty turned to look at him in bemusement, expecting more drunken rambling. Or, God forbid, another near-breach of national security. But despite the ranting, Nicks green eyes were clear and his voice sounded steady. Ty realized he wasnt sloppy drunk, after all. Not impossibly so, anyway. But Ty couldnt quite decipher the look in his friends eyes. There was sadness there, and anger. And something else he didnt think hed ever seen. Longing.
“I wish youd trusted me with this earlier,” Nick muttered to him. “If Id known, all those years….” He opened his mouth to say more, then closed it again with a frustrated sigh. Before Ty really registered what was happening, Nick had taken his shoulders in both hands and was kissing him soundly, right there on the street in the middle of Fells Point.
Ty flailed, gripping Nicks elbows for lack of a better place to put his hands. His natural instinct was to pull him closer and deepen the kiss, but this was Nick! This was perhaps his oldest and dearest friend, kissing him without a hint of warning. The most disconcerting thing of all, though, was that it wasnt Zane pressed against him. Ty found himself returning the kiss tentatively, regardless, as Nick held him tightly and pushed him against the brick wall behind him. Guilt and shock warred for priority over the pleasure of a really amazing kiss in the brief seconds it took for it to end.
Nick abruptly stepped away from him, inhaling sharply. Ty found himself gaping at the man, unsteady as he leaned against the wall and unable to speak or even breathe.
“You ever get tired of waiting for him to come to his senses, you know where to find me,” Nick told him breathlessly.
“Nick,” Ty whispered in supreme confusion.
“Im sorry. That was a shitty thing to do,” Nick muttered. He put his head down and started walking.
Ty stared after him for a moment before lurching forward to go after him. “I should probably go back to the hotel instead of… you know, home with you,” Nick said as soon as Ty caught up to him. He was holding out a hand at the row of taxis waiting to take people home when the bars closed down. One of them turned on its lights and began rolling forward.
“O, wait,” Ty pleaded as he grabbed at Nicks elbow. Nick turned and pulled him closer, kissing him again before Ty could anticipate it. He could feel his body reacting, though, whether he wanted it to or not. Nick delved into Tys mouth with a swipe of his tongue before yanking away violently.
Nick pushed him away and put out his hand to stop Ty from coming closer. “God! We never were good at self-control.” He wouldnt look Ty in the eye. “Just let me go.”
“Okay,” Ty agreed in a stricken voice. Nick reached for the door of the cab and yanked it open almost angrily. “Oorah, Grady,” he said with a sad smile before he disappeared into the dark car. Ty was left standing alone on the street as the taillights faded off into the night.
T Y TRIED to tell himself he didnt need to go home to Zane tonight. It was cruel to have alcohol on his breath around Zane, and hed already done it once this week. His other choices were a hotel or Zanes apartment, but Ty had been drinking, so he couldnt drive, and he didnt want to have to catch a cab. Mostly, he really didnt need Zane to hear the guilt and confusion and myriad of other emotions Ty knew he wouldnt be able to keep out of his voice. He should just call Zane, tell him he and the guys were crashing at a hotel, hole up for the night, and pretend nothing had happened when he woke up hungover.