“Well just have to make do with whats in the fridge,” Ty told Zane as he shut the door against the freezing Baltimore winter. Zane stopped dead, beaten-up black leather jacket partway unzipped, and turned around. “You think Id better go to Whole Foods?” he asked. He was probably serious. Ty didnt cook much, and they both knew how he kept his kitchen stocked.
“Give me a little credit, huh?” Ty told him, borderline insulted. “Ive got… stuff in there.” Zane raised an eyebrow. “Bacon, eggs, cheese, milk, lunch meat, bread, Dr Pepper, Mikes Hard Lemonade you pretend isnt there, chocolate chip cookie dough….”
Ty tried desperately not to smile, pressing his lips together hard despite knowing it caused his dimples to make an appearance. Zane knew him a little too well. Except for the chocolate chip cookie dough. Zane had bought that for himself and left it here for a snack. He knew full well Ty didnt like chocolate and that it would be safe. “Theres also pork chops in there. And theres some emergency canned veggies in the basement,” he told Zane with a mischievous smirk. “Next to the bottled water and zombie-piercing rounds.”
“Good to know we wont starve when the zombies attack,” Zane said as he shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the hook next to the door, giving Ty a lazy wink over his shoulder.
“Everyones a critic,” Ty muttered as he watched Zane appreciatively. Since the awkwardness of New Years, theyd fallen into a comfortable groove, one Ty was happy to stay in. Hed taken the plunge, literally, and told Zane he loved him. Zane had never said it in so many words, but not long after theyd returned from the cruise ship after Christmas, Ty had noticed Zane hadnt put his real wedding band back on. That was enough for him.
That simple gesture had spoken volumes. Ty knew how much Zanes wife had meant to him and how hed gone through hell after she died. Zane had still been wearing that ring more than six years after she was gone. Seeing Zanes finger bare warmed Ty in a way few things could. Hed never mentioned it, and theyd never talked about what Ty had said that night in lockup on the ship. They were probably better off keeping it all under wraps, anyway. Zane was happy and relaxed. Ty was happy and… well, still twitchy, but that wasnt Zanes fault. They were happy.
“So, cook me dinner, and Ill repay you with sexual favors.” “Sounds good to me,” Zane said as he arched his back and rolled his shoulders to stretch. “Any idea what you want?”
Ty simply smiled. Zane surely knew if Ty had his way hed skip dinner altogether.
Zane chuckled. “Food, Grady, food. Or youll have no energy for sex later.”
“Well, then, get to it,” Ty grunted at him, ushering him through the length of the narrow row house. In short order, they were both in casual clothes and Tys kitchen was lit up and warm with activity. Zane didnt cook often, but at some point hed picked up better than run-of-the-mill cooking skills and was generally willing to fix up a quick dinner if they were too wiped after work to go out. After foraging through Tys refrigerator, cabinets, and pantry, hed come up with barbecue pork chops, green beans, a piece of a loaf of asiago bread from the bakery down the street, and now he was making mashed potatoes. From scratch, which tickled Ty to no end. It seemed such a domestic task for his tough-guy partner.
Chops sizzled on one burner, and Zane was pushing a pile of chunked potatoes to the side of the cutting board and starting on another, the knife moving swiftly and efficiently in his hands. A pot of water boiled on a third burner behind him.
Ty devotedly stayed away, mostly because it was a tight fit with both of them trying to move around each other in the narrow row house kitchen. Also because Ty disliked cooking—too many nights in the desert or jungle losing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and being forced to go hunt up dinner for the entire Recon team—and he rarely had time to do it even if hed wanted to. Instead, he hovered around the other side of the bar, watching. Occasionally Zane would glance up at him, apparently just to check that he was still there.
Ty leaned his elbows on the counter and held his chin in his hands, trying to keep himself from fidgeting. Zane finished chopping the second potato and looked up at Ty as he scooped the pieces into his cupped hands.
“You okay?” Zane asked. “Youre twitchy.”
Ty laughed and held out his hand. “Have you met me?” he asked, teasing. Zane shrugged one shoulder as he carefully let the pieces fall into the pot of boiling water. “I guess we have been going full tilt since we got back from the cruise, but I figured you would have relaxed a little, at least. Your hairs grown out again, so you dont have that to bitch about anymore. The cat jokes have finally died off at work. And I know youre enjoying the softball practices.”
“Its fun. You should come out to one of the games,” Ty answered with a careful look up at his partner. They were about to kick off the softball league that had been organized, this weekend, in fact. It had become a big spectacle, and it took a lot of Tys time. More than he liked.
Zane picked the knife back up and started chopping again, a slight smile curving his lips. “Come out meaning „watch, or come out meaning „play?” he asked. “I can do watching. Playing, not so much. Me and sports in high school?” He shook his head.
“I thought you were too busy square dancing,” Ty drawled, trying not to smile. Zane chuckled as he pushed chopped potatoes to the side of the cutting board with the back of one hand. “That too,” he admitted. He glanced up at Ty. “I did think about joining the team anyway, you know.”
Ty smiled, but his brow furrowed as well. “Why? I didnt think you liked it.” “I dont like making a fool of myself in public, no,” Zane agreed, going back to chopping. “But between those damn PR seminars and you at practice, weve been lucky to have a couple of nights a week to ourselves that arent simply crashing into bed exhausted.”
Ty shrugged in agreement, pursing his lips. It was true. And annoying. “You want me to quit?” Zanes head snapped up, eyes wide with clear surprise. “No, not at all. You enjoy it too much. Just thought I might see about learning something we could both do. But I figured that for now, the AA meetings were more important.”
Tys lips twitched, and he raised one eyebrow as he looked at Zane. He didnt touch the subject of Zanes AA meetings. He never did. “Ill take you to the batting cages one night,” he offered instead.
Zanes smile reappeared. “Deal.”
Ty hummed and idly watched Zanes hands move. After a few silent moments, he looked down at his own hands, turning them over and frowning at the fading tan line on his finger where the fake wedding ring had been. It had been cut off in the end, but hed kept the band. It sat upstairs in a box, hidden away with all the other bits and pieces hed kept from cases. The line would be gone soon.