Read Online Stars & Stripes by Abigail Roux - Free Book Online

option is sex with horses, I need you to stop right there.”
    “We’re not in that part of Texas.”
    “I bet you look hot in the hat though.”
    “Stop trying to distract me!”
    “I’m sorry,” Ty said, though he didn’t sound sincere.
    “As I was saying . . . Jesus, Ty, what was I saying?”
    “You’re not sleeping, are you?”
    “No.”
    “You want to stay and look into it, don’t you?”
    “Yeah,” Zane said with a sigh of relief. He should have known Ty would understand. “So that means I might be here a little while longer than I’d planned.”
    Ty didn’t say anything to that, but the silence spoke volumes about his disappointment. Zane could imagine his broad shoulders slumping as he walked. He wanted to reach through the phone and hug his partner, who was, for all intents and purposes, a large teddy bear with a gun.
    “Do you need anything from my end?” Ty finally asked.
    Zane could think of plenty, first and foremost being Ty himself. He didn’t say that, though, because he knew Ty couldn’t take time off work for Zane’s personal problems. “No, I think I’ve got it covered. I thought I might call and get a sanity check in the evenings.”
    “Call whenever you want. Mostly I’ve been in the office, trying to inflict a paper cut on myself serious enough to require medical leave.”
    Zane grinned. “Mac would just tell you to suck it up.”
    “Hence the many failed attempts at tripping on the rug at the entryway. The one time I managed it, I tucked and rolled and popped back up before I could think twice about it.”
    Zane laughed—the first real laugh he’d managed in days. It was hard to tell if Ty was serious or just playing with him, and that was one of the things Zane loved so much about him. Ty really was the type of guy who would ninja roll through the lobby of a government building and just keep walking as if nothing had happened.
    A door opened and closed, and Zane heard rustling as Ty took off his jacket and moved around the house. Ty whispered to Smith and Wesson. It was a tender side to his lover no one else had seen, and it all culminated in the way he treated those damn cats.
    For a brief moment, Zane was almost sick with the need to wrap Ty up in a hug.
    “Are you really okay, Zane?”
    “For now,” Zane said, voice hoarse. He shifted to look out the window. There were no lights. Nothing on the skyline but the occasional hill or scrub tree. And stars as far as he could see, stretching on into the night. “I wish you could see this, Ty.”
    Ty was silent. Zane was familiar with that silence; he heard it almost every time he said something sincere to his lover and Ty tried to decide if he should respond with a joke or with something more genuine. Zane never knew what kind of response he would get, and that was half the fun of it.
    “I’m sure I’ll see it one day,” Ty said softly.
    Zane closed his eyes. He almost wished Ty had made a joke of it this time. He missed him. There was no point in lingering over it, so he moved on.
    “The real problems come when Mother shows up.”
    “Why?”
    “She’s barely been to the hospital.”
    “Did your folks split up?”
    “If they have, no one’s told me. They’re still both living in the same house, but it’s so big they wouldn’t cross paths if they didn’t want to.” Zane had always wondered how his dad lived with his mother every day, but to get through forty-five years of marriage, he obviously loved her on some level. “When she shows up, all she can do is tell me that none of this would have happened if I’d been here like a good son.”
    “You know that’s bullshit, right?”
    “Yeah, but . . . she’s my mom.” Zane dragged his hand through his damp hair. “You’d think she’d just be glad to see me, but no.”
    “I’m sorry, Zane. I’m not really sure how to help. Other than to tell you to quit your bitching and go buy me a Stetson.”
    Zane chuckled at Ty’s attempt to distract him from