Chapter Text
Lord Garrett,
Thank you for the invitation to the tournament; my family is greatly looking forward to it.
As we are expecting to be staying with your family for multiple days, my wife and I have begun discussing the future of our family, and therefore the betrothal between your son and ours. They have been betrothed since they were three years old, and as they have both now crossed into adulthood, is it not time to discuss where this betrothal is destined to go? Of course, we do not want to push, but it would not hurt to have a direction in mind for their futures.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Lord Grady
Harrison Garrett looked up at his son at the ending of the letter. From the moment he had looked down at the envelope, and announced his intention to read it out for Zane to hear, there had been tension in the room. Zane had gone guarded, curling into himself and scowling.
With the end of the letter, and a raised eyebrow from his father, Zane slumped back in his wooden seat, arms over his chest. “I wish I wasn’t betrothed.”
“In general?” Harrison asked. “Or to Beaumont specifically?”
“Beaumont.”
Harrison hummed, encouraging his son to continue.
And continue he did. Zane came alive with the permission to complain, the permission to disagree with a choice his father had made for him when he was young. These moments didn’t come often, and he knew this one was the most important of them. If he didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, he would have to marry Beaumont Grady, and that was not something he was even remotely interested in.
“He’s annoying,” Zane started, sitting forward in his seat, and ticking off his points on his fingers. “He talks too much, makes jokes at everything that are typically rude, he has no propriety, he is much too confident in his own abilities, and his friends are annoying.”
“I see,” Harrison said, nodding at his son.
“I know a betrothal is about gains, especially for the families, but I cannot see myself being happy with that man.”
Harrison’s eyebrows pinched together, the last thing he wanted was for his son to be unhappy.
Zane’s voice went to a whisper as he stood closer to his father’s grade desk. “I have seen the relationship between you and mother, and I do not wish to repeat it. I would like the chance to marry someone that I will be happy with, that I will love.”
Harrison nodded, grabbed up a piece of paper and his quill, and nodded again. “Then I will write to Lord Grady, let him know of your wish to annul the betrothal. If he and Beaumont agree, we will work toward annulling it.”
Zane’s eyes widened, his brain stuttered to a stop. He had believed he was only complaining, speaking to an audience that wasn’t honestly listening, despite how intent his father looked. He hadn’t thought he would get to this point.
“Write to Lord Grady?”
“Yes, I would also like you to have the chance to marry someone you will be happy with, someone you will love. If Beaumont Grady is not that person, then we will find someone else. I know you are aware that we and the Grady’s are at equal standing, this betrothal was more about bringing our two influential families together. It is not more important to me than your happiness.”
With that, Harrison put his quill to the paper, dismissing Zane back to his seat. Once there, his mind continued to race. This was what he wanted, right?
…
Lord Grady,
I am glad you and your family are looking forward to the tournament. It will be a large, fun gathering. We too look forward to seeing you and your family - it has been much too long.
As for the betrothal between our sons, I agree that the tournament, and your family spending so much time so close to mine, makes a wonderful time to discuss the future. Before then, I feel that it is imperative to bring up some important information that I have gained from my own son, especially since this information could change their betrothal, and therefore the relationship between our two families.
My son, as told to me minutes before my writing this letter, is not happy at the prospect of a marriage that is arranged for him. He is much more interested in a marriage that is based on love, which I am sure you can relate to, and which I could only wish for. He has, of course, grown up seeing the relationship between his mother and myself, and while we are comfortable with one another, we do not love one another.
I would like to give my son the chance to find someone he loves and someone he will be happy with, and would be interested in annulling the betrothal between our two sons. If you disagree, we may discuss this further through letters and during the eventual tournament, but I wanted to tell you this information ahead of time so that you may make other arrangements if necessary.
I still wish to see you at the tournament, and of course continue to be friends, but will understand any negative results this has.
Lord Garrett
Earl Grady looked up from the letter in his hand to his sons and wife in front of him. He narrowed his eyes on Ty, and asked, “What did you do?”
Ty, who had been slumped in his chair, reading over reports, sat up suddenly. “What do you mean?” he asked, a slight squawk to his voice.
Earl waved the letter, an unimpressed look on his face. "This is what I mean," he replied, tossing the paper to his son to read. The paper fluttered to the ground in front of Ty, his eyes watching its slow descent.
Ty picked the paper up and curled back into his seat. Immediately, his younger son, Deuce, moved from his seat where he had been happily carving a walking stick and chattering away, so that he could read over his brother's shoulder. He winced when he read the end of the letter.
Ty didn't wince, just straightened in his chair, his face in a scowl, as he prepared to get lectured by his father. He couldn't help but think there wasn't necessarily anything he had done wrong, but nothing he, or Zane, had done right. They might have gotten along as children, but as they had gotten older they had both realized the other was the most annoying person they had ever met. Ty didn't blame Zane for begging out of the betrothal, if he had thought his father would have listened and taken his thoughts and concerns into consideration, he would have tried the same thing.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Earl asked, expectant.
"I'm not angry."
"Why should you be or not be angry about this?"
"This is, was, my betrothal. Shouldn't it be seen as a personal insult that he does not want to marry me? Should I not take it as an insult to my personality, and then my family as well?"
"If you see it that way, then why are you not angry?"
"I do not like Zane Garrett either, I would also like the opportunity to marry for love."
The 'as you did' went unsaid, but echoed through the room regardless.
Earl stared down his son for many minutes, well past the point of Ty looking away. He seemed to be considering, even if there was a steely glint to his eyes and his jaw was clenched tight.
"Fine," Earl sighed, "If you would like that chance, and since the Garrett's are already willing to annul the betrothal, we will move forward. We will discuss this with them at the tournament, but first I will write to Lord Garrett and let him know that that path will be preferable and that it will do nothing to strain the relationship between our families."
Although there was no question there, nothing to comment on, Ty felt the expectation in his father's stare. He was meant to agree. Annulling the betrothal would do nothing to the relationship between the families, and Ty and Zane were free to do with their own relationship as they pleased. Whether they remained friends or began avoiding one another, it would not matter.
Ty nodded, but part of his traitorous brain wondered if it had been a good idea to agree in the first place.
…
Two Months Later
Ty sighed as he watched the people crowding around the arriving carriages. He didn't want to be here, really didn't want to wait in this line for the appropriate time to leave and walk into the Garrett family’s castle. He didn't want to be around any Garretts, or think about any Garretts, or interact with any Garretts. If he could make it through this entire thing only surrounded by his family and friends, it would be good, but he knew the first thing he was going to do was find Zane Garrett, so really, the only person he had to blame for the interaction he didn't want was himself.
They moved forward a little bit, the rest of his family smiling and waving at the people outside. Ty was slumped in his seat, avoiding eye contact even as people yelled his name. Since they were moving so slowly, the people yelling his name could ask questions through his window, and it was getting exceedingly awkward to continue to ignore them as they walked beside the carriage, a steady stream of questions and commentary being thrown at him.
When they came to a stop at the end of a long line of carriages waiting for the people inside to get out and be greeted by Lady and Lord Garrett, Ty decided he had had enough. He wasn't going to wait. He wasn't going to be nicely greeted with a smile and a handshake. He was going to go and find Zane now, so he could talk to him before the banquet and before their betrothal was officially annulled.
Ty still wanted that, of course, but he wanted to talk to Zane first. It was their betrothal, but it hadn't felt like it the entire time with all of the communication and planning being done by their fathers.
Ty opened the door to the carriage, beginning to step out, when his father reached past him and closed the door. It was up to Ty to move his leg in time.
"What do you think you're doing?" His father asked, his voice just above a whisper but clearly communicating the anger he was feeling.
"Walking," Ty said, and quickly got out of the carriage before the door could be shut on him again.
Later on, Ty knew he would probably regret what he just did, but for the moment he was going to work off of his determination. He would deal with his father later.
As Ty walked and ignored the people trying to talk to him, his mind brought him back over the past two months. It had been busy and confusing. Everyone had been getting ready to travel and getting ready for the tournament. His father had been writing letters back and forth with Lord Garrett as quickly as possible, right up until the moment they had left. And the two had still managed to communicate, as his father had sent ahead a travel schedule, allowing letters from Lord Garrett to greet them along the way. Besides that very first one though, Ty had not been privy to the others. He had no idea of the other arrangements and other discussions that had surrounded the betrothal. The past two months had been rife with Ty trying to convince himself he didn't care, but he did.
At the end of the day, this was his annulled betrothal, and he was his father's heir. Why was he being kept out of this?
With a sigh, Ty patted his jacket pocket. He knew, from looking at himself and from the odd looks he had gotten from his family, that he was not being conspicuous. There was obviously something in that pocket from the jut of it alone, and it was obviously something important from the way Ty was so protective of it. He would pat it every few minutes, had refused help from their staff while dressing, and had pulled away from his brother too quickly every time he got close.
What he had in his pocket was too incriminating toward his state of mind over the past two months, and he had no intention of sharing them with anyone or leaving them where anyone's curious eyes could see them. So, they were in his pocket, and would be until he had his things unpacked and could put them in his locked box.
When Ty reached the castle doors, Lord and Lady Garrett were on the steps, greeting another family. They were dressed in silks in their family colors, a Phoenix on the breast of Lord Garrett's tunic. Without his family, Ty moved ahead to be greeted next.
When the family moved on, walking behind the two and through the doors, Ty walked up and gave a deep bow. He didn't have to look at them to see their surprise, he could feel it in the split second pause before anyone said anything.
"Hello Sir Grady," Lord Garrett said, allowing Ty to stand from his bow. "You've come before your family."
"Yes, but they will be here soon."
Lord Garrett smiled, his eyes crinkling. "Did you come first for a reason?"
"I would like to talk with your son."
Despite trying his best to keep his attention on Zane's father, the glare Zane’s mother was throwing his way wasn't one that could be ignored. From the corner of his eye, Ty looked over at her. Instead of withering down and giving her any satisfaction, he straightened his spine defiantly. Quickly, he looked back to Zane's father, trying to ignore Zane’s mother.
Lord Garrett smiled, looking as if he knew more than he was letting on. "Unfortunately, Zane is in the stables, but you may go find him if you would like."
Ty clenched his jaw, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. "I will go find him."
With another bow but without another word, Ty stepped away from Zane's parents and went to find Zane.
Ever since he was little, Ty and his family had been visiting with the Garrett's. They went back and forth on who hosted who, but Ty had spent enough time throughout his life wandering around the Garrett's castle and the land surrounding it. He had met friends here, he had gotten into plenty of trouble here, he knew his way around here. It took no time for him to make his way to the stables, but more time to make his way through them. The place was bustling with stable hands as they groomed the horses of the other nobles showing up for the tournament, as they got the stalls ready for the other horses that would be coming in. Everywhere Ty walked there was a horse looking at him, staring him down and huffing air out of their nostrils at him.
If he didn't find Zane quickly, he was going to end up yelling at a horse.
Finally, Ty heard Zane's voice as he walked down one the aisles. It was whisper soft, but Ty would recognize Zane's voice anywhere, it was one part of Zane that Ty liked after all.
"You're such a good boy, aren't you?" Zane was saying. There was the whooshing sound of a brush, letting Ty know that Zane was in there grooming a horse. "This feels good, huh? You're getting nice and clean after such a good walk."
Zane kept talking, his voice getting close to Ty and then further away. Was it odd that he was standing right outside the stall, listening in? Maybe, but he didn't care much. No one around him had asked why he was there, or what he was doing, and he wasn't technically doing anything bad. Maybe this would be embarrassing for Zane, and if he was caught it would be really embarrassing for Ty, but Ty didn't much care about that either.
For a moment, Ty imagined Zane noticing him and his attention, and the split second of confusion before understanding would take over and Zane's active mind would wonder how long Ty had been there. Would Zane blush? Would his skin turn a delicate red before he turned back to the horse? Or would he immediately glare over at Ty?
Ty shook his head. He knew which one of those he would get, and he knew which one of those he wanted. It was time to man up and talk to Zane.
Ty walked up to the stall door, moving out of the way of a stable hand and the horse they were leading, and leaned his crossed arms across the top of it. He put his most annoying smile on his face and said, "Hey Zane."
The startled jump hadn't been expected, but there was a moment of confusion that crossed Zane's dark eyes before the glare settled in. Even glaring, Ty had to admit that Zane was attractive. His dark hair swept by the wind, his dark eyes sparkling from the residual happiness of grooming the horse. He was tall and wide, and Ty was caught on the muscles that were outlined by his tight shirt.
"Hello Beaumont," Zane replied, going back to the horse. "I didn't think you would enter the stables."
Now it was Ty's turn to glare, even though Zane wasn't looking at him. He knew Zane could feel it anyway.
"Was this by design then? What would people say seeing you hide away in the stables?"
Zane lifted the brush and waved it. "I'm not hiding."
"Yet here you are, knowing that I would be arriving, and you just claimed that you didn't think I would come in here. Sounds like hiding to me, having a reason to be here means nothing for your motivations."
"I'm not hiding," Zane repeated. "Why are you here, Beaumont?"
Ty rolled his eyes. He had been trying to get Zane to stop calling him by that cursed name for years, and yet here he was, ignoring his wishes yet again. It wasn't worth the fight, and it wasn't what he was here for anyway. "I wanted to talk to you, this is where your parents said you would be."
"My parents told you where I was?"
"Your father's exact words were 'Unfortunately, Zane is in the stables, but you may go find him if you would like'. It sounds to me like your father knew you were here for a reason too."
Zane sighed. "What do you want to talk about?"
For a moment, Ty just stared at Zane, his eyebrows pinched and his mouth wide open. What did he mean, 'what do you want to talk about'? Shouldn't it have been obvious?
"Our betrothal," Ty said, the 'duh' hopefully loudly implied.
Zane stopped what he was doing, the brush in his hand halfway across the horse's side. He cocked an eyebrow in Ty's direction. "What about our betrothal?"
Ty was going to slam Zane's head into the wall of the stall if he kept asking such stupid questions. "The whole thing, I suppose. How did you get your father to agree to annul it? What are you going to do now?"
There were other questions Ty wanted to ask, but he kept them to himself.
"He read your father's letter to me. I assumed that would be the last time it was discussed in a way that I could disagree with, and figured if I didn't try then we would be getting married in a few short months. I don't know what I'm going to do now, the whole point was to not have my love life planned out."
Ty nodded, resting his face on his arms and staring at Zane. "Right, good idea. It'll be great not to have a plan. I'm glad you complained."
For a moment, Zane just stared at Ty. Ty worried that Zane would think he was lying, but before too long he nodded.
"It always felt too constraining that our fathers had decided who we were to marry, and that they would make the decisions on when and where the wedding would happen."
Ty nodded.
"I wish they hadn't."
Zane didn't finish the sentence, not really, so Ty's mind filled in what he could have meant. That their father's had never set up the betrothal. That their father's hadn't agreed to the annulment. That their father's had let them figure out their relationship on their own.
"But," Zane continued, "now we don't have to worry about it. We're free of one another."
Ty nodded and straightened. "Yeah, free of one another. We don't have to spend time together anymore. Or speak to one another."
On the inside, Ty winced. This was what he had wanted, he reminded himself.
"Right. We don't have to spend time together or speak to one another."
Ty stared at Zane, Zane stared back at him. There was tension in the air that Ty couldn't read, but he assumed it was just Zane trying to get rid of him. He didn't even want to be there.
"I'm going to go get settled in," Ty said, tapping the top of the stall door. "I'll see you around."
Without another word, Ty left, his feet getting him out of there as quickly as possible.
Damn did he want a drink. The banquet couldn't start quicker.
On his walk back to the castle, Ty reached inside his jacket and fingered the paper there. It was a habit at this point, but one that made him feel better about what had just happened.
…
Zane looked across the hall, watching Ty chug his brother's drink and laugh with his friends. He wasn't jealous, he wasn't, and even if he was, he was unsure of who in the situation he was jealous of.
Did he want to be Ty's friends? To have an excuse to spend time with Ty, talk with Ty, have Ty's attention on him? Or did he want to be Ty? To have friends to spend time with during these boring banquets?
Zane was fairly sure he knew which one he wanted, if he were willing to admit that he was jealous of anyone involved.
"Why don't you just go over there?" His sister Annie asked from his side.
Ever since the banquet had begun, Annie had stayed close to Zane's side, despite her friends coming over to talk and asking her to come join them. She didn't need to spend the time with him, it was his fault he was alone now, but he knew better than to try to convince her to leave him. All Annie would do was roll her eyes, tell him she didn't have to do anything, and then continue to talk to him.
Zane was thankful, but he didn't want to be the reason his sister didn't have a good time.
"I don't know what you mean," he said, turning to the plate in front of him. It was full of food, all of it pushed together by his hands while he had been distracted. It was now alarmingly a single, unappetizing, color.
Without even seeing her, Zane knew that his sister rolled her eyes at him. "Why don't you go over to Ty and his friends? You always used to spend these banquets with them. I'm sure they won't find it odd if you do it now."
Zane's breath caught at Ty's name, the name he wanted everyone to call him by, the name that Zane could never bring himself to use. It felt too intimate, and he had never felt allowed, not like everyone else. Everyone else had a casual relationship with Ty, and could call him by such a casual name. But not him. No matter how many times Ty asked him to call him Ty instead of Beaumont, Zane just couldn't do it, not out loud, even though he longed to feel the word on his tongue.
"We're no longer betrothed," Zane said, ignoring his own reaction to Ty's name, a surprising amount of bitterness in his voice. He had put the whole thing into motion, yet he was the one regretting it. When that paper and quill had come to him, he had paused, looking down at the words that would separate Ty from him. Nearly all of him had begged not to sign it, but in the end he had. Even if he was regretting it, his conversation with Ty earlier told him that he didn't, that he was glad to be rid of Zane.
"And? That doesn't mean you're forbidden from speaking to one another."
Zane shrugged. Maybe the signing of that paper didn't mean they couldn't ever speak to one another again, but Ty had said earlier that they no longer needed to. And they didn't. Especially not if Ty was so ready to never have to. Zane didn't mention this to his sister, hadn't even told her about their conversation in the stables, and didn't intend to.
"Why must you be so stubborn?" Annie asked, almost under her breath. She put her hands on Zane's arm, shaking him slightly. "If you were going to be so unhappy, why did you suggest not marrying Ty?"
"I didn't think I would be listened to."
"So you were just going to complain and thought our father would be happy allowing you to end up in a loveless marriage?"
When put that way, it did sound pretty stupid.
"If we weren't in public I would hit you."
"I would accept it."
Annie rolled her eyes so dramatically that the rest of her body was forced to play along. "Regardless, you should go- oh."
At the small, gleeful word, Zane's heart leapt into his throat. As he and Annie had been talking, and he had been mournfully watching Ty and his friends, Ty and said friends had begun moving closer. They had still been laughing and had been pushing one another around, so Zane had assumed that they would walk right on by as they went to get more drinks or possibly even to leave and do whatever it was drunk young men did in places they were not from. But that was not the case.
As Annie had been about to tell Zane that he should go over and talk with them regardless of his own newfound relationship status, Ty had looked up, made eye contact with Zane, and grinned. The determined way he now walked toward their table could not be misinterpreted, and neither could the laughter coming from Ty's friends trailing after him.
"Good evening, Miss Garrett," Ty said, bowing to Annie before turning his full, beautiful attention on Zane. "Sir Garrett," he said, another grin tilting up the corners of his mouth. There was a sparkle in his eyes that Zane wasn't sure what to do with, whether he wanted it aimed at him or not.
"Good evening, Sir Grady," he responded, pushing the words out of his mouth.
Annie looked between the two of them, smiling, and patted Zane on his shoulder as she stood. "I'm going to go join my friends, have a good night."
In the time it took Zane to fully realize his sister's betrayal, Ty took over the seat Annie had too quickly vacated, and the rest of his friends had fanned out around the rest of the table. Ty had pulled his seat closer to Zane's, was leaning an arm onto the table and resting his head against his hand. The grin hadn't left his face, it was like he knew exactly what he was doing.
"How do you think you are going to do in the tournament Zane?" Ty asked after a moment.
Zane raised an eyebrow, he hadn't thought this was going to be their topic of conversation. "Fairly well, I've trained hard enough for it."
"Oh, have you? Are you admitting to taking advantage of the area being your home?"
Zane shrugged, and let that speak for him.
Ty laughed. "Smart man, using your advantage. It won't do you any good though."
"And why's that?" Zane asked, letting his own grin take over his face.
"Are you going to drink this?" Ty asked, suddenly, pointing to the drink that Zane hadn't touched since it had been placed down in front of him. It should never have been placed down in front of him in the first place.
Without waiting for an answer, Ty took the drink, tipped it back, and drained it.
"Mine was no good," he said with a shrug, carefully putting the glass down in exactly the same place he had taken it from. "I've been stealing all night."
Before Zane could get the words out to ask Ty what he meant by his drink being 'no good', Ty's full attention was back on him, and Zane's flew out the front door.
"I'm going to win many more events than you."
"Are you now," Zane deadpanned.
"I am. I am willing to bet you that I will."
"Oh? What could you give me that would make the bet worth my while?"
Zane's mind helpfully provided images of exactly what Ty could give him that would be worth his while, causing him to shift in his seat. Unfortunately, since Ty had only been moving closer as he spoke, Zane's small movement put the two close enough to touch. It was electric, the heat of Ty's skin flooding right through the fabric between them.
"No no no," Ty said, wagging a finger in Zane's face, completely unaffected and unaware of how Zane was feeling. "I am going to be the one to win, so the question is: what can you give me that will make the bet worth my while?"
Once again, too many images flooded Zane's mind. He scowled at Ty until he could get his thoughts under control enough to be confident in his ability to control his tongue.
"If I win," Ty continued, "you have to give me a kiss right here," he said, tapping his cheek, "and give me your handkerchief."
Zane could feel his cheeks heating, but didn't know how to stop it. "And if I win?"
"I give you a kiss here," Ty said, reaching out, a little unsteadily, and tapping Zane on the nose, "and give you my handkerchief."
Zane had no idea where this handkerchief stuff was coming from, but he also knew better than to argue with Ty right now. He would have to try later, when he was more in his right mind.
"But for now," Ty said, standing suddenly and tipping over, almost to the point of falling into Zane's lap. Zane had his hands out to catch him, but would deny it later if anyone asked. "You're coming with us."
Ty grabbed onto Zane's wrist, dragging him from his seat in a show of strength Zane would not have thought Ty currently capable of, if he were not the one begging dragged. Zane had no idea where they were going, but the warm grasp on his wrist left no room for him to ask. He would just have to go along with Ty and his friends and find out.
…
Going along and finding out was the worst possible idea Zane could have had, as it turned out.
Their little group of seven had left the banquet two hours previous, and they had already done so much. Zane had watched, and watched out, as Ty and Nick snuck into one of the wine cellars and stole multiple bottles hidden under their shirts. He had laughed as Owen had climbed a fence and fell face first into the dirt of one of the pastures, and again as Digger had walked up to a cow with loving adoration in his eyes and screamed when it moved. The group of them had run through the streets of one of the surrounding towns, giggling and shushing one another when they began getting too loud.
After two hours, the six drunk men had exhausted their stores for mischief, and had found a clearing to flop down in. Each of them was laid out in the soft grass, staring up at the stars between the trees.
From where Zane was sitting a few feet away from the group, he could just hear Nick, Kelly, Eli, Digger, and Owen debating what constellations they could see and making up new ones. He wasn’t really adding anything, didn’t quite feel part of the group enough to do so, but had been listening for any contribution Ty might make.
He had been continually surprised that Ty wasn’t really adding anything to the conversation either.
“Those stars, yes right there Kelly, those stars absolutely make up a dragon,” Digger said, his arm clumsily raised to point out the stars he was talking about.
“You mean the stars that make up the Big Dipper?” Kelly asked, his voice dripping in incredulity.
“How did you already come up with a name for my dragon?”
There was no vocal response to the question, but Zane heard skin slap skin, and heard Digger’s indignant, “Ow!”.
As the two squabbled, Zane looked out across the clearing, where, between the trees, he could see the small lake that had been the object of the group’s interest when they had first laid down. The moonlight was reflecting off the water, a distorted, peaceful image. He was glad, hearing the slurring words, that he had successfully convinced the others that swimming just wasn’t a good idea right now.
“Hey,” Zane heard Ty’s gravelly voice as he came up on him and flopped down beside him.
Zane tore his gaze from the small lake, and looked down at Ty. He was laid out next to Zane, one leg propped up, one arm flung over Zane’s lap, and a smile on his face. Zane sighed. “Hey,” he replied, looking back to the lake. He didn’t trust himself to look at Ty, not yet, not while he was drunk and Zane could feel the possibility of the night.
Would Ty remember anything if Zane told him his regrets tonight? Would that be using Ty and his drunkenness to help himself feel more settled?
Zane considered these questions as he felt Ty tapping on his thigh, even though he knew he would never be able to push those words past his lips.
“Zane,” Ty sang, pulling his name out to fill the space and the quiet of the night around them.
“Beaumont,” Zane said back.
Ty reached up, his hand coming to rest on Zane’s cheek for a moment. The warmth of his skin nearly did Zane in, nearly had him turning his head to press his lips to Ty’s palm. But thankfully, for his own sanity, he didn’t have the chance. Before he could move his face, Ty’s hand moved away, two of his fingers pushing into Zane’s other cheek, forcing Zane to face him.
“Hello,” Ty said, smiling up at Zane.
Zane’s face went suddenly hot, the only thing keeping him looking at Ty being Ty’s fingers on his cheek. “Hi,” he croaked out.
“Have you had a good time?”
“A good time?”
“With us,” Ty said, his other hand sweeping across the clearing to encompass his friends.
“With you hooligans.”
Ty nodded. “Have you?”
“Yeah,” Zane said, the word barely a breath.
Ty’s face lit up, and Zane didn’t think he had ever wanted to kiss someone more.