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He began leading Zane toward the wide steps Off-balance, Zane wavered a little even with Ty helping hi hard fro from the cold

The cold air outside the pool"s do any buzz, any pride, and any confidence Zane had in himself

Ty kept his arm around him as he led him toward the entrance that would take them to their cabin The effort seemed to have taken all the steam out of hiot back to their stateroom He made sure the door was locked behind hiently toward the bathroom

"Get in the shower," Ty ordered tiredly "Get warm"

Zane nodded and laid a hand on the wall as he took a feavering steps, but when a wave of dizziness threatened, he considered kneeling down there and being u filter of intoxication left hi about the very first glass of whiskey

Tyout of his wet trousers and leaving them and his soaked briefs in a puddle on the bathroorabbed an artfully rolled towel frolanced over at Zane as he finished up, looking him up and doith clear contempt He tossed the towel at the floor in front of hiht, Corbin," heZane"s none too gently as he moved toward the bed

Zane squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before he walked slowly to the bathrooot the shower started, turned it up hot, cliainst the wall His eyes burned, irritated from the saline used in the pool Between that and the shower spray, it was easy to explain away the tears scattering down his cheeks

Chapter 8

WHEN Zane woke, it was sudden His eyes snapped open as he inhaled sharply, and he jerked upright to look around, heart already pounding

"Morning," Ty greeted drily from where he sat on the couch He wore a thin pair of pajama bottoms and fuzzy pair of slippers and had his heels propped on the table in front of hih a book of Sudoku puzzles

Zane blinked at hih the adrenaline He couldn"t re or what had woken hi ti up in the bed, nude under the tangled sheet, and his chest and throat hurt He needed a drink of water, because he was parched

Then Zane reht back down so he could stare at the ceiling

"Water and ibuprofen on the table there," Ty offered as he sipped so out of a delicate china cup The butler service had obviously already been there to deliver breakfast

Zane tried to s and couldn"t, so he rolled to his side and reached out a hand that was elass

In short order the ibuprofen was down, the glass was e "Thank you" His voice came out very raspy, even after the water

Ty merely hummed in response, his attention back on the Sudoku book in his hand He was being surprisingly cordial this er Ty could still be furious, even after working off so the debacle in the pool Zane raised both arms and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes Not so much because his head hurt--he"d never really suffered classic hangover sy how upset Ty had been hurt ain The only sounds he made were the clink of the china as he set it aside and the shuffling of the pages as he turned theive them both heartburn "How much trouble am I in?" Zane asked hoarsely

"I"m not your keeper, Garrett," Ty responded evenly "No one died"

Zane sighed He knew no one had died He knew exactly what had happened last night He just didn"t have perspective, because when he drank, he focused in on whatever he thought his goal was to the exclusion of everything else Last night, Ty had been part of

"everything else" That was the problem: Ty wasn"t his keeper--Ty was his conscience

Zane sat up and scooted back to lean against the headboard

"Lorenzo Bianchi brought Corbin Porter a present," he rasped "A sign of goodwill and respect between friends, he said"

The hardness in Ty"s eyes didn"t fit with the fluffy bedroom slippers It was almost comical "I suppose the word „moderation" isn"t in an alcoholic"s vocabulary, h it well

Despite the lack of outward signs of anger, every comment cut deep Zane felt hollow as he met Ty"s eyes "I didn"t think my tolerance would have dropped so ht I could handle it"

Ty continued to look at him, his face expressionless The lack of emotion holly unlike Ty; usually he couldn"t be trusted to hold his temper and his eyes were easy to read The lack of outward e very hard to hide whatever he was feeling

Finally, he set the book aside and pulled his feet off the table "At least you know that for the next time," he observed

Zane wrapped his aret any syiven him any reason to think he suffered addictions like Zane did, and despitean effort not to drink around his partner, Ty"s reactions suggested no small amount of disdain for Zane"s substance abuse probleo when they"d firstalcoholic ? "

Ty certainly didn"t want to hear Zane boo-hoo about it Zane wished, though, sooddale day of his life

Ty was still watching hiain, right?" he asked softly

The thought hurt Zane so badly inside that it had to show on the outside somehow He could still taste the liquor, and his throat and belly burned for it He nodded jerkily It wouldeasier to handle, clearer to see, smoother to s It would cool him off and soothe his nerves And with every sip he"d damn himself further

Zane knew that when that bottle was back in front of hi to accept that?" Ty asked him in frustration