“Brandon licked the tip of his finger and hooked it in the air in front of him, making a fizzing sound. “Score one for the nerd.” “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.” Jake snickered.”

“Zane was starting to piss him off again. Which was good, he supposed. It meant the urge to lick him all over was passing, at least.”

“You were right, you know,” Ty whispered.“About what?”Ty swallowed hard. “I sold my soul a long time ago.”Ty gripped Zane’s shoulder and pressed him down,laying him out again, then stretched out over Zane, his handdragging down Zane’s body to push at his boxers.“Ty,” Zane gasped.Ty kissed him. Zane trailed the tips of his fingers downTy’s arm, sliding over the tattoo and the scars and the muscles.“Do you really believe that?” Zane asked.“I know it. I will never be the man you think I am.”Zane’s breaths came harder. “We’ve both been trying sohard to be worthy of each other.”

“Good or bad?” Ty asked, rubbing his fingers over Zane’s chest to soothe him. Smith chose that moment to come out of hiding, pouncing on his moving fingers and landing on Zane’s chest. His claws sank in, turning the bed into a frenzy of cat fur, flying linens, and screaming FBI agents.”

“Did you just do what I think you did?” he exclaimed.“Depends on what you think I did,” Jake shot back with a signature grin as he thumped down the front steps and strolled forward to retrieve his flip flop. “That’s what we do. You think and Ithrow things,” he explained. “So I’ll make you a deal. You stop thinking,” he drawled, bending to pick up the shoe and wave it around threateningly, “and I’ll stop throwing things.”

“And you,” Ty continued, his voice breaking. “You’re aphoenix, Zane. Rising from the ashes. And all I do is makeyou burn.”Zane’s throat was too tight to swallow past, and his nextbreath came out a choked sob. He had never imagined thatwas how Ty saw him, and hearing it now made him want totake back every harsh word they’d ever shared, every thrustand parry of their relationship.”

“Checking his schedule, Brandon remembered he had planning period during his next block, before the last class. ...He glanced up to see Drake and Aaron flinging frog guts at each other and sighed. Some days he could just feel his brain dribbling out of his ears.”