“Zane heard Ty whuff from within the bathroom, and by the time he looked back, Ty had shoved Julian’s face against the shower wall and was holding him there by the back of his head.“Watch the elbows.”“Watch your fingers,” Julian snapped.“Welcome to TSA training, bitch.”“Want the other set of cuffs?” Zane asked, hoping to appease his cranky partner. “You could spread his arms out.”“Will someone please tell me the safe word?” Julian asked.”

“Deuce glanced at him before turning his attention back to Zane and Julian. “Dare I ask what you’ve done to deserve protective custody?” he asked Julian. “I deal antiques,” Julian answered in a soft voice. Deuce nodded, looking Julian up and down. He turned his head to look at Ty speculatively. “That’s a euphemism for ‘I kill things’, isn’t it?”

“What do you want, MacGuffin, a duel?”“No.” Julian held out both hands, one palm flat, the other held over it in a fist. “Rock, paper, scissors. Two out of three.”Ty rolled his eyes and held out his fist, apparently willing to play. Julian hit his palm three times, and Ty kept time with his fist in the air. But when Julian threw a paper, Ty reached into his jacket with his other hand and pulled his gun, aiming it at Julian.“Ty!” Zane said in exasperation from the front seat.“Glock, paper, scissors. I win.”“You are an ass,” Julian muttered.”

“Zane let his head loll back and lifted one hand to gently prod his split lip. "Ow.""Whine about it. It'll make it better," Ty offered as he stood in front of his locker, his back to Zane, and unwrapped the tape from his hands with jerky, irritated movements."Bite me," Zane muttered as he dug into his locker for a towel before starting in on the tape on his own hands. He spared an evil glance for Ty. "Teaching me to advance in a fight is a bad idea.""Teaching you to fight at all is an exercise in futility," Ty responded in a matter-of-fact tone. "Luckily for you, I enjoy things like banging my head against a wall.""I enjoy banging your head against a wall too," Zane replied as he tossed the balled-up tape at a nearby trash can. He let a small smile quirk his lips as he sat on the bench to unlace his shoes."Shut up," Ty grunted at him. But even though his back was still turned to him, Zane could hear the smile in his voice. "And cut it out with the damn cat jokes, huh? They're starting to catch on.""Fine, fine. No reason to get catty about it," Zane told his partner with a barely concealed grin."A for effort," Ty conceded charitably.”

“Ty watched him from the corner of his eye. All Ty had to do was keep that look on Zane's face, the one right there,relaxed and content and slightly amused. Then they'd be just fine.”

“Ty smiled and turned his head to fully look at Zane. It was rare to catch Zane in this mood and Ty wanted nothing more right then than to head back to the luxury stateroom, lock the door, and get on his knees.”