Free Divide & Conquer by Abigail Roux Page B

stress over drinking beer in front of me anymore. Why stress over this?” He was using logic, and he didn"t sound upset.
    “Are you sure?” Ty asked anyway. He didn"t feel right waving prescription drugs in Zane"s face. “Maybe I can just sit the game out.
    It"s not like the world will end if I don"t play or anything.”
    “Like that"ll happen.” Zane shook his head as he chuckled. He snagged a pair of jeans that lay folded on the dresser and walked over to stand in front of him. They were Ty"s favorite pair, stolen from their last UC operation. They would fit Zane okay; his two to three inches of extra height were mostly in the torso anyway. After a smile, he leaned down to kiss the corner of Ty"s mouth. “Thank you. For caring enough 54 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
     
    to worry about it. Now go take the damn pill. Or half of it. A whole will put you back on your ass. They"re on the bathroom counter.”
    Ty muttered as he turned and headed for the bathroom. If he took a half now and another half in a few hours, that would get him through the game, and then he"d have the rest of the day to sleep it off before work Monday morning. If he didn"t take them, he might be able to gut out the game, but his bruised ribcage was already screaming just from rolling out of bed.
    He stood looking at the little packet indecisively for a long moment before reaching for the pills and pouring them out into his hand. He plucked one from the pile, scooped the rest back up in the packet, and then pulled at the pill to try to break it in half. He cursed when he couldn"t get the thing to snap in two like it was supposed to, and he pulled out another one and tried to snap it instead.
    After trying each of the pills and failing to snap any of them on the line, he growled quietly and cursed. His fingers weren"t working like they were supposed to.
    Instead of asking Zane to deal with it, he popped a whole pill into his mouth and swallowed with a wince at the bitter taste. One every six hours was the same as a half every three, right?
    Not really, but it would do.
    He continued to mumble to himself as he hurried to get ready for the game. After a few more minutes, he joined Zane downstairs.
    “Need any help?” Zane asked.
    “You think you can find my cleats?” Ty requested as he buttoned the gray Feds jersey with fingers that felt too thick.
    “Sure,” Zane said amiably, and he headed for the front door.
    Ty was still tucking the jersey in and adjusting the Under Armour shirt he wore beneath it when Zane brought his dirty cleats to him. Ty could feel that pill beginning to work already. Now he questioned the wisdom of taking it, and he wondered if it was too late to go throw it back up. They usually took longer to hit him.
     
    Divide & Conquer | 55
     
    Zane looked him up and down with a small smirk before gesturing with one finger for Ty to turn in a circle.
    “What?” Ty frowned at him suspiciously, but he held his hands out to his sides and turned in a slow circle as requested. When he completed the movement to face Zane again, he saw Zane watching him, biting his lower lip.
    “Well, it"ll do for a ballgame,” Zane murmured as he stood.
    Ty huffed at him and inexplicably found himself blushing under the scrutiny. “You"re a dick, Garrett,” he muttered as he moved to grab his cleats.
    “So says the ass in very tight pants,” Zane said, half laughing as he grabbed his wallet and keys. “C"mon. Food, then ball field.”
     
    THE SUV idled near First Maryland Bank. Pierce checked his watch.
    The first game was set to start in ten minutes. If he had planned it right, and he had, the explosion would take out at least half of the crowd and players. He smiled. Most of them were cops, and any of the others—
    firefighters, EMTs, or regular spectators—were just collateral damage.
    It served them right for playing with the pigs or buying into that spectacle. Besides, the more deaths there were, the less likely it was anyone would