Page 73 of Part & Parcel

Nick groped around and patted the kitten distractedly. “Bad kitty.” He meowed in response, and the purring that started up was like a damn tractor engine as it vibrated Nick’s belly. “No.”

“He likes you.”

“No,” Nick drew out with more feeling. The kitten began stalking its way up his body and plopped its tiny butt down on his chest, purring delightedly. The other one, Cricket, joined her brother on Nick’s chest, kneading him with claws so tiny and sharp they had to belong to something evil. “I hate you,” Nick claimed, not sure if he was talking to Ty or the kittens that were happily making their beds on Nick’s body.

Ty plucked them off Nick’s chest, and Nick could still hear them purring as they settled wherever Ty had relocated them.

“I’d be kind of upset too,” Ty said after a while. Nick sighed as he draped his arm over his eyes. “I wouldn’t even want tothinkabout Zane with someone else, much lessseeit. You got to know that, dude. Where he’s coming from.”

“I know,” Nick murmured. “It’s not that he’s upset. It’s . . . he thinks it was his fault that the team split up. He asked me if I blamed it when it happened, and I said yes. He’s got to know I don’t blame him now. He has to know that. And to use that as an excuse to push me away, to tie it into that fucking video he found, I just . . . it’s cruel. I’ve never seen him cruel before.”

“Maybe just give it time. It’s a knee-jerk, you know? He’ll figure it out soon enough.”

Nick nodded, his eyes losing focus as he stared at the wall behind Ty. “When he found that video, and he told me he thought I might have cheated on him? I didn’t want him to know it hurt me,” he admitted. “I knew he had the right to be upset, I didn’t want him to feel bad about his reaction. But it just hurt more and more. I kept dreaming about that kid, about Kelly’s face after I took the shot. Same face I saw when I walked in on him watching that video. And I started realizing, some part of him still thinks I’m a monster.”

Ty turned onto his side so he was facing Nick, and reached for Nick’s hand, holding it in both of his. There was sorrow in his eyes, and his brow was furrowed as he met Nick’s eyes.

Nick turned onto his side to mirror his friend, clutching to his fingers. “What are we, Ty?”

Ty shrugged one shoulder. Two tiny orange ears popped up from behind Ty’s neck, the purring getting louder. Ty was obviously fighting a smile, but before he spoke he was solemn again, his brow furrowed. “We might be monsters,” he said. “But that don’t make us bad.”

Nick fought to swallow against the tightness in his throat. He closed his eyes as Ty scooted closer to him and pressed their foreheads together. Just as Nick had known would happen, warm paws landed on his face, and Jiminy circled around and around until he settled in Nick’s hair.

“Why do they always like me,” Nick groaned.

“Same reason I do,” Ty whispered fondly. “Sleep. What was it you used to tell me? When I was losing hope? About the sun rising on a new day?”

Nick squeezed his eyes tighter, his heart hammering and Ty’s breath warm on his face. He pulled their hands up between them, clasping them between their chests as if they were at prayer. “Only thing I ever told you was to shut the fuck up and go to sleep,” he said. “Don’t fucking wake me until the sun’s up.”

Ty was chuckling softly, and Nick found himself smiling along with him.

“I must have heard it wrong,” Ty teased. “I remember you more eloquent.”

“Shut up, Tyler.”

Nick wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep when the knocking at the door woke him. He was instantly tense and alert, his eyes wide in the darkness. He could feel Ty close to him, his breaths hard against Nick’s face. The kittens both complained when he moved.

“It’s okay,” Ty whispered. “I got it.”

Nick rolled to his back as Ty got out of bed, rubbing the heels of his palms against his eyes until he saw stars.

“Hey, Doc,” he heard Ty greet when the door opened.

Nick’s stomach flipped. He lay there another moment, trying to get his nerves under control before sitting up in bed. Light streamed into the hotel room from the hallway, and he squinted against it as a shadow fell across the end of the bed.

Nick raised his head.

“I can’t sleep,” Kelly said when their eyes met. The door closed with a quiet snick as Ty left the room, throwing them into darkness once more.

Nick stared until his eyes had adjusted, until he could almost make out Kelly’s features. Nick glanced back at the bed. He and Ty had been sleeping on top of the comforter. He reached back and tugged the blanket down, exposing the sheets and pillows next to him.

“Some things are easier to say in the dark,” he mumbled as he looked back at Kelly.

Kelly waited a few heartbeats before crawling into the bed. He laid himself out next to Nick, sliding under the covers and resting his head on his arm. Nick shoved the blanket down further, trying to get under it and stretch back out on his side. He stared at Kelly across the expanse of the bed, his heartbeat thundering in his ears.

“I lost my temper,” he said when he finally decided Kelly wasn’t going to speak first.

“Me too.”

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