Battle It Out

it lasted only seconds before Zane jerked back abruptly, turning away and breaking the spell.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he charged to cover his own freak out.
“You used to tease me all the time. What the hell happened to us?” Zane’s harsh breathing filled the narrow hallway.
“That was teasing?”
“I just wanted to talk to you.” Zane raked his fingers through his dark hair, leaving strands sticking up.
Isaac licked at his lips. “That didn’t feel like talk. It looked like you were going to kiss me.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Zane’s face closed up like a goddamned iceberg, a cold, impenetrable monument of frost.
“Liar. Fuck you,” he gritted out, trying to get a reaction, anything to break through the ice.
“Nice,” Zane returned roughly, hurt flashing in his eyes.
Damn it! That wasn’t the reaction he wanted. He curled his hands into fists. What the hell was happening? Where was his usual wit and banter? His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.
“Happy Birthday, Isaac,” Zane said with so many emotions swirling in the dark depth of his eyes that Isaac couldn’t get a read on any one of them. He didn’t get a chance to say another word before Zane disappeared out of the hallway and through the living room as if a fire had lit beneath his ass.
“Shit!” he hissed when the front door opened and closed.
Running after Zane, his mind raced. He was supposed to make things right, not screw it up. But making things right had all gone to shit and he didn’t know if he could ever get them back on even ground. Not with the strange tension between them. And what the ever-living fuck was that back in the hallway?
With shaking hands, he yanked open the door. The front porch stood empty. Zane was already halfway down the block.
“What’s going on?” Jo asked from behind him.
“Nothing.” He let out a sharp sigh.
She poked her head out the door, then turned on him.
“What did you say to him?” Jo spat, pushing past him. She took off down the block, easily catching up to Zane, and when she did, she linked her arm through his.
Zane didn’t push her away.
Fuck. He fisted his hair.
Bear bumped his leg with a whine and Isaac curled his fingers around his collar to keep the dog from going out the front door. While Bear loved everyone, Zane was his favorite.
“He’ll be back,” he whispered to Bear.
“Where’s Zane?” Lacy bounced up beside him.
He gave her a grimace and pointed.
She glanced out the door.
“Uh oh.”
“I don’t know what happened.” His mind reeled.
“All friends have spats. Want me to go and bring him back?”
Spat? Is that what that was? It hadn’t felt like a spat.
“That would only piss Jo off,” he murmured.
“It would be my pleasure.”
He gave a slight smile and nodded.
Lacy grabbed Jo’s purse and jacket from near the door. “I’ll be right back!” she said and took off down the steps, waving to Spencer and Liam coming up the walkway.
“Hey there, birthday boy,” Captain Spencer Turner said. Spencer was the third soldier in Fury. Reaching the porch, Spencer held out a gift bag tied with blue ribbon.
“It’s from both of us. Happy Birthday, Isaac,” Colonel Liam Cobalt, Spencer’s fiancé, said, coming up the steps behind the man.
“Thank you both. Come in. I’m so glad you could make it.” He collected himself and took the bag.
“Where’s Lacy going?” Spencer asked.
“After Zane,” he grimaced.
Liam squinted at him.
“Come on, Bear,” the colonel said and made a beeline toward the kitchen. Bear trotted off with Liam, and a few moments later, a chorus of voices from the back porch greeted the colonel.
“You guys good?” Spencer stayed put.
“Define good.” His voice cracked.
Spencer fisted a hand around his arm and pulled him to a private corner off the den area.
“What?” He followed because he didn’t have a choice. Friend or not, when a captain in the Army grabs you for a talk, you fucking pay attention.
“You need to figure your shit out. Whatever is going on between you and Zane is being noticed by the team. Tension like that can fuck Infinity up.”
This wasn’t his fault! Zane was…Zane was…he couldn’t wrap his head around what Zane was right then so he stayed quiet for the moment.
He tipped his head. Spencer narrowed his gaze and flattened his lips.
“I know,” he finally croaked.
“I’ll tell you this once. Things like this can tear a unit apart, and Liam will transfer one or both of you if you don’t make it better.”
His breath caught. He wouldn’t survive if he was kicked out of Infinity. Fucking Christ!
“Make it better,” Spencer warned again, and then yanked him into a hug. “And happy birthday.”
He remained in the den after Spencer left him to join his fiancé on the back porch.
Make it better. How the hell was he going to do that? He’d gotten a boyfriend so Zane wouldn’t think he had the hots for him. He cupped hands over his mouth and drew fingers over his lips. What would Zane’s lips have felt like? Stop thinking about it, idiot. What the fuck was Zane playing at anyway? The guy was straight, wasn’t he?
“Hey,” Lacy said softly next to him. He hadn’t heard her return over the noise in the den.
“Is he coming back?” He glanced at the empty space behind her.
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry.”
A lump grew in his throat, he blinked his burning eyes, and when Lacy put her arms around him, he hugged her tightly.

Zane
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Sucking in what felt like his hundredth deep breath, he turned his jeep toward Jo’s place. Here he was out in the cold when all he wanted was to go back and be with his buddies. And Isaac.
Of all the goddamned stupid assed things to do, Gannon. What the hell were you trying to prove? It’s Isaac! He reached down and adjusted himself.
Stopping his jeep outside of Jo’s apartment, he put it in park, but didn’t shut off the engine.
“Thanks for saving