Drawn Together (12 page)

“I am happy. Amelia be damned. I’m going to be Ran Yamane and not slink around in drab hooded sweatshirts. And I’ve decided what I want on my bracelet, Rory.”

“What?” asked Rory, rummaging through shopping bags for the clothes he’d purchased.

“I want it to say, ‘Not done yet,’” he announced. He walked to the bathroom muttering,

“Bitch thinks she can put a fork in me…”

“I see somebody found their fighting spirit.” Yamane returned from the bathroom. “So. You said you had somewhere you wanted to go?”

Rory took a moment to take in the sight. Yamane was once again wearing his trademark jeans and a white linen shirt with a long Chinese-style coat over the top, this one 68 Z. A. Maxfield

in a charcoal gray print that looked to Rory like a cloudy sky with flocks of violet cranes flying in it. He wore his hair loose. Rory swallowed hard. “Pack, cher. You don’t belong in a dump like this. Let’s go find a real hotel, shall we?”

“You mean it?” Yamane was like a delighted child. “One with cleanliness?” Rory sighed. “Sure, we’ve got cash. Do they let you use cash?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never booked a nice hotel with cash. We can try.” He said this so hopefully that Rory almost laughed.

“I tell you what. We’ll leave this room and the car, but we’ll keep it just in case we have to go to ground quick. Let’s take a cab to the strip with some of our stuff and see what we can find. I’m glad I went shopping yesterday. I could hardly have escorted you anywhere looking like this.”

Yamane packed up his things, and even though it didn’t take him long, it took longer than Rory, who had virtually nothing to pack. “I think I need a nicer bag,” Rory said, looking at his old pilot case. “I’ve been using this one since I went to school.”

“That’s not important. Clothes are important.”

“How shallow,” teased Rory, looking at himself in the mirror. “I’m going to shower and change; give me a minute.”

“I hope this is okay,” Rory said, emerging from the bathroom a while later. “I let the guy at the clothing store dress me.”

“Why didn’t you ask me? I could have gone shopping with you.”

“Well.” Rory wore a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a white linen shirt so fine it was almost see-through. “I didn’t want to look like a Chinese doll.”

“Very funny.” Yamane pointed to the shirt. “That’s nice.”

“It is, isn’t it? I like the fabric. It’s delicate and soft. I have a couple of other things.” He rummaged around in a large shopping bag and pulled out a summer-weight trench-type coat.

“I have to admit this is an homage to the Ran Yamane school of jackets.” He put the coat on over his shirt; it hung loosely and moved with him in a fluid way. “I bought new Vans, but they’re still kid shoes. I like them.” He stood with his hands in his pockets after belting his trench in the back and struck a pose. “Me. Voilà!”

“This is like watching a child take its very first steps. I’m so moved.”

“Shut up. Grad students don’t need to be dressed well. Though, actually, next year I’ll be a teaching assistant, and I want all the coeds to be hot for me --” He stopped short, realizing what he’d said.

Yamane gave him a gentle shove. “Then we’ll have to do some more shopping while we’re here together. I promise I’ll only buy doll clothes for myself.”

“You’re awfully nice.”

Drawn Together

69

“I am, am I not?” asked Yamane airily. “When this is over, I want you to get a bracelet that matches mine, for the adventure, you know? So we’ll never forget.” He looked away.

Rory felt sad just thinking about it. “I’d like that.” He swallowed hard. “What should mine say?”

“I’ll be thinking about that; maybe they should say the same thing. Okay, all packed, and unlike Lot’s wife, I will not be looking back.”

“Poor baby.” Rory laughed. “At least I’m taking you away from all this. Put out the ‘do not disturb’ sign, please.”

“Got it. Isn’t the human spirit the most amazing thing?” he asked as they walked. “One minute we’re all battered and before the bruises even heal we’re back for more. Amelia’s still out there, Rory, and she’ll probably kill us both.”

“I’m aware of that, but I don’t intend for it to spoil my fun. Besides, it absolutely cannot interfere with my concentration when I play cards, because Ran Yamane is no man’s cheap squeeze.”

Yamane grinned up at him. “You got that right. Indeed he is not.”

* * * * *

The two men walked into Hubbard’s Cupboard and Avery just stared at them. Rory handed her the carafe.

“You guys look like you’re advertising a strip show or some kind of hot man revue. I thought you were hiding.”

“We are,” said Rory. “But we’ve decided hiding should be done in plain sight with” --

he glanced at Yamane -- “better accommodations.”

“Ah,” she said. “Not what he’s used to, was it? Were you pining, sweetheart?”

“Yes, to be honest, I was,” Yamane replied. “You have no idea how galling it is to live like that because of some stranger’s sick attachment to the Snoggs, of all things. It’s not like I invented the nuclear bomb.”

“Yeah, well,” said Rory. “Tonight, we’ll only have to fight off those present.” He checked his watch. “Avery, chérie, could you call us a cab? We’re off to find new digs. And I have plans to take the princess out someplace before I meet you for poker.”

“Sure,” she said. “But Rory, I have to protest on behalf of all the marginally decent-looking men in the world. Hearts will be broken beyond any hope tonight. No eye will be on anything but you.”

“It’s only the brightness that is the star Yamane in this falsely glittering firmament of a cheesy town, darling. It is that star we cling to; that tiny beacon that gives us the hope to go on.”

Yamane rolled his eyes and made inelegant gagging noises.

70 Z. A. Maxfield

Rory’s teasing must not have fooled Avery because she took his upper arms and held him away from her for a moment, studying him carefully.

“Rory,” she asked under her breath. “Are you… Could it possibly be that the biggest player at LSU has met his opposite and equally attractive force?”

“Quite probably, yes,” he admitted quietly. He let out a long-held breath. “It actually feels kind of good to admit it.”

“Ha!” said Avery. “It’s about time you stepped in something you couldn’t step away from easily.” She was still laughing when the cab drove up.

Drawn Together

71

Chapter Twelve

Somehow, when Yamane and Rory entered the taxi, they left their anxiety and problems behind. By tacit agreement, they simply ceased to discuss Amelia. They directed the driver to take them to the Venetian, where after a small amount of discussion and a visit with the manager, they got a hotel room for cash and a rather sizable deposit. Rory paid for three nights up front. Yamane thought he was going to break down completely when he saw the marble bathroom. They put their things away and set out again.

Rory closed the door behind them. “Yesterday I discovered that they have a big aquarium at Caesar’s Palace in the Forum Shops. I thought we might see the fish.”

“That sounds nice.”

“If you think it’s dumb,” began Rory, “we can --” Yamane cut him off. “Not at all.”

They started out on the strip, the still-warm air blowing on their faces as they strolled past partygoers and gamblers just starting their evening. Yamane walked along with Rory, noting the looks of feminine appreciation aimed at him even with the now-fading bruises on his face.

There was no doubt about it; Yamane’s knight was just a bit shinier than his other lovers had ever been. It made Yamane feel a little tarnished himself, and perhaps a little sad.

What would it be like, he wondered, to have his heart?

Yamane put that thought away for some other time because it brought with it a dull pain he was only beginning to comprehend.

“I think there’s some kind of multimedia presentation, and then you go see the aquarium. I read that Long Beach has an aquarium, but I was too busy being fed to the fishes to see it. Besides that, I was totally broke.” He laughed. “This one’s free, though.” 72 Z. A. Maxfield

The two men found Caesar’s Palace and entered with the intention of finding the Forum Shops where the show began every hour. Rory was unusually silent as they strolled around while waiting. As people passed, Yamane could see him looking at everyone, as if searching for something specific.

“Rory?” Yamane asked as they walked past an egregious display of high-end fantasy goods. “Is something bothering you?”

“It’s nothing. It’s not like the world has always felt safe to me. There’s the bayou and nature. I’ve hunted and fished, and I’ve seen firsthand that death is a natural part of life.

Then there’s weather, which up until recently seemed like something we humans could outsmart or work around. But I’ll tell you, Yamane, it’s costing me something personal to look at everyone I meet and wonder whether they’re going to try to kill me.”

“Oh, Rory.” For the first and only time, Yamane wished they had never met. “I’m so, so sorry. The world was never safe at all though, really.”

“I thought I could rely on people being basically good.”

“I hate that you lost that because of me.”

“It’s almost time.” They returned to the fountain in time to find a nice niche to watch from before the crowds formed. “Watch your man-purse, Yamane.”

“Hey,” snapped Yamane, “It’s a messenger bag.” But he put his hand over it anyway.

“After this, we’ll meet Avery at the Venetian.”

“Am I going to be allowed to watch you play this time?”

“No. I’m sorry, I’d be nervous if you were there. For you, I have to maintain my aura of knightly infallibility.”

“Right. I’ll go back to our suite and enjoy its amenities by myself.”

“You can fill up the bath with the blood of virgins or do whatever it is that makes you so beautiful.”

“Right. How long have you been playing poker?”

“My standard reply to that is ‘What time is it?’” Rory laughed. “I started playing tournaments when I came of age. I have to admit that the very same naïveté you have pointed out on occasions too numerous to mention has led to some disappointing results for the enemy.”

“I imagine you’re a formidable liar as well, when you want to be.”

“I can lie. I don’t like it, but one must pay for one’s education, and with my parents rebuilding their house, it’s been a little tough lately. I don’t rely on poker for money. It has its windfall moments though.”

“So it seems.”

Drawn Together

73

“It’s better when you play as though someone’s life depends on it. All the Delaplaines men are fearsome card players. A fact that never fails to make my stepfather rather cold toward me.”

“Your real father played?”

“Yes, and he and my stepfather were best friends. My father died in a car accident when I was ten and after that my mom was lonely, I guess. She married Charles, my stepfather, when I was thirteen.”

“I wondered why you always talk about your grandparents but never your parents.

Don’t you get along?”

“Well, as to that…” Rory picked up an abandoned paper cup from the floor and threw it in a trash bin. “Along with a certain inability to read a card table, my stepfather came with a not-inconsiderable talent for putting away strong drink. My mother and he… It’s not fun at home. I spend most of my time with Grandmère and Grandpère Delaplaines. I’m trying to help Mom and Charles rebuild and that takes money. Plus I had to pay my way through school. Now that I’m a teaching assistant, tuition is free, hallelujah.”

“Rory, I just realized I hardly know anything about you.” Rory smiled at him. “All you really need to know is that we’re going to get through this together, and when it’s over Amelia will no longer be a threat to you or I’ll no longer be alive.”

“What a buzzkill.” Yamane punched Rory’s arm.

* * * * *

“Nice boys shouldn’t move like that, should they?” Avery said as Rory threw himself wholeheartedly into some sort of line dance. “Rory is one part John the Baptist, one part John Holmes the porn star, and one part Elmo from Sesame Street.” Yamane agreed with her completely. That was Rory? “Crap,” he said sourly. “He really is all that and a bag of homemade potato chips, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “Just when you think you have a handle on exactly what he is, he just --”

“He just gets better.”

“You could be out there too,” Avery reminded him.

Yamane shook his head. “I never learned how.” Never mind that Rory was in the center of a crowd of interested women.

“He’s into you, you know? I’ve never seen him act like that.” Yamane kept his eyes on Rory. “Like what?”

Avery was quiet for a minute. “What do you see when you look at Rory?” 74 Z. A. Maxfield

“I see a sweet young man. Intelligent. Loyal. Innocent. Someone unbelievably honest and decent. I see someone I’d trust with my --” Avery smiled. “If you asked any woman he ever dated at school? Do you know what they’d say?”

“No.”

“They’d say Rory is charming and hot.”

“Yes.” Yamane colored faintly. “Well, he is that.”

“No, you don’t get it. They’d say that’s all he is. That he’s like vapor, you know? You never get hold of any part of him. He’s as ephemeral as fog, like a mirage. Rory Delaplaines, he comes and goes.”

“Oh, no.” Yamane laughed and shook his head.

“Well. Yeah. Literally. But as far as I know, he’s never let anyone have any part of him.

And you own him, Yamane. Can’t you see it? He’d do anything for you. He’d die for you.”

“I’d rather he didn’t.” Yamane’s hand trembled, and it made the ice rattle in his glass.

“I know.” Avery put her hand on his.

“All that doesn’t change the fact that the plumbing is all wrong, and I’m sure there’s a woman out there that he’ll feel exactly the same way about. In the meantime, he’s the best friend I’ve ever had.” Yamane looked on wistfully. “Maybe the only friend I’ve ever had, and I’m not going to screw that up.”

“Yamane.” Avery leaned over to talk to him, but a group of people walking past them got so loud and raucous he didn’t hear a word she was saying.