Page 2 of Tracker
Tracker chuckled nervously at Zeus’ words. “What did you know?” Probably everything. Tracker just couldn’t think straight enough to come up with a better response.
Zeus closed the door behind him as he answered. “That you’d still be awake. One of these days, you’ll drop dead from lack of sleep.”
He turned back to face Tracker, and Tracker’s smile turned real. Zeus was so beautiful and nice. But that was exactly why Tracker wasn’t sexually attracted to him. Well, the looks part. Tracker wouldn’t want Zeus around at all if he was a mean person. Unfortunately, being the most sexual being in every room was Zeus’s thing. The sexual presence and beauty were exactly what the program they had been raised in chose for him. His mission was to lure people into bed for information or assassination. Knowing his training was what made him irresistible, made Zeus very much resistible to Tracker. They had hurt Zeus to make him this way. Tracker wouldn’t dive into that wound and take advantage of the damage. He loved Zeus too much to lose him, and he would if Tracker ever saw him as more than his best friend.
The threat of Tracker getting a dick pic was forgotten. “You’re one to talk. Here you are—awake.”
Zeus’ light gray eyes flashed with humor. “Yeah. I work nights. What’s your excuse?”
Tracker shrugged. “My brain won’t shut down.”
Zeus slowly nodded, as if he got it. “I thought maybe you were flirting online or watching porn.”
A loud, unexpected bark of laughter burst from Tracker. “Just because your life is filled with nothing but sex—” Tracker stopped dead as he realized what he said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that. I meant because of the club. Never mind.” Tracker wanted to erase the last minute. He never wanted to be the person who saw Zeus the way everyone else did—like a piece of meat or something.
Zeus’ smile never fell. “Please. I know you better than that. Just like,” he closed the distance between them and pulled Tracker to his feet, “I know you won’t go to bed if I don’t make you.” He reached for the hem of Tracker’s soft sweater.
Tracker smacked his hands away.
Zeus grabbed the hem and held Tracker’s stare. “Stop.” His expression changed. Zeus became the man who saw everyone’s deepest fears and desires. “You’re with me. If you want to keep your pants, that’s cool, but the shirt has to go. You flop aroundtoo much in your sleep to have loose material twisting around you.”
Tracker took a steady breath and gave Zeus a sharp nod. It wasn’t like Zeus hadn’t seen him without a shirt before. But really, here it was: the biggest reason Tracker could never let himself fall for Zeus. Zeus looked like the Adonis he was bred to be. He turned every head that he passed and knew he could bring them any pleasure. Tracker was the scarred and deformed mess the program had made him into. They didn’t fit, and Tracker couldn’t survive everyone knowing it. He could already hear the whispers behind people’s hands, disgusted by Zeus choosing someone like him, and it was a totally hypothetical situation. He would be an embarrassment to Zeus. Tracker would never do that to his friend.
“Please stop thinking whatever you’re thinking.” Zeus’ voice was quiet and filled with hurt. The way he held Tracker’s gaze made him feel like Zeus stared into his soul. “Everyone looks at me and thinks I’m perfect. Too pretty to hurt. You’re the only one who treats me like I’m real. Please don’t look at me like you are now. Not you.”
He sounded so fucking devastated that Tracker’s throat swelled. “Awww. Are you saying I’m special?” Tracker turned as obnoxious as possible. He had to bring back Zeus’ smile. “You did. You think I’m one of a kind.” He used his brightest singsong voice.
Zeus smiled and shook his head. “You’re definitely something.” He stole Tracker’s shirt.
Tracker refused to flinch or hide. As much as it killed Tracker for Zeus to see him like this, he couldn’t show it. Zeus couldn’t know. He mattered too much to Tracker.
“Are you taking off your shirt too? Or is this some elaborate scheme to ensure I freeze to death?”
Zeus shook his head again and led Tracker to the bedroom.
Tracker kept a smile pasted on his face. When Zeus peeled off his shirt, Tracker fought for his life. While he refused to see Zeus the same way everyone did, goddamn. He was a work of art. Tracker wasn’t blind. Unfortunately, it wasn’t lust he fought. It was jealousy. The ugliest of envy. Zeus had been trained in the same program as him, but he had been allowed to keep his looks. Tracker’s only saving grace was his too-many-times-broken nose always healed well. Everything below his face hadn’t been as lucky. As quickly as the negative emotions hit, they vanished. Zeus was right. Tracker didn’t see him the way everyone else did. He was perfect, but not because of his looks.
Zeus lifted one eyebrow when Tracker didn’t move. “You know the drill. Why are you still standing there?”
Tracker shook his head and climbed into bed. “Do you at least want a pair of pajama pants or something?”
Zeus snorted as he took off his pants.
Tracker couldn’t stop smiling. Zeus wore bright red boxer shorts with dramatic text boxes. Each one had a different comic booksaying. The way his face hurt from the huge grin reminded Tracker he didn’t get to smile this much.
Zeus crawled into bed next to Tracker and rolled to face him. “May I ask you a personal question?”
Tracker was taken aback slightly. Zeus had him out of his shirt, which no one ever saw. It seemed crazy to ask for permission at this point. “Shoot.”
“Why don’t you date?”
That one might have knocked the happiness out of Tracker if he intended to be honest. “What’s the point? It’s not like I can have a sincere relationship with some random person. Not with who I am or what I do.”
Zeus’ neutral expression never changed. “Okay. How about this? You give me the truth, and I’ll tell you something uncomfortable about me.”
Damn. Zeus had anything to be uncomfortable about? By nature, Tracker was an inquisitive person. He wanted to know. Since there was nothing else for it but to do it quickly, that was what he did. “You know why. I choke at giving you my shirt, and you have zero interest in me to lose at the sight of me unclothed.” Despite his determination to answer fast, every word got harder to say. Yet he couldn’t seem to shut up. “I’m already lonely as hell. Being rejected isn’t something I care to experience. Ever.” He added that last bit to ensure Zeus didn’t think about matchmaking or any such nonsense.
Zeus' gaze moved over Tracker’s face. “What makes you think I have zero interest in you?”
