Page 19 of Tracker
Silence met the question. He practically felt Tracker’s confusion. “Uh. He was there at the same time as me and sat down. What the hell does that have to do with Zeus?”
Zeus covered his eyes, reminding himself his eye was practically swollen shut. Things really were as bad as he feared.
It was Shadow’s turn to sound baffled. “So you weren’t on a date with someone else?”
This time, there was no hesitation. “What? No, and what if I was? Zeus obviously only saw me as a friend anyhow.” His voice changed. “At least, I thought that’s what we were.”
“Babe, are you being serious?” Shadow didn’t wait for Tracker to respond. “You do realize you’re in a relationship with Zeus,right? Like an exclusive, no coffee dates with other men, full-blown relationship.”
“What?” Damn. Tracker’s voice sounded dead.
Shadow groaned. “Oh, sweetie. How did you not know you were in a relationship? Zeus is stupidly in love with you.”
Zeus had heard enough. He had to fix what he had broken. Giving up on hiding, he headed straight for the door and let himself in. Tracker and Shadow both jumped at his appearance. He wanted to cry at how dead and red Tracker’s eyes were.
“Holy fucking shit, Zeus. What happened to you?”
Zeus ignored Shadow’s question. He couldn’t look away from Tracker. “Leave.” Zeus heard the bite in his tone. His gaze jumped to Shadow for a second. “Please.”
Shadow stood. “All right. I’m around if either of you needs me.” He let himself out.
Zeus could barely blink as he stared at Tracker. This one person really made him crazy. Zeus had never been jealous, not one time in his entire life. It turned out that emotion truly did look ugly on everyone equally. “Hey.”
Tracker’s gaze skirted away. “Hey.”
Zeus didn’t even know where to begin. He just said the first thing that came to mind. “I love you.”
Tracker’s eyes moved back to hold his stare.
Zeus kept going. “I’m in love with you.”
Tracker’s lifeless expression never budged.
The fear returned full force. “It occurred to me I’ve never made that distinction clear with you.”
Tracker sniffed. “Okay.”
Reality landed hard on Zeus. That was always Tracker’s response. He only accepted things said to him directly. Tracker didn’t know how to play games. He needed things to be completely straightforward. Mostly because he was oblivious as fuck, but also because he knew absolutely nothing about people or relationships.
Zeus sat in the chair Shadow abandoned. “You’re my best friend. I know you better than anyone else. So, I should’ve used my words rather than assuming we were on the same page. I thought you were in love with me too. Of course, that’s obviously just part of my narcissistic tendencies.”
“You’re not narcissistic. Also, I am in love with you. You didn’t read that wrong.”
“Maybe, but I didn’t say this is real. We’re together. I don’t want you to touch anyone else, and I don’t want to ever be with anyone other than you.”
“Okay.”
Zeus smiled. It hurt like hell. He tasted blood. Damn. Atticus had really done a number on him. “I feel like a total ass. When I walked into that coffee shop, you were sitting there with Atticus and—”
“You know his name is Atticus?”
Zeus made a dismissive gesture. “Yes. People have to apply with their real identities. While they can choose a different name for everyone else and to play, I won’t let anyone in under an alias. Plus, they have to pay their dues and whatnot.”
Tracker nodded. “That makes sense. Sorry to interrupt.”
Zeus fought not to laugh. Tracker had no idea how unique he was. Zeus shook his head. “Anyhow, I saw red when I saw you with someone else, especially someone I know to be extremely sexual and ruthless.” His shoulders fell. “It was so dumb. I know you. You’re incapable of being deceitful. I honestly don’t know what happened. No one has ever made me feel the way you do. Sometimes I don’t know what to do with that. You’re wholly unique to me. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. All I know is I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Tracker’s lips parted in surprise.
