The Broken Soldier (malexmale)

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

"We should go on vacation more often."

A smile worked its way onto my face as I watched Theo recline in his seat, taking a long sip of his drink. Besides him, Adonis was leaning on the table, wearing the hood of his vest up over his head that he kept ducked down in the shadows. I'd briefly wondered how he could manage the dress up routine in such heat, but the alternative was obviously not an option. The alternative being that he gets jumped by every single person he comes in contact with. On our way out of the palace, a visitor to my father's temple got sidetracked and tried to press herself up against Adonis, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Thankfully Theo had told the female off quite clearly and scared her off, and Adonis decided to don the hood of his vest for now.

I frankly felt sorry for the male. He clearly couldn't go anywhere without someone taking one look at his face and trying to fondle him. And while my body reacted against my will, I still maintained enough control to stay off him. If I could do it, so could others. They just chose not to.

However, since pulling his hood up, he'd been mostly left alone.

"Tell me about it," Adonis responded, much to my surprise, "We need to get out more. I swear my vision is off kilter since we spend like half our lives in the dark at home watching TV." Theo snorted.

"I told you to turn on the lights, but nooo, apparently it was scarier in the dark."

"The dark is always scarier. That's why it's so fun."

"Bet. Anyway," Theo continued, making me raise an eyebrow, "I've managed to get at least one thing for each kid, but fuck, that doesn't feel like enough." Adonis gave him a droll stare as he fiddled with the straw in his drink.

"You're spoiling the shit out of them. Anymore and they're gonna turn into little entitled assholes," he scolded, making Theo shrug and wave the concern off. I smiled at that.

"I'm glad you love them so much," I commented. Theo blushed a little, averting his eyes and taking a long sip of his drink.

"They're good kids, all of 'em. Sure, Hadrian stresses me out and Holly can be a fucking nightmare, but they're great kids. They're gonna grow up to be strong. I can already tell," he said, smiling fondly now. His love and devotion knew no end. Theo, for all his chaotic nature, loved deeply and truly.

Suck not being on the receiving end of it, huh, a shitty voice said in the back of my mind. I dropped my eyes and sipped my drink, feeling uncomfortable, even more so when I caught Adonis looking at me out of the corner of my eye. Thankfully, Theo provided the right distraction by talking adamantly about his nieces and nephews. Adonis watched a lot, did less talking than Theo, but it bothered me that he kept looking at me, like he was waiting to see if I was going to do something. Was he waiting for me to fuck up too?

Too meaning everyone around me eyed me suspiciously as well. Theo didn't seem to notice because he was so caught up in the excitement of visiting. So he didn't pick up on the fact that my people hated me. However, something told me Adonis was picking up on it and it bothered me, because I didn't want him to go to Theo with that information.

"I'm gonna grab another plate of food," Theo decided at last, "Gods, ever since we started working out on the weekends, I've been eating like twice my weight. This is bullshit." Adonis snorted.

"It's normal. Get used to it."

"No, you."

"No, you," Adonis replied mockingly. Theo elbowed him and Adonis elbowed him right back, making him laugh. Theo got up and sauntered away to get more food. I watched him go, my heart aching, until I swung my gaze back around to see Adonis watching me. I dropped my eyes uncomfortably.