Page 99 of Broken Obsession

Things had been easier when Ares had been an imposing stranger in the dark. A fallen angel come calling, or the devil offering a deal. Eden would exchange his soul for revenge without a second's thought, but when it came to his heart, he was more…hesitant.

He’d only recently started to believe that was something Ares was legitimately interested in. The Black Hart had been up front about his intentions from the beginning, but it’d been too hard to believe him. After this past week, however, it was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

“Am I?” Eden found himself asking, attention completely on the man at his side now. “Am I fun for you?”

Ares shifted, his knees bumping against Eden’s leg. “Why does that sound like a weighted question? What’s been going through that head of yours lately, Paradise?”

“When does this act end?”

“Act?”

Eden nodded. “When do you stop treating me like this? Is it once you win? Am I meant to be the shiny trophy you polishand take photos with, and then ultimately set aside on a shelf somewhere to collect dust?”

His gaze softened. “You know that’s not true. Why do you do this to yourself?”

“Do what?”

“Pick everything apart until it’s unrecognizable. I gave you a completed puzzle. You’re the one choosing to deconstruct it.” Ares captured Eden’s left hand and tucked it into his own pocket. There were no handwarmers there, but he kept his palm over Eden’s. “It’s been a month now. Do you still think I’m settling for you because I can’t have Ransom?”

Eden sipped at his cocoa, careful not to scald his tongue, and considered how to respond.

“Where is this coming from?” Ares clearly didn’t want to wait for him to figure it out. “You were obviously extremely close with your family, and you’ve had a steady set of friends. You don’t have abandonment issues or trauma that could result in these types of insecurities.”

“Not every reaction has to be trauma-induced,” he stated. “Sometimes people just feel things, Lucifer, for no rhyme or reason.”

“Ah, so you’re saying not everything has to come with a lengthy descriptive label or explanation?”

Eden’s eyes narrowed. “I see what you’re doing.”

“You have a tendency to talk yourself in circles. I can’t be blamed for using your own logic against you. Tell me, Paradise, what are you really afraid of here? That I’m treating you well just to win you over? That it’s all an act? Or that I’m not and it isn’t?”

“You don’t have to do any of this,” he said. “Our deal—”

“You altered the rules of our arrangement when you called me your boyfriend.”

“I was trying to get under Inzer’s skin, you know that.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?”

“Because I liked hearing it too much.” Suddenly, Ares tipped his head in the direction of the field. “We can continue spiraling later. We came here with a purpose, and you’re about to miss it.”

Eden turned back to the game, eyes scanning for Sedos in his white and red uniform. He was racing across the green, attention on where the ball was being kicked between two of his teammates in center field. Since he wasn’t close enough to them to be a threat, it made sense that he wasn’t watching out for attacks.

“What are they—” Eden gasped when one of the opposing teammates suddenly dropped and slid, his trajectory apparent even though it all happened so fast.

There were screams, people shooting to their feet in the crowds, but since they were in the front row, no one blocked Eden’s view.

He watched as the player slammed into Sedos. Saw his leg snap and bend in an impossible direction, and heard the scream of pain. It wasn’t quite like the ones Zonnie had made, but it was close enough to instantly have Eden’s stomach turning.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he buried his face against Ares’ shoulder, not wanting to see any more, the horrified crowd helping to block out the rest of the sounds Sedos’ may or may not be making.

“Are you going to throw up?” Ares asked quietly.

Eden swallowed the bile that threatened to rise and gave a single shake of his head, unwilling to pull away just yet. If anything, he shifted closer, one hand still tucked in Ares’ pocket, his other arm instinctively wrapping around the Black Hart’s waist so he could cling to him as he shook.

“You’re such a contradiction,” Ares spoke as though he found that endearing, and then patted Eden’s head. “They’reremoving him from the field now. We can go as soon as they’re gone.”