Page 77 of Carry Your Debt

Then I’m once again left with the empty, accusing stare of a giant, rotting skull.

When I finally emerge,Dionysus is ready and waiting, having already showered in the opponent’s locker room while I was busyassistingAres. His dirty blond hair is now wet and neatly combed, and there’s a fresh Steri-Strip over his brow.

“Slick little setup they got down here,” he says with an appreciative whistle.

I’d been expecting innuendo the moment I stepped out, but his gaze as he takes in the massive fighting cage and its tiered seating actuallyisadmiring.

“You’ll have to build me one of these once we’re all settled,” he sighs in that way he always does when he’s daydreaming about our mythical life after the Gray Man.

If only a happy ending was in the cards for me.

“The Aces do love their fight clubs,” I cajole, weaving my way through the bloodthirsty throng and trying not to roll my eyes at his happy delusions.

“So,” Dio says as he jogs back to my side, rubbing his hands together. “Is he as big as he looks? Pretty sure I got a good hint of what he’s working with during that last takedown.”

Aaand there it is.

I shoot him a careful side-eye, trying to gauge his thoughts about Ares and me.The two of us have never claimed to beexclusive, but does that automatically translate into him being on board with my fucking around with therestof the Pantheon?

“Uh, yeah, you called it. My fingertips wouldn’t have been able to touch, that’s for sure.” I give him a strained chuckle.

D’s brows raise expectantly. “You don’t know?”

“I didn’t exactly get to test that theory; it was just a quickie.”

His eyes jump between mine, assessing, before he prompts more seriously, “But you wanted it, yeah?”

“What’s not to want?” I laugh again, this time a little more genuinely.

“Baby,don’t do that,” Dionysus scolds me. He blows out a breath, measuring his next words. “I think it’s different, with them.You’redifferent.”

My forehead wrinkles and I shoot him a dirty look.What bullshit is he on about now?“Different, how?”

D moves in closer, bumping his shoulder against mine.

“You’ve been back for secondsandthirds with Hermes,” he says pointedly. “And Apollo’s hit that, what—twice now? Right?” He punctuates that particular observation with an appreciative and not-at-all-subtle glance back at my ass.

I mean…he’s not wrong.

Before the Boys, Diohadbeen the only one I’d ever allowed a repeat performance.

Why?

Because he never questionswhy.

And he understands me well enough that he doesn’t need to.

I might even go so far as to say he understands me better than anyone.

The way Ares and I had come together was brutal. Animalistic.So fucking hot.

And perhaps, somewhere underneath the surface of all that raw physical chemistry, there’d been a flash of something else.

But that doesn’t mean he’s right.Right?

“When was the last time you got high?” he asks suddenly.

I blink.

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