Free Goated by the Gods by Sheri Lyn Page B

and that I would get dinner while there.”
    “What about my car, won’t someone notice it and wonder who it belongs to?”
    “That’s a possibility, but the cabins your kids are in are down the road a bit. They really don’t have reason to come up here considering all the events are happening down there and even our house is down that way.”
    “Well, fuck. What about my group of kids I am the counselor for? What’s happening with them?”
    “Jared.” Zach sighed and rubbed his hands down his face in frustration. Being this close to the man who had been slowly driving him insane all week was playing havoc on his body. “He volunteered to be acting counselor till you arrived. Marguerite wasn’t sure when you would show up after all.”
    The two men lapsed into silence as they took turns trying not to look at the other. Zach couldn’t deny the pull he felt in his gut to get close to his man, but his head still screamed to be cautious.
    “How did you become a counselor for a youth home?”
    “It’s a long story. You sure you want to hear it?” Gareth asked in a low tone.
    Zach nodded and leaned forward, as if to make sure he could hear every word out of Gareth’s mouth.
    “I grew up in one, not a good one either. When I become an adult, I knew I wanted to give back and help kids have a better beginning then I did.”
    “How in the hell did a god grow up in an orphanage?
    “I’m not sure who told you I was a god, but I can assure you I am only half. My father was a troll my goddess of a mother fell for. She got pregnant and left me to my father to raise. He died when I was a toddler, the state sent me to a home and that’s where I lived until I turned 15 and ran away. I went to that cave where you found me and lived there for the next couple of years.”
    Gareth sighed and moved to lean against the wall so he could stare out the window at the woods that called to him. “One day my mom showed up. She had been unable to come to me due to some errand she had been on for Odin. I stayed in that cave until I thought I would go mad from lack of human contact.” Gareth laughed in self-deprecation. “It’s forever my curse to long for the solitude of the woods, caves and mountains while in the city and crave the city when I’m in the wilderness.”
    Zach didn’t say anything in response, he couldn’t as his mind whirled with the things he had just learned. Gareth wasn’t what he thought at all. “How long have you been working with the kids?”
    “About fifteen years now. I know you thought I was like the gods, but I grew up here like a mortal human being. I know nothing of their ways, and if I am to be honest, I only tolerate them. They took my mother away for seventeen years and left me to live in that forsaken home of pain and loneliness. I vowed one day to do my best to help kids like me and give them something to hold on to, something that would make them want to be better. I live in a crappy apartment with nothing, because every waking moment I am either in my cave or with those kids. Every dime I make is spent on getting them things they need or the home needs.”
    Zach slowly stood and approached Gareth. “I’m sorry I judged you. I felt the god power in you and I reacted without giving you a chance. I’ve treated you like shit and walked out on you after grinding your feelings into the ground. You have every right to hate me, and you should. I hate myself right now. Jared kept telling me that I had you wrong, but I let my anger and hatred for the curse placed upon my family by Thor cloud my judgement.”
    “I didn’t try real hard to convince you of who I was either. I let my hormones dictate my actions. I saw you and that was the end. My brain short-circuited and my blood rushed to my cock.”
    “Are you saying that isn’t the case anymore?”
    “Fuck no, I’m so hard one touch and I will come all over the place. At the same time, I am tired of being rejected and pushed away. There is