Ares bro: Answer the damn phone, now.
Okay, Ares has not calmed down. He calls back. I watch in alarm as his name taunts me from Apolo’s cell phone screen. It feels like years pass, but Ares finally stops calling. A sigh of relief escapes my lips, and I sit on the edge of my bed, where Apolo is still sleeping deeply. At least he hasn’t vomited again. His cell phone screen lights up, catching my attention. I check it to see if Ares is calling again, but it’s just a notification from a cell phone app called Find my iPhone.
Find my iPhone!
It’s an app used to locate any Apple devices that are registered to an account. If Ares uses the app on his Mac, he can get the exact location of the phone I’m holding. Panicking, I throw the phone on the bed.
He found me!
I know he found me. Why does Ares know so much about technology, why?
He’s going to kill me. Ares is coming for me, and not even a miracle can save me.
TEN
The Discussion
Don’t panic, Raquel!
Don’t panic!
“Argh!” I groan in panic, pacing back and forth in my room.
Rocky follows me faithfully, perceiving my anxiety. I glance at Apolo, who is beyond dreamland. I bite my nails. Ares is definitely very angry, and he’s coming for me.
I hate you, technology! You’ve caused me so much trouble lately.
“Okay, calm down, Raquel. Breathe. One thing at a time,” I say to myself, tousling my hair. “If he comes, don’t open the door and that’s it, nothing happens.”
I sit on the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath. Apolo’s hand is dangling off the bed. Rocky sniffs at it and growls, baring his teeth. Apolo’s a stranger to him.
“Rocky, no, come on.” I lead him out of the room and close the door. The last thing I want is Rocky biting Apolo while he sleeps. That would just complicate things even more.
I don’t know how much time passes, but I yawn. I check my phone and Apolo’s, but there are no new notifications, not even a call. Could it be that Ares has calmed down? The clock on my nightstand shows me the time: 2:43 a.m. The night has flown by.
I walk into my bathroom and my reflection in the mirror is like a slap in the face. Wow, I look awful. My eyes are red and my brown hair is a mess, with locks pointing in every direction. My eyeliner is smudged under my eyes, and I could easily go out on the street and scare people. At which point did I go from looking great to awful?
It’s called alcohol, my dear.
I tie my hair into a messy bun and wash my face to remove my makeup. Barefoot, I leave the bathroom and head to my bed. I sit on the opposite side of the bed from Apolo, hesitating, but sleepiness wins the battle. My first night out has been too chaotic, and I’m exhausted. It’s a miracle I’m not already asleep and hitting REM. I sigh and rub my face. My eyes are slowly closing, and the breeze coming through the window gives me chills. My eyes shoot wide open again when I remember the time Ares climbed up to enter my room through the window.
“Shit!”
I run to the window, but halfway there I stop abruptly. A silhouette is clearly visible through the curtains. I don’t have time to think before Ares jumps into my room, pulling the curtains out of his way.
?Oh, mierda!
As Dani would say in her attempts at Spanish.
Ares Hidalgo is in my room. Again. His height making my room feel small, again. He’s still wearing that gray shirt with the rolled-up sleeves that fits him so well. He looks at me with such coldness that I swear it gives me more chills than the breeze. He is annoyed. He is very, very annoyed. His features look tense. His lips are pressed tight, and his hands are bunched into fists. His entire body language indicates that I need to handle this carefully if I don’t want to end up as Greek god food.
“Where is he?” he shouts, surprising me.
“Ares, let me explain what happened.”
Ares pushes me aside and walks toward my bed. “You don’t have to explain anything to me.” His eyes travel to his brother’s soiled clothing on the floor and then back to Apolo’s prone form. “Did you get him drunk?” he asks, apparently changing his mind.
“It was an accident.”
“You left me and went to get my little brother drunk?”
“It was . . .”
“An accident? How can you be so irresponsible?” he snaps and shakes his brother, but Apolo just mumbles something about wanting his mom and hides his head under the pillow. “Just look at him!” Ares straightens up and glares at me. “Did you do it on purpose? Did you want to ruin my night so badly?”
He approaches me, and I stand my ground. I’m not going to let him intimidate me. “Listen to me, Ares, it was an accident. I ordered shots for me, and your brother thought they were for him. Since he’s not used to it, he got drunk on basically nothing.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“Whether you believe me or not, I don’t care, I’m telling you the truth.”
“The little girl has character,” he says in a mocking tone.
“I’m not a little girl, and unless you’re going to apologize for yelling at me and coming into my room like that, I don’t want to talk to you. Go away.”
“Apologize?”
“Yes.”
Ares sighs but says nothing, so I speak again. “Your brother isn’t going to come back to life any time soon, so I suggest you let him sleep, and then come and get him in the morning.”
“Let him sleep with you? Over my dead body.”
“You sound like a jealous boyfriend.”
“You wish.”
He approaches me, and I watch him cautiously. “What are you doing?”
Ares takes my hand and brings it to his face, pressing his soft lips against my skin. “Apologizing.” He kisses the inside of my hand, his eyes fixed on mine. “I’m sorry, Raquel.”
I want to scream at him and tell him that an apology is not enough, but that gentle gesture, and the honesty in his eyes when he says it, disarms me. My anger melts away and that tingling in my stomach that I always feel when I’m around Ares returns.
I pull my hand from his. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
Ares shrugs his shoulders. “No, I only know how to admit my mistakes.”
I walk away from him because my stupid mind is having a flashback to when I left him hot and bothered in the bar. Don’t think about that now! I pretend to check on Apolo and fix the sheet covering him. Ares moves to the other side of the bed, and I watch him take off his shoes.
“What the hell are you doing?”
He says nothing, finishes with his shoes, and starts unbuttoning his shirt.
“Ares!”
“You don’t expect me to leave him in this state, do you?” He makes puppy eyes at me that take my breath away. “Besides, it wouldn’t be appropriate . . . if you slept with a man alone.”
“And it’s appropriate for me to sleep with two?”
Ares ignores my question and takes off his shirt.
Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin of Abdominals!
The blood rushes to my cheeks and I turn as red as a tomato. Ares has another tattoo on his lower abdomen and on the left side of his chest. His fingers touch the button of his pants.
“No! If you take off your pants, you sleep on the floor.”
Ares gives me a crooked smile. “Are you afraid of not being able to control yourself?”
“Of course not.”
“So?”
“Just leave them on.”
He raises his hands in obedience. “As you say. Come, time for bed, Witch.”
I struggle not to look at him. Ares is shirtless in my room. This is too much for me. He lies down in the middle of my bed and leaves enough room for me near the edge. I’m thankful that I have a big bed and Apolo is curled up in the corner, otherwise there’s no way we could all fit. Nervously, I lie down on my back next to Ares, who watches me with amusement. I stare up at the ceiling without moving a muscle. I can feel his body heat against my arm. I’m going to die of sexual tension. I take my pillow and put it between the two of us for a sense of protection.
Ares laughs. “A pillow? Really?”