Samy hugs me from behind. “Raquel!”
I let go of her embrace and turn around. “Samy!”
“I think we’ve had too much to drink,” she says, and I nod. “You’re very nice!”
“You too.”
“I need to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“When we were playing, you drank when you asked about kissing someone in the group.” She pauses. “I know it’s obvious, but did you kiss Ares?”
Okay, drunk or not, I’m not ready for that question.
Samy gives me a sad smile. “That silence says it all. Do you . . . do you have something with him?”
“Samy . . .”
“No, no, I’m sorry, don’t answer that. I’m being intrusive.”
I’m feeling uncomfortable, but at the same time, I identify with her so much. “You . . . and he . . .”
She shakes her head. “I’m just a cliché, you know, the girl who falls in love with her best friend.”
“If you two have something, I would never stand in the way.”
I’m being honest, I would never interfere in anyone’s relationship. I may have very little dignity left, but would I be the other woman? Never.
Samy takes my hand. “He and I have nothing, so stop looking guilty.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t even know what I’m apologizing for.”
“Ares is . . . difficult, you know, he’s been through a lot.” She takes a drink from her glass. “Somehow, I thought I’d be the girl who would change him. After all, I’m the only one he’s ever let in, the one he’s told so many things to, and revealed parts of himself he hasn’t let anyone else see. But the fact that he trusts me doesn’t mean he’s in love with me. I understood that too late.”
I can hear the pain in her voice. She’s definitely not a bad person—she’s just a girl who fell in love with a guy who didn’t feel the same way, like me.
“I think we have something in common. A broken heart.”
“He likes you, Raquel, a lot, and he probably doesn’t know how to handle it because it’s never happened to him before.”
“I don’t think so. He’s made it very clear that he’s not interested in me,” I say.
“Ares is really complex, just like Artemis. They’re boys being raised by absent parents who have always prioritized business and money over them. Tonight is a good example. Here we are having a party in their house, and they’re nowhere to be found. His dad is probably on a business trip, and his mom? Having fun with other high-profile ladies in town somewhere. His parents have always made it clear to them that having feelings is a weakness. It’s giving another person power over you.”
“And why is Apolo different?”
“When Apolo was born, Grandpa Hidalgo moved here for a while. He was the one who raised Apolo with a lot of love and patience. He tried to instill that in the two older boys, but they were already grown up and living through things they shouldn’t have been living at that age.”
“Like what?”
“That’s not my story to tell, sorry.”
“You’ve told me a lot. How do you know all this?”
“I grew up with them. My mom is close friends with their mother, and she would always drop me off here when she had things to do.”
“Samy! The driver is here. Let’s go!” the boys shout. Gregory, Luis, and Marco are drying off beside the pool, staggering back and forth.
“I’m coming!” Samy gives me a short hug, breaks away, and smiles at me. “You’re a good person, so don’t think I’m mad at you or anything because of Ares, okay?” She jumps out of the pool, and I’m left in the warm water. The lights are off, but the torches around the pool are burning softly in the darkness.
I smile back. “Okay.”
I watch them leave. Apolo walks behind them, mumbling something about seeing them out. I realize it’s time for me to leave too. My eyes scan the pool, and I freeze when I see Ares at the other end, his arms outstretched on the edge of the pool, facing me. We’re alone. And from the way he’s looking at me, I know he plans to take advantage of that.
Have you ever tried to run in the water? It’s freaking hard. Since when did the edge of the pool get so far away from me? Nervously, I glance back to see where Ares is, and he’s gone.
Shit! He’s coming from underwater! I’m being hunted!
I reach the edge and grip it tightly to lift myself out of the pool, but I’m only halfway there when strong hands grab my hips, pulling me down roughly. Ares presses me against the pool wall. I feel his hot breath brushing the back of my neck. “Are you trying to escape, Witch?”
I swallow, trying to free myself. “It’s late, I have to go. I . . .”
Ares sucks on my earlobe while his hands squeeze my hips gently. “You what?”
I make the huge mistake of turning in his arms, my hormones screeching at the sight in front of me. The Greek god all wet, his soaked hair sticking to the sides of his face, his creamy skin looking flawless, and those infinite blue eyes reminding me of the sky at dawn. His lips look so kissable.
I try to think of all the damage he has done to me with his words, with his actions, but it’s so hard to focus with him this close. Ares caresses the side of my face. The action puzzles me. It doesn’t seem like something he would do.
“Stay with me tonight.”
That surprises me, but my absent dignity finally appears and takes over. “I’m not going to be that girl you use whenever you want, Ares.”
“I don’t expect you to be.” He sounds honest, and he seems so different, like he’s tired of being an arrogant jerk.
“Then don’t ask me to stay.”
He gets closer, his thumb still stroking my cheek. “Just stay, we don’t have to do anything, I’m not going to touch you if you don’t want me to, just . . .” He sighs. “Stay with me, please.”
The vulnerability in his expression disarms me. My heart and my dignity are at war.
What can I do?
TWENTY-ONE
The Game
My reflection in the mirror gives me a disapproving look, as if judging me. I sigh.
What am I doing? Why did I decide to stay? I shouldn’t be here.
But how could I say no? He asked me with those puppy eyes, a clear plea on his face. No one can judge me, not even my reflection. Having the guy you’re crazy for, all wet and sexy, begging you to stay with him, is too much. The alcohol clouding my brain isn’t helping either. Besides, my mom’s not home, so I won’t get into trouble.
I shake out my wet hair and dry it with a towel. I’ve already showered, abandoning my wet dress for a shirt that Ares loaned me. In his bathroom. I can’t believe I’m here in the bathroom attached to his room. I feel like I’m invading his privacy. It’s spotless. The white ceramic shines. I’m afraid to touch anything and ruin the tidiness.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I tug at the bottom of Ares’s shirt, trying to cover myself as much as possible. Underneath I’m wearing a pair of his boxers. They’re very loose, but it was either wear these or stay wet and freeze. For an instant I wonder if I can stay here, in the bathroom, but I know I can’t.
Ares didn’t say much after we left the pool. He let me use his bathroom, saying he would use the one down the hall. For some strange reason I know he’s already back, waiting for me in his room.
You can do it, Raquel. He promised not to touch you. If you don’t want him to . . .
That’s the problem, I do want him to. I want to kiss him again, to feel him against me again, and I know I shouldn’t. Why does knowing we shouldn’t do something always make us want to do it more? Why did I say yes? Now I’m in the lion’s den. Determined to get on with it, I open the bathroom door and step out.
The room is illuminated by a single small lamp. It’s large and surprisingly tidy. Ares is sitting on the bed, shirtless, with his back against the headboard and a bottle of tequila in his hand. His eyes meet mine, and he smiles at me. “You look good in my shirt.”
Don’t smile like that! Can’t you see you’re melting my heart?
I smile back at him and stand there in the semidarkness, not knowing what to do.