“I came to see you.”
“Well, you saw me. I gotta go.” I turn on my heel and start walking back to my friends. Ares grabs my arm, turning me toward him again.
“Hey, wait.” His eyes inspect my face, as if he were analyzing every detail. “You’re mad at me.”
“No.”
“Yes, you are.” He gives me that crooked smile of his. “You look cute when you’re angry.”
I stop breathing for a second. What am I supposed to say to that?
Be strong, Raquel. Think about that time you decided to give up chocolate because it gave you so much acne; it was hard, but you did it.
Ares is chocolate.
—You don’t want acne.
But it’s so delicious.
—Acne hurts!
Arguing with myself and not knowing what to say, I just smile.
“I’m sorry, Witch. It was quite a week.” His smile fades. “Quite a complicated one.”
His playful countenance disappears and is replaced by a sadness that he seems to be struggling to hide. I want to ask him what happened, but I have a feeling he won’t tell me.
“It’s okay, you don’t owe me any explanations. We’re just friends after all.”
Watching his face, I regret the words the moment they come out of my mouth. He looks hurt and that was not my intent, I just wanted to make a joke to ease the tension. Ares licks his lips, as if trying to overlook what I just said.
“Actually, I came looking for you. I want to go out with you today.”
“I already have plans. I’m sorry.”
“With them?” Ares glances behind me.
“Yeah, we’re going to celebrate passing an exam.”
Ares raises an eyebrow. “And you don’t usually pass?”
Not with such a high score as today.
“Hey, it’s not that, it’s just. . . . It’s Friday. You know, we make up any reason to celebrate.”
“Can’t you make up an excuse and come with me?”
“No, you should have asked me in advance.”
“Raquel!” Carlos shouts my name. Ares looks him over, from head to toe.
“Who’s he?”
“A friend. Really, I have to go.” Clinging to my self-control, I give him one last smile and walk away.
I’m about to catch up with my friends when Ares joins me. I give him a strange look. “What are you doing?”
“I’m coming with you,” he informs me as if it were a fact. “I’m your ‘friend,’” again he makes those quotation marks with his fingers, “so I may as well be part of a friends’ celebration.”
I narrow my eyes and open my mouth to protest, but Ares steps forward to greet Dani. He introduces himself to Carlos, giving him a firm handshake. Dani gives me a what-the-hell look, and I answer her with a confused shrug.
“Where are we going?” Ares asks, smiling, his charisma on full display. Dani smiles back.
“We thought about going to the café on Main Street.”
“You celebrate with coffee?” he asks, giving us a confused look.
Dani arches an eyebrow. “Yes. Any problem with that?”
He raises his hands. “No, none, but I have alcohol at my house.”
Ha! Trying to take me to your territory, Greek God? Nice try.
“Really?” Carlos asks, his face lighting up.
Ares nods, finding an ally. “Yes, and very good quality.”
Carlos looks at us. “Shall we go?”
Dani and I exchange glances, but she saves the day.
“No, thank you. We prefer coffee.”
Carlos pouts. “But . . .” Dani grabs his arm, digging her nails into it. “Ow! Coffee! Yes, coffee is better.”
Ares looks disappointed. “Well, I guess I’ll have to drink alone with Apolo.”
“Apolo?” Dani looks at him suddenly.
“Yes, he must be so lonely at home.” He puts his hands in his jacket pockets.
Dani hesitates, and I can see that now she really wants to go to Ares’s house. He bought Carlos with alcohol, and Dani with Apolo. I must admit that his moves are good. Dani doesn’t say anything, keeping her eyes on the ground. I know she won’t say she wants to go, because she’ll put our friendship first, as usual. She’s leaving the decision in my hands, and that’s why I love her so much.
Carlos and Dani want to go, and I’ll feel like the bad guy if I say no. Ares knows that. He’s very good at manipulation but not at making things right with me. That’s where his brain fails him.
“All right, let’s go with him.” I surrender.
My house is behind the Hidalgos’. I just have to go with them, wait until they’re comfortable, and then leave. It sounds like an easy plan, but every time I’ve gone to Ares’s house, we’ve ended up in bed together. But there’s something inside me that tells me this time will be different.
See it as a challenge, Raquel.
On the way to Ares’s house, I call my mom to tell her that I’m going to study with Dani at a café. The tension between us has dropped a bit, but I still have to let her know where I am from time to time.
The car smells of him, and, although I try to ignore what his closeness does to me, my body can’t control its reactions. Carlos keeps talking about everything he sees, and Dani rearranges her hair when she thinks no one is looking.
A smiling Apolo comes out and waves at us when we arrive, looking so cute with his messy hair. He’s wearing a loose unbuttoned plaid shirt, revealing a white T-shirt underneath, and jeans.
“Hey, kid,” Carlos greets him. “Do you live here?”
“He’s my brother,” Ares explains.
Claudia, the red-haired maid, comes down the stairs carrying an empty basket.
“Good evening,” she says. We all return the greeting politely.
Ares asks her in a gentle voice, “Claudia, can you make some drinks and take them to the playroom, please?”
Oh no, not the playroom.
Is he doing it on purpose?
I look at him for a second, and his mischievous grin tells me yes.
Dani and Apolo greet each other awkwardly, and I wonder what’s been going on between those two. We all go into the playroom, and it’s much the same as I remember it: the big TV, the different video game consoles, the couch . . . the couch where I lost my virginity.
The passion, the wildness, the sensations. His lips on mine, his hands all over my body, the friction of our naked bodies. Unconsciously, my fingers touch my lips. I miss him, and it’s torture to have him so close while having to keep the distance between us.
“Remembering something?” His voice brings me back to reality, and I lower my hand as fast as I can.
“No.” My eyes search for the others, who are turning on the console and setting everything up while laughing at something Carlos said.
“Don’t lie.” He gets a little closer. “I remember that night when you came in here too.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I feign disinterest and step aside to join the group.
As I pass by him, he takes my arm and stops me.
“Every time I sit on that couch, I remember you: naked, virginal, wet for me.”
I swallow thickly, shaking him off.
“Stop saying such things.”
“Why? Are you afraid you’ll get excited and let me fuck you again?”
I say nothing and walk away from him. Suddenly it’s hot in here.
Virgin of Abs, why do you make it so difficult for me?
“Are you okay, princess?” Carlos asks me when I join the group again. “You’re all red.”
“Princess?” Ares asks, reaching us. Carlos grins like a fool.
“Yes, she is my princess, the owner of this humble heart.”
And that’s how the most uncomfortable minute of the day begins, in silence. Ares tenses up, clenching his jaw. Dani and I look at each other, not knowing what to say. Carlos keeps smiling innocently. Finally, Apolo notices the tension.
“That’s funny, Carlos.”
“Let’s get started.” Dani changes the subject.
Surprisingly, Ares plays along. “Sure, how about if Carlos and I have the first duel?”
Carlos points to Ares and then to himself. “You and me?”
“Yes, but a duel without a prize is no fun.”
“What’s the prize?” Carlos asks excitedly.
“If you win, you can take three original games from my collection.” Ares looks at me, and I expect the worst.