She has a very nice smile.
I use the people walking by as a shield to watch her. Her face is so expressive, it’s as if I can tell exactly what she’s thinking just by looking at her.
What are you doing, Ares?
My conscience reproaches me, but I’m just curious.
She sighs and sits behind the table, defeated. She grimaces in frustration, and finally her face fills with sadness, and I don’t like it. It makes me uncomfortable to see her sad. I haven’t even spoken to her, and it already affects me this way.
You haven’t sold anything, curious eyes?
I look around for someone I know, and I find a boy who sometimes goes to our soccer field to practice with us. I give him money to buy all the bracelets she has on the table. I stand and watch from a distance as Raquel’s expression changes from pure sadness to disbelief to happiness and excitement. She thanks the guy a bunch of times and passes him a bag with the bracelets.
The boy brings me the bracelets and leaves while I stand there, bag in one hand, staring at the curious girl whose smile I enjoy watching.
“Ares?”
I return to the moment. Apolo furrows his brows, waiting for a response to something I didn’t hear. His eyes go from me to Raquel, and everything seems to click in his mind.
“She’s really got you bad.”
I don’t bother to deny it, and Dean shakes his head as he puts his hand on Apolo’s shoulder.
“We’ve lost him.”
“I know, and you still have me to thank. It’s all thanks to me.”
“Shhh!” I silence him because I don’t want him to tell Dean about the beginning of it all. My mind travels easily to another memory:
“You want to me to do what?” Apolo furrows his brows in confusion. I sigh uncomfortably.
“I’ve already explained.”
“But I don’t understand why you need me to do that.”
“Just do it.”
“And you think she’s going to believe me? Ares, she knows we’re wealthy. How can she believe that we don’t have internet, and that we’re stealing hers?”
“She’ll believe you.”
“If you want to talk to her, why don’t you just do it?”
“I don’t want to talk to her,” I say. Apolo raises an eyebrow.
“Really? Why don’t you go up to her and tell her you’re stealing her Wi-Fi?”
“Because I want to prolong this as long as possible, make her suffer a little, she deserves it for stalking me.”
Claudia walks in with a basket of freshly laundered clothes.
“Oh, sibling plotting,” she says, giving us a look. “This is new.”
Apolo doesn’t hesitate to bring her into the conversation even though I gesture at him to shut up.
“Ares wants to use me to talk to the girl next door,” he tells her. Claudia laughs a little.
“Oh really? Do you need new victims, Hidalgo?” she teases. I give them both a murderous look.
“It’s not about that,” I say defensively.
“So, what’s it all about?” she asks, putting the basket on the bed. I ignore her, looking at Apolo.
“Are you going to help me or not?”
Apolo stands up. “Okay, I’ll do it tonight.” And he leaves the room before I can say anything to him.
Claudia arranges my clothes on my shelves in silence, a smile dancing on her lips.
“What?” I ask. “Say it.”
“I have nothing to say.” She keeps smiling.
“Say what you want to say,” I sigh.
She finishes her chore and turns to me, holding the empty basket against her hip.
“I’m glad you finally decided to talk to her.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Claudia licks her lips, smiling. I don’t understand what she finds so amusing.
“We both know you do. It’s been so much fun seeing you two mutually watching each other. I always thought she’d be the one to talk to you first, but, apparently, you couldn’t take it anymore.”
“You’re talking nonsense. Mutually watching each other? As if I needed that.”
Claudia nods. Her face wears an expression of mockery that annoys me a little.
“Whatever you say, Hidalgo, but asking Apolo for help shows how interested you are.”
“You’re crazy, Claudia. It’s not what you think. I just want to teach her a lesson.”
“Since when do you invest your time and energy into teaching a girl a lesson? Why plan it so carefully?”
“I’m not going to have this conversation with you.”
Claudia bows in mockery.
“As you say, sir.”
And she leaves, still smiling.
I smile at that memory as my eyes land on Raquel again. Maybe it took me so long to talk to her, to confront her, because I knew she would be the one to make me feel this way, the one to hold my heart in her hands. Maybe I knew it from the beginning and that’s why I fought against it so hard. Even while keeping my distance, the bag with her handmade bracelets was always under my bed as a physical reminder that the girl who saw me through her window had smiled because of me, and that smile would be etched in my memory forever.
FIFTY-THREE
The Dance
- RAQUEL -
Ares returns as they’re getting ready to sing my birthday song. It was getting late, so we all moved inside the house, and we’re scattered around the living room. I stand in front of the cake, and he stands on the other side of the table. Everyone starts singing while I awkwardly stare at the candles, not knowing where to look. Finally, I focus on those blue eyes, and the voices fade around me. He looks so beautiful in the dark, with the lights from the candles on my cake illuminating his face.
I love you . . .
I want to say it, but I know there are too many eyes on me.
I blow out the candles, and everyone applauds and congratulates me. Ares takes a step back, disappearing into the crowd. I receive hugs, kisses, and congratulations, while my eyes search for the Greek god without success. Where has he gone? Most of my aunts suffer from cake sickness, which means that when the song is sung and they’ve had a piece of cake, it’s their cue to go to sleep. The party is over for them.
My cousins take advantage of this to put on different music once we’re alone. Whistling and cheering, they start dancing. Camila turns off the rest of the lights, leaving us in almost total darkness, which makes it harder to find Ares.
After checking one side of the “dance floor” without finding him, I pass through the crowd, brushing shoulders and backs. The vibe in this group feels electric, almost sexual. In the middle of them I stop, remembering that night at the club, when Ares watched me from the VIP area like a predator. I remember how I looked for him after that.
I’ve always chased him. I’ve always sought him out. Maybe now it’s his turn to seek me out.
I start dancing, feeling the rhythm, which is soft but so sensual. The lyrics are full of sexual overtures. I don’t normally listen to this kind of music, but it’s fucking catchy and good to dance to.
I feel him before I see him.
His body heat brushes against my back as I keep moving, my hands taking the end of my dress and lifting it up a little, slowly jiggling. The distinctive scent of his cologne reaches me. Even though I know Ares is there behind me, I don’t turn around, I just keep teasing him. His breath caresses the back of my neck, making me bite my lower lip.
His hands fall over mine, pulling my dress up slightly to pull it down again, caressing my thighs in the process, and the brush of his fingers against my skin makes my breathing quicken.
He presses me against him, and I can feel his whole body against mine. He’s the one who always tortures me, and it’s time to give him some of that back. I push my ass against him, rubbing, tempting, up and down, and I’m not surprised at how hard he is. Ares presses his hands over mine, growling into the side of my neck.
He bites my ear gently.
“You’re playing with fire, Witch.”
Well, yes, and I want to burn.