CHAPTER ONE - GAVIN
“HEY, GAV.” A decorator chucked a small package in my direction. “This was left at the office.”
I caught the wrapped box just as the bartender slid a sample of one of the signature drinks for the singles event that night toward me— a pomegranate martini. I took a sip as I read the note on the gift.
Try to behave tonight.
Fucking Styx. I recognized the handwriting—had stared at it on gifts and packages for more than a few millennia, though in this millennia, it was mainly on Valentine’s Day. Of course, this gift was no different. It was from mydearmother. Probably something boring accompanied by a card with instructions to keep my usual mischievous pranks to a minimum, to try not to piss off any more gods than I already had. Though, what was the fun in that?
I tossed the box over my shoulder and into the trash.
“What do you think?” the bartender asked me about the drink.
I took another sip of the sweetened beverage and gave her a nod. “Keep these coming to me later.”
It was Valentine’s Day, my favorite day of the year. I loved this holiday—reveledin everything that it was. After all, the day did feature me on all its marketing ploys and schemes. The old depiction of a cherub holding a bow and arrow seemed to be the favorite. They always got the drawings wrong. No matter how many painters I’d posed for before with suggestions on my true nature, most seemed to like the idea of a small boy, not a grown man.
Imagine the god of desire, a cherub…
I almost rolled my eyes just thinking about it.
I’d grown away from that over the last few decades—from striking strangers with arrows to toy with their emotions, usually in my godly form. Now, I used something much more potent to play games with: a dating app I’d created called Cupid’s Arrow.
Gods, did I love playing with this app. It was so much easier than the old way of doing things.
My phone buzzed in my hand. Another RSVP had been claimed.
Perfect.
I chuckled under my breath at the triumph and pushed my phone into my back pocket, looking up just in time to see the banner for the party being strung across the ceiling.
As if everyone attending the party wasn’t fully aware of the dating app sponsoring it.
“Hey, Av,” I called out to my marketing coordinator.
Avril was standing across the bar room, instructing the two on the bar top whether to go up or down with the banner. She was fantastic at her job and one of my favorite people at the company; a middle-aged woman who actually bantered with me without taking it too seriously. She was always game for any wild ideas I might have.
“Yes, Cupid?” she called back. “You know, you don’t have to be here,” she added.
Every time someone used the name, I had to laugh. No one knew that I was truly Cupid.Eros. The god himself. They all thought they were clever when they gave me the nickname after I’d come up with the elaborate dating app years back.
It was fucking adorable.
Hands in my pockets, I made my way through the sea of tables and chairs to stand by Avril’s side. As I considered the banner again, I reached for a dish of the naughty candy hearts we’d made for the event, then popped one that read ‘DTF’ into my mouth.
“A little up on the left—Sarah, was that a little, really?” Avril was saying.
“Do you think anyone will guess who’s sponsoring the party?” I asked her in a low tone.
Avril glared sideways, her neck craning as she looked up at me from her short stature. “You hate it.”
I popped another heart back. “A little ostentatious,” I said, the corner of my lip lifting just so.
Avril stared at me as though she was ready to punch my face in, and I couldn’t help giving her a crooked smirk, knowing the dimple beneath my short ginger scruff would reveal itself. Her lips twisted at the sight, and she huffed.
“It’s a good thing you’re cute,” she muttered. “Take it down!” Avril announced, and the entire room stood still. But Avril was already gathering up some of the more obnoxious decorations. “Scale it back by half,” she added, her brow raising at me as she snatched up things left and right into a rolling trash bin.
She grabbed one of the bowls of candy hearts, and I grabbed her wrist before she could toss it.
