“They’re my friends.”
It wasn’t quite a lie, but it wasn’t the truth, either. Erik and Sloan fostered a rocky relationship with me. Ig seemed to offer some advice that might have strayed us into the territory of friendship. And Gray — it was just as complicated as when I first laid eyes on him.
That earned me a laugh from Archer that unsettled my insides.
“So naïve, angel. They aren’t your friends. We’re Gods. We’re always after something.”
I processed the words and blinked. I’d spent most of my time with Grayson and it’d been pretty clear what both of us had wanted, but there were times when he’d slipped into my bed and held me while we talked, and I felt like we’d crossed into a weird friendship.
“You can’t trust them,” Archer said. “They destroy anything that they feel threatens them.”
“I don’t threaten them.”
Arched cupped my face in his hand. “Something about you…”
I shook my head and pulled his hand from my face, but he laced our fingers together.
“It’s nice to have you alone,” he said.
In the back of my mind, I could hear Gray’s voice warning me to stay away.
“I should go,” I told him.
“Is that what you want?”
I nodded, and Archer mimicked the movement.
“Remember what I said. I’ll see you soon.” He kissed my forehead gently before letting me go.
When I opened my eyes, I was nestled in my bed. Had I just dreamed about Archer? Everything had felt so real. His touch felt solid. Why would I dream about him when we’d barely spoken?
Burying my face in the pillow, I decided I needed to spend time away from the Gods. This was getting ridiculous. I’d transitioned from never calling their name to being tangled with the elites in more ways than one.
Gray hadn’t come home from Tyler’s after his shift Friday night, and he hadn’t come home for dinner last night either. But he was free to do what he wanted, even if the house was eerily quiet without him.
It’d been completely foolish of me to assume that things would be plain sailing after agreeing to date Matt. I wanted Gray and I had to maintain the strange relationship we had without the physical aspect and the fact he avoided me to the point he hadn’t come home hurt. A fresh wave of tears stung my eyes, and I swallowed the thick lump that formed in my throat.
Life had to progress. Gray would leave eventually and when he was back in Elysia, he wouldn’t remember the mortal who hosted him. Not when he was surrounded by beauty and grace. I’d become nothing more than a vague memory or the butt of the joke.
A knock on the front door made me finish the bite of cereal before I answered it. A man stood there with two round boxes, and I signed off for them before taking them through to the living room.
When I took the lid off them, I found the brightest yellow tulips I’d ever seen. There must have been a hundred blooms in total, and I blushed at the gesture. I hadn’t received flowers since Ethan.
Pulling my phone off the table, I instantly called Matthew.
“Hey, Quentin,” he answered. “Everything okay?”
“Hey. Yeah, everything’s great. I just wanted to call and say thank you.”
“For what?”
“For the flowers.”
“What flowers?”
“The tulips you sent me.”
“I haven’t sent you any flowers.”
