Way to hold it together, Bri.
Panic set through him as he realized that she indeed remembered who he was, and had obviously mentioned him by name to her friend.
But the uncertainty of if it was a good mention or a terrible one caused an influx of anxiety to swell in his stomach.
The woman Athena had addressed as Callie shifted her demeanor, her eyebrows raising and a smirk forming on her lips.
“Well, well, guess fate is on our side today,” Callie said smoothly.
The man behind Athena grunted, and the sound made Brian alert. He shifted his gaze to the man.
“And you are...” he said, his voice pitching an octave if only out of anxiety.
“Name’s Mars,” he bit.
“Like the planet?” Brian asked.
“No, like the God of War,” Mars said with a look that was as dark as the night and made Brian’s skin crawl.
But being both an expert in mythology and socially awkward, he couldn’t help himself from word vomiting his area of knowledge, despite the fact the man looked like he could bench press him.
“Technically, Ares is the God of War. Mars was only adapted into Roman mythology later, and he was less a God of War and more a God of militarial strategy and agriculture,” he said in a hurry, his gaze drifting to the beautiful woman he couldn’t quite stop staring at.
“Basically, Ares was problematic, so the Romans finessed him a bit to be more like the Goddess Athena.” Brian felt a flush in his cheeks as Athena smiled seductively.
“Is that so?” she asked, her voice like silk.
Brian nodded.
“Yeah, mythology is kind of... my thing,” he said as he cleared his throat, addressing Callie once more. “There were a few books on some ritualistic practices in the rare books, but unfortunately they aren’t available. I think they were pulled for the big exhibit, but I’m not a hundred percent. My dad doesn’t keep the best records, or organization.” He was rambling, but he couldn’t quite stop himself. In the presence of Athena and her friends, he felt strangely on trial.
Mars growled, and it almost looked as if his eyes wereglowinggold.
Which just wasn’t possible.
People’s eyes didn’t glow.
Brian breathed a sigh as he realized he must be in desperate need of a coffee if he was hallucinating such things, and vowed to pick one up on his way to the hospital.
The hospital!
“Yeah, it’s a whole exhibit about magic and mythology and how they’re connected,” he said as he tugged the leather bag close.
“Interesting,” Callie said as she narrowed her eyes.
“I, uh... Listen, it’s been swell running into you all, but I really have to go...”
Mars scoffed from behind Athena, and the sight made Brian’s blood rush. Never in his life had he wanted to deck someone so much.
Clearly, she can do better.
“Right, of course,” Calliope said with a smile as Athena took a step forward.
“Need some company?” she asked.
Brian looked up in her sparkling grey eyes, feeling on the edge of a precipice. All doubt faded away with the world when he looked at her, and he was torn.
He barely knew this woman, yet he had the oddest feeling that he’d known her forever.
