Ares shakes his head immediately. “No, it’s me. A dark part of myself.”
“It looked like you were talking to someone,” I insist.
His brow furrows. “Not like what you’re thinking, it freaked me outthatI hurt you, I lost control of my powers, didn’t even realize I was influencing both of us. There was a part of me that was aware, that darker part of me, but instead of reining the powers in, it was like he was pulling all the energy from the room totry tobe there for you.”
“You keep talking about him like he’s someone else, but saying he’s not.” I give him the side-eye, is he keeping something from me?
“I can’t explain it, it’s a part of me. The same way that Dante is the tiger, but this part of me doesn’t have a form. It’s all instinct and power,” he promises, his words pleading with me to understand.
I settle myself in closer and tuck my head under hischin. I don’t quite understand, but I know through the connection of our bond he’s not lying to me. Ares wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head. The heavy feeling of worry lessens as I breathe in his scent and feel his warmth against me. My eyes grow weighty, but I know I need to get up and shower. It’s been well over an hour since we disappeared, I can’t believe no one has come looking for us.
“I need to get up.” I yawn around the words.
“No, you don’t. I’ll text them and tell them you fell asleep.” Ares’s voice is just as sleepy as mine, maybe more so.
“We can’t do that, we’re supposed to be talking about the party.” I don’t have it in me to call it a ceremony.
Ares grumbles and flops his arm out to the side. “You get up first.”
“No, you get up first.”
“You’re laying on me,” he splutters, sounding indignant.
“Well, then move me.”
“I don’t want to.” Heactuallypouts.
I groan but push off his chest and look down at him. He looks adorable, eyes all soft and sleepy, hair a mess from my hands. A smile curves my lips. He’s mine, and nothing will ever change that.
“What’s so funny?” He returns my grin.
I lay my chin in his chest, still gazing up at him like a lovesick fool, but that’s exactly what I am. “I’m just happy, I love you.”
His eyes flare wide and he snags my arms, bringing me up to his face. “I love you too.”
Chapter 15
After a quick shower I head toward the kitchen, my hand tucked inside Ares’s palm. The nerves I ignored earlier are back. What if someone says something about us being gone for so long? What if oneof the guys realized what we were doing and gets mad? I shuffle my feet, debating if I should release his hand, but not wanting to lose the connection either.
I can hear them chatting before we get to the door, and Ares gives my hand a gentle squeeze but doesn’t slow his pace. We round the doorway and a few heads turn in our direction. I scan the guys’faces, but none of them look irritated at our disappearance. Ollie lifts his hand in a wave. “Hey, cometake alook at these.” He doesn’t miss a beat, acting as if Ileft ten minutes ago instead of the hour and a halfwe’ve reallybeen gone.
I release Ares’s hand and head over to Ollie. He’s pointing at an open laptop on the island. Pulling back the empty chair next to him, I take a seat with my eyes glued to the screen. There’s a list of several food options, everything from beef wellington to chicken caprice. In another column are several options for sides, such as risottos and a few I’m not even familiar with.
“What do you think, which ones sounds good?” Ollie grabs my hand and laces our fingers together under the counter. I’m so grateful for his easy acceptance, so I follow his lead and dive right into the project at hand.
“How many entrées are we picking?” I know from my experience working at restaurants that banquets always havemore than one option for entrées.
“At least one protein from each category,” Rosa answers, her voice light. When I look up her eyes are on Ares and she has a wide smile on her lips. I look back at the laptop, a blush staining my cheeks.
The chair next to mine pulls back, and I know without lookingit’s Dante. He bumps his head against mine while taking the seat. I reach for him with my free hand once he’sseated. I scan the list again. “I haven’t triedvery many of these, what do you guys think?” I look up and make sure Milo knows I’m including him. He’s near his parents, and they take up entire sofa with him sitting on the arm.
He gives a lazy shrug, “I think we should just keep it simple. Chicken chevre, filet mignon, and lobster.”
“We need a vegetarian option. And what aboutpeople who areallergic to shellfish, maybe we should add another fish option?” Rosa interjects.
“Why don’t youjusthave themorder from the full menu, every time we pick something you keep adding more anyway?” Dante retorts, his tone suggesting that this isn’t the first time they’ve had this discussion.
“Two from each category, including vegetarian. The sides will be à la carte, with three salads and a dessert bar,” Ares comments as he walks over to stand near the fireplace, where his fathers are both seated in the large chairs, with Rosa draped across Mal’s lap.
