“Aurora?”
“She’s our friend.” Ares shrugs.
“No. Do you like,likeher?” I sound pathetic, but how much lower can I look to him? He’s already seen me at my worst and he’s still here.
Ares laughs and shakes his head. “No.”
“I thought you did,” I admit. “It’s why I invited her. I thought maybe if she were there, you’d focus on her and not me.”
Ares looks at me again. “There is no one you could have brought to that party to take my focus off you.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know why. But you’re under my skin. You’re stuck with me, Zara,” he says.
“You can be friends with anyone, Ares. You don’t need to be my friend,” I tell him.
“I don’t usually let my friends kiss and dry-hump me in libraries, Zara.”
My cheeks flame at the memory. It was a really good kiss. I haven’t touched him since. “It was a momentary lapse of judgement. It shouldn’t have happened,” I say, not believing a single word.
“Sure.” Ares smirks. “I don’t mind, you know. If you want to use me like that, I’ll be a willing participant.”
“Good to know. Where are we?” I glance around the garage we just drove into.
“We have an apartment here. No one uses it. Come on, we can watch a movie or something until you want to go home.”
This is wrong. So, so wrong. And still, I open the door and climb out of his car. I let Ares take hold of my hand and lead me over to the lift.
I follow him into an apartment and then down a hall into a bedroom. He turns on the lights and dims them before picking up a controller and flicking on the television. “Pick something. I’m going to get you a drink.”
I take the remote and sit on the edge of the bed. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do here. Where am I supposed to sit? I’m in an empty apartment with Ares De Bellis.
I’m suddenly nervous and even more self-conscious than I usually am. I look down at what I’m wearing, a pink-and-white striped skirt that ends mid-thigh and a white blouse. I kick off my ballet flats and then stop.
What am I doing? I can’t get comfortable here.
Ares returns with two glasses. “Water or orange juice?” he asks.
“Cinque would be better.” I smile.
He blinks at me. “I’m not giving you alcohol, Zara.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t need it.”
“How would you know what I do or don’t need? I’m capable of making choices for myself, Ares.”
“Yeah? Like driving head-first into a fucking tree? Those kinds of choices, Zara?” he yells at me.
I blink, fighting the tears. I will not cry right now. “Yes, those choices.”
“No.” He shakes his head.
“What do you meanno?”
“Exactly that—no. That’s not your choice to make. Your life isn’t just yours anymore, Zara McKinley. It’s also mine, and I’m not letting you or anyone else fucking take it away. So, no, you don’t get to drink. You don’t get to use drugs either. Get used to it, because we’re going to deal with whatever this is together from now on. You are not alone.”
