She adjusted her posture, trying not to lose it. “Oh? Where do you hear that?” she asked sweetly.
“Oh, you know…the girls talk outside our locker room. And while you’re at it, you might want to find someone to help you pick out clothes—something from this century. The sixteen-year-old groupies dress better than you.”
Gaia’s mouth gaped open. This wasn’t the guy she was sitting with a moment ago. Before, he was full of compliments. Now, nothing but criticism.
“What are sixteen-year-olds doing outside your locker room—besides discussing fashion?”
He grinned. “Oh, they’re not all sixteen-year-old girls. There are plenty of juicy women just waiting to take a player home.”
“And do you go home with them?”
“If they’re willing…why not?”
“Would you continue to do that even if we’re dating?”
“Sure. If they’re really hot.”
“WTF?” That was an expression she’d heard humans and paranormals use when they were baffled.
He leaned forward. “I’m just being honest. You wouldn’t want me to lie, would you?”
“I—I guess not.”
“Wow. You guess not? You can’t even commit to the importance of honesty? That’s also a red flag.”
“Red flag? What do you mean by that?”
“It means danger. You know. Like at the beach when people should stay out of the water, the lifeguards fly a red flag. Or maybe you haven’t been to the beach lately.” He looked her up and down. “You don’t exactly have a tan and a bikini-ready body. Do you?”
Gaia stood up so abruptly, the table tipped. As far as she was concerned, it didn’t tip quite far enough, so she flipped it, spilling red wine all over his white shirt.
“Fuck!”
“Not with you, that’s for sure.” She stormed out of the restaurant as people stared at her.
Finding a private spot near Mount Olympus, she cried out, “Pan! Get your hairy ass here, right now!”
He appeared, chewing a mouthful of grass. As soon as he’d swallowed, he said, “Yes, my Goddess?”
“You ruined my date, didn’t you?”
“Ruined it? Oh dear. I meant to improve it. Didn’t you want to know what your date was really thinking?”
“No. And how did you do it, anyway?”
“Just a tiny truth spell.”
“Well, spell this… B-U-C-K-O-F-F!”
His back heels left the grass involuntarily, and before they hit the ground again, he disappeared. She didn’t like to manipulate her gods, but this one needed to be reminded who had power over whom. He needed to be punished.
Unfortunately, she heard him laughing from the ether.Gaaah! Gods are so hard to control!
* * *
“Fate, what were you thinking?” Gaia shouted.
Fate entered the ether and sighed. “Why don’t we go somewhere, and you can tell me what happened?”
