Page 56 of Rush

And I don’t want to lose him.

And, also, I’m still only wearing a frigging towel in front of both of them.

Sweet Jesus, please take the wheel.

“Hey, man.” Luke stops in front of Ares, who is standing next to me, and smiles at him. “I’m Luke.” He holds his hand out to Ares to shake his.

Ares stares down at Luke’s hand like it’s covered in shit.

For a moment, I think he isn’t going to shake his hand, but then he does.

He takes Luke’s hand and shakes it. “Ares,” he says, voice deep and rough. Shivers fly over my skin at the sound.

“The football player, right?” Luke smiles. “Well, it is good to meet you, man. Ari, I’ll take this through to the kitchen and dish it up.” Then, Luke walks past me and into my apartment, leaving me standing here with Ares.

Who I daren’t look at.

I risk a glance up at him, and his face is like stone. Eyes the bluest I’ve ever seen them. Jaw set like granite.

“I—”

“I guess you won’t be needing this,” he says in a voice that’s colder than a polar bear’s ass. He steps away from me, taking the soup with him.

“Ares—”

He cuts me off with a hollow laugh and a shake of his head, like this is what he was expecting all along…for me to let him down. “God, I’m such a fucking idiot,” he says low.

“No.” The panic in my voice is palpable. “You don’t understand—”

“Save it,” he snaps. “I’m not interested in anything you have to say.” His eyes go over my head and assumedly to Luke. Then, they come back to me, cold and hard. “Enjoy your evening,” he adds bitterly. Then, he’s gone, striding down the hall, jogging down the stairs and out of sight.

And I stand here, my heart beating a painful rhythm in my chest, eyes staring at the empty space where he just was.

Shit.

I’ve messed up bad.

He thinks I lied to him.

You did lie to him, you moron.

Fuck.

I close the door and lean back up against it.

Luke is standing in the kitchen, serving up the food. His eyes lift to mine. “Everything okay?” he asks.

“Yes…no.”

“Want to talk about it?”

It’s my turn to laugh dryly. “No.”

“Okay, but…”

“But what?”

“Well, are you sure you two are just friends?”