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“She was in my bed again.” Ares selects the right words to use in a measured tone. He always fucking does this, and we let him because we are all monsters here. The difference is we let our demons show, whereas his are on the inside—but he is a monster nonetheless. “It was a physical response, a natural progression of the situation we were in. It doesn’t need to be made into something it wasn’t.”
“A natural progression,” I repeat in disbelief.
“Correct.” He takes a sip of his coffee. “It was an isolated incident. She is a grown woman who made her choice, so I do not see why this requires a debriefing.”
“Because this morning she walked out of your room looking like she wanted to put her fist through a wall,” I say, gritting my teeth. “And now you’re standing here talking about an isolated incident.”
“She was fine.”
“She was not fine.”
“Clay,” Ares warns, looking at me and then at Vero.
“She wasn’t fucking fine, Ares. And that says a lot coming from me.”
I hold his gaze, and he holds mine, and I see the moment that he is done engaging.
Vero must see it as well because he jumps up from the table. He has been quiet this entire time, and Vero doesn’t do quiet. He stares at Ares, his expression flat, and the Vero that we all love but all want to strangle is not there. “You made her feel like shit,” Vero snaps. “Didn’t you?”
“Vero,” Ares says in a voice he reserves just for him. “I think you’re reading too much—”
“Don’t you fucking dare use that voice on me!” Vero takes a step toward him. “I know what that voice is for, and I know what you do with it. Don’t you dare do it right now.”
Ares says nothing, which is worse than if he had kept talking.
“She is not an isolated incident.” Vero’s voice cracks. “She is a person, and she is our person.” He says our and not his, which means he is attached.
I won’t lie and say I don’t like having her around too. She challenges me in a way no one else ever has, and I think I like it.
“You want to sit there and talk in your robot voice, but you made her feel like she is nothing, and you knew exactly what you were doing when you did it,” Vero finishes.
“I didn’t intend—”
Vero cuts him off again. “You always intend what you want everyone to not notice or forget. You are so good at being the good guy and saying the right thing to make everyone feel safe. Every single thing you do is on purpose.”
Ares looks at Vero, and I see his walls come down a little, but it lasts all of two seconds before he straightens up and it’s gone again. “I’ll speak to her.”
“No, you won’t. Not until you figure out what you really want to say to her—not this bullshit you hide behind. Rehearsed bullshit is not good enough for Kayla. It’s okay to have feelings, even if they scare the shit out of you. Ares, you can pretend all you like, but I know deep down there is some part of you that feels. Kayla is smart enough to see right through you, so some lame-ass explanation will not cut it this time. I have always known who you are, and I love you anyway, the same way as you see me and love me.”
Brawley tenses, but he keeps quiet, even though every fiber of his being wants to murder Ares because Vero mentioned him and love in the same sentence.
Then Vero storms out of the kitchen with a huff.
Brawley watches him go, then looks at Ares and shakes his head. “You better fix it, because you have caused this spiral. When someone gets hurt, it’s on you. Deny it all you like, but if Kayla didn’t call to you, there is no way you would have agreed to wear that wristband, whether or not you fucked her while wearing it.”
Brawley pushes back and stands, following Vero.
I grab my keys off the counter and leave Ares to think about what he has done.
The bar is quiet, with just enough people to give me something to look at while I take up the end stool. Nobody sits here because it faces the door, and most people don’t want to watch who comes in, but I do.
Rogue gives me the look when she brings my drink over, the one that says: “You better not cause any trouble, or I will mess up your pretty face.” It’s exactly what she told me the last time I was here.
Kayla is behind the bar, but she doesn’t acknowledge me when I sit down, which is fine. I don’t need her to; I simply watch her work. She is good at her job, and she has packed whatever happened this morning down somewhere it doesn’t show.
My phone buzzes and I flip it over to read the text in case it’s one of my sisters.
Vero
