for what she was about to do next. But she was all about making the right choices in her life right now. Making sure she wasn’t creating something out of absolutely nothing ever again. That hurt too much.
“Can we take a walk?”
“You bet. Lemme grab my coat.”
Slipping out her apartment door, she waited for him at the top of the steps. Seeing his handsome face and thickly muscled body coming up the stairs made her throat tighten.
Quinn headed toward the small park he’d found her in the other night, aimlessly walking as the sun began to set and she attempted to gather up the courage to say what she had to say. To really live in reality for the first time.
She stopped at the park’s entry and looked up at him in all his perfection. His smooth olive skin, his eyes, warm and brown with gold flecks. Those lips she’d savored like a fine wine last night.
“Wanna tell me what’s up?”
No. No, she didn’t. But she would. So she’d never get swept up in her daydreaming again. “I think I’m going to be okay now.”
He grinned. “Of course you will. You matched your ex and his new girlfriend today. Nothing says okay like that.”
Quinn shook her head, burying her chin in her scarf to keep the tears from falling. “No. I mean about being Aphrodite. I think I can handle it now. On…alone. On my own.”
His gaze deepened, his eyes swirled with emotion. “Is this about last night?”
She put her cold fingers to his lips and gulped. “Don’t say anything about last night. Please. It was amazing and wonderful, and despite the fact that I matched Igor today, I’m still a little raw. Maybe even a little unsure of my personal choice-making skills right now. But I’ll never regret what happened between us, Khristos. Not ever. You’ve taught me so much about myself and love and given me insight into a million different things. I’m just not in the right head space…”
“I get it,” he said—the very words she knew he’d speak.
Her pulse throbbed in her ears. If this was the right thing, if she was basing her new choices in smarter life journeys to avoid crashing and burning for the umpteenth time, why did it feel so differently than it had with any other breakup?
Why did it feel like her chest would explode and she’d never be the same if she didn’t spend at least some part of her day with Khristos? She hardly knew him. Incredible sex wasn’t the only kind of glue holding a relationship together.
Maybe this was what doing the right thing felt like—and it sucked.
Grabbing his hand on impulse, she looked up at him and forced a smile. “You were the best teacher ever. But you have a life I know you want to get back to—even if it isn’t really filled with leggy blondes and big yachts. You’re free now. You deserve the chance to live without the apple around your neck like some monkey on your back. I can handle this alone now, I think. We knew that was what would happen eventually, right?”
“That was the plan,” he said quietly, his voice eerily tight.
“And I’ve already asked Nina and the rest of the girls if they’ll stay with me in case these bad guys we haven’t heard from since I was knocked on my ass show up. You said yourself; we don’t have any super-strength or whatever to protect me. So if someone’s still coming for me, why should you be in the line of fire?”
“Quinn—”
“No!” she almost shouted then pulled back and inhaled a steadying breath. “Don’t say anything else. I can always get in touch with you if I find myself with a question. Just go enjoy your freedom, Khristos. Besides, before long, I’m sure we’ll see each other around on the forums or maybe even at a virgin sacrifice,” she teased.
Throwing her arms around his neck, she hugged him hard, savoring his scent, memorizing the way his hands felt at her waist.
She took a step away and smiled. “I’m gonna go get some of that amazing pizza Arch was talking about. We goddesses need our fuel. See you back at my place for one last dinner before you set your charge free on the world at large?”
He stared at her for a moment as snow began to fall, wreathing his body in shimmering white. “You bet,” he murmured.
And then she turned and began to walk, trying to keep from running