If I didn’t hear his dismissal of her myself, I would think I was alone in the room it’s so quiet.
“Laura?” Ares’s voice is urgent, the one word somehow more animated than anything he had said to her.
I poke my head up from floor. Ares freezes when his eyes land on me. “What the hell are you doing?” he accuses, rushing over.
Flipping over on my butt, I scoot until my back hits the wall as he quickly approaches me. Ares’s posture stiffens before he resumes walking much slower. “I hid. I don’t think she saw me. I didn’t see her.” My words are rushed. My head tells me I should be feeling guilty, I’m alone in his room with him, but the rest of me is angry that she even knocked on his door, daring to interrupt us.
Ares extends his hand down to me; his brows raised in challenge when I don’t immediately reach for him. Huffing, I let him pull me up from the floor. “I didn’t expect you to hide Laura,” he says it like he’s talking to a child.
“Well how am I supposed to know? Dante just told her he was taking me home.” My voice is rises in agitation. Pulling my hand from his, I brush my shirt down. Ares doesn’t step back after releasing me. My hands go to my hips and I glare up at him, mad at him for all the wrong reasons. “Dante told me she wouldn’t be back here tonight, why was she snooping around?”
Ares crosses his arms over his chest, the left side of his lips tip up in a smug grin. “She was checking on me, I’m obviously in a delicate state.”
An unladylike snort erupts from me. “Delicate my rump.” Ares angles his head around, making it look like he’s checking out my butt. “Why was she really here, I know it’s not because she knows about me being in your Infinity. Dante, Milo, and Ollie made it pretty clear tonight I’m nothing but an obligation.”
Ares drops his arms to his sides. “You’re not an obligation Laura.”
“Yeah, and you guys hiding me like some dirty secret is super telling about where I stand with all of you.” I can’t keep the bite from my words.
“Do you think we want to hide you?” Ares snaps back at me.
“Obviously, you do.” Throwing my hands in the air, I turn my back to him. I don’t want to look at him right now. “I’m used to being ignored, that I can handle. But I can’t deal with this up and down crap. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
I feel the heat of Ares’s hands land on my shoulders. “You belong with us.” His words are edged with conviction, but there’s still so much doubt. I have to make him understand that the connection I’m feeling is more than just a familial bond. Even now I want to lean back into him.
“It’s not the same for me.” I lower my head but don’t step away from him.
“What’s not the same?” He presses closer, the heat of him drawing me in.
“You guys, you’re like a family. I’ve heard you call them your bothers. I don’t feel that way, like you’re my brothers.”
Ares uses his hands on my shoulders to spin me around to face him. “What do you feel?” His voice is pitched low, there’s an urgency behind his words as his eyes search my face.
“It feels like more, like I want more from you, but not just you.” I drop my eyes, ready for him to push me away.
Ares’s fingers graze up my neck and he applies pressure under my chin, encouraging me to look back up at him. I let him direct me but close my eyes.
“Laura,” he whispers, his lips almost on mine. Why is he doing this, I just told him how I feel. Ares’s ghosts his lips over my cheek, stopping when his mouth is at my ear. “I never want you to feel like my sister.” His words are spoken with a soft growl as his arms wrap around my back. “When I kissed you earlier, do you remember me kissing you?” I nod, my throat dry. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“You feel the pull too?”
“It’s not just a pull, it’s so much more than that. It’s like finding a part you didn’t know was missing. Every second I’m with you, this is where I want you.” He tightens his embrace, dragging me closer.