“Do what, exactly?” Ares prompts, his fingers still rubbing my neck.
“How do you deal with the jealousy, or do you not have it? Are you like programmed differently? If that’s the case, I think I’m broken.” My is voice laced with heartache.
Ares’s palm slides up to my cheek and, looking into my eyes, he urges, “Tell me what happened?”
I look away, what do I even say? Dante kissed another girl, I’m hurt, but I want to kiss all of you? “If you don’t tell me, I’ll ask him. He’ll be out in about five minutes,” he warns.
I hold off for a few seconds, but eventually break down and tell him. I need to talk to someone. “It’s just hard. I don’t like thinking about you guys with other girls. How are you guys okay with me being with other people?”
“What other people?” Ares's voice takes on a disbelieving edge. “Is that Charlie kid still sniffing around?”
“What? No. I’m taking about Dante and Delaney.” Why is he even bringing up Charlie?
“Delaney? Dante told you he wasn’t with her. She was just trying to mark territory.”
“Yeah, well, he also just told me he kissed her.” I wrap my arms over my stomach feeling the need to protect myself.
“No, no, he didn’t,” Ares objects, like I’m crazy for even suggesting it.
“Believe me, I know what he said. But how can I be upset with him when I kissed you last night?”
Ares places his finger under my chin, turning me to face him. “Listen to me, Laura. I have no idea what this shit with Delaney is about, but that isn’t anything like what happens between us.” His eyes search mine.
“How isn’t it? Do you know Milo has kissed me, not like you kiss me, but he has? And you’re okay with that?”
Ares's eyes close, when he opens them a long blink later his lips twist. “I am okay with it, because I’ve always known that’s the way it would be for me. I didn’t know I would be lucky enough to be paired with my best friends, but I knew I would have to share the affections of our woman.”
I shake my head. “I can’t do it. Not if it makes you feel even the tiniest bit like I do right now.”
“It’s not the same. If you were to kiss anyone else—Charlie, for example—I would give him nightmares so bad, he would kill himself within a week.”
My mouth falls open. “You, you could do that?” I whisper, my voice betraying my horror.
Ares chuckles darkly. “That, and so much more.”
“But… but,” I stammer, trying to find the words to explain what I’m feeling.
“No buts, Laura. It’s not the same between us. And it’s not just because we grew up expecting to share. I see the way you smile at Ollie, the way you hang on every word Dante says to you. I also see the way your cheeks flush when I touch you, the way your eyes darken when you look at me. I wouldn’t take that from you or them.”
Something inside me softens with his words, but then the realization dawns. Dante still kissed another girl. Told me he kissed her.
The sounds of car doors slamming and of kids being released from school on a Friday afternoon filter into the car. I know I only have minutes, maybe seconds, before Dante arrives.
“We’ll figure out what happened today, but I know my brother. It’s not what you’re thinking,” Ares offers.
Chapter 7
“It’s not what I’m thinking, Ares; it’s what he told me.” My voice is flat. I want to believe him, but I’m still struggling to wrap my head around what I’m feeling and what Ares just told me about his willingness to share our relationship with the others. Could I really do that to them: expect them to share me without sharing them? It’s what I want, but it’s not fair to them.
The back door opens, and I pull myself from my thoughts. When I look up, I see Milo and Ollie waving from Dante’s car. I give them a tight smile and wave in return. I know Dante is in the car with us, but I can’t bring myself to look at him. He hasn’t spoken either.
“Hey, man,” Ares greets him.
“Hey,” Dante mumbles back.
The car begins a slow roll forward, getting in line with all the other people trying to escape school for the weekend. “So,” Ares prompts looking from me to the