Infinity Chronicles Book Three Page 18

  I turn away from her, not willing to give her the fight see wants. She’s insignificant. I know that hurts, I’ve been inconsequential my entire life until now. She makes that sound in her throat again, a cross between snorting and laughing, but it sounds like she might throw up too. She’s pretending that I don’t matter, and that I’m lying about Ares sleeping, but I don’t need to. It’s the truth.

  I feel her as she leans in and tries to whisper, but it comes out louder than intended. “Just wait, he’ll come looking for me, he always does. I’m the only one who really accepts him for what he is.”

  “And what is that?” I don’t turn to look at her, but I wait for her answer.

  “He’s the boogieman.” She groans like she’s making scary noises to a child.

  I turn to face her, calling all the shadows in the room to me, and it’s as if someone pulled the shades and the sun is hidden. If she thinks he’s the boogieman, I’m going to show her who she should really fear.

  Mia jerks back from me, her eyes wide as she stumbles to get out of the stool and away from me. “You’re a freak too,” she accuses. I don’t even move, I just stare at her. I can feel the icy tendrils of shadows dancing over my skin. I could get in her head, make her see things that aren’t even there, the path is so clear, but I don’t.

  Someone touches the back of my neck and in my ear, Ares whispers, “You don’t need to do this, Cara.”

  “She said you were the boogieman, I don’t like her talking about you like that.” I tilt my head again, staring at Mia. She closes her eyes as if that will make me disappear.

  “Deep down she’s always been afraid of me, she could never understand us, Cara, come back.”

  I feel contrite the moment I release the darkness. Thank God we’re alone in this room. Ares doesn’t shy away from me, doesn’t even look bothered that I went all dark while we were eating lunch.

  I glance over at the others, and Ollie lifts a shrimp off his plate and salutes me with it before dropping it in his mouth. “I’m stuffed, when can we get in the house?”

  Chapter 17

  “They have until Thursday to get everything out.”

  “Thursday?” Ollie whines “Can’t you pay someone to move everything out today?” The fact that they are acting like everything is completely normal isn’t lost on me. I glance quickly at Mia who’s over in the corner of the room, her back to me. Ares walks over to his stool and leans his hands on the back, blocking her from my view.

  “The owners aren’t living there so we can go over and have another look around, but the moving company wasn’t available until tomorrow,” Ares offers as a concession.

  Dante tips his head in Mia’s direction, his eyes narrowed at her back. “What about her?”

  “I’ll call her a car, I was just going to let her drive mine back and ride with you guys, but I can see that wasn’t a well thought out plan.”

  I look down at my hands and see my trembling fingers. My insides are suffering the same fate. Milo places his heavy palm on my shoulder. I glance up at him, wondering when he moved over to my side and what he thinks of me now. Out of all of them, Milo goes out of his way to make sure he never hurts anyone, and he watched me use my ability to scare Mia. It doesn’t matter that I did it because I was protecting Ares, as stupid as I know that is. I still did it, would do it again if I ever thought someone threatened any one of them.

  Milo gazes at the other side of the room, watching Mia instead of me. I’ve always thought he had a fondness for her. I almost shrink away from his touch but hold my ground. He may not like what I did, but I can’t even make a promise not to do it again. He’ll either accept me for who and what I am, or he won’t.

  His hand slides over my upper back in a soothing motion. A tiny trickle of hope he isn’t appalled by my behavior has me closing my eyes in relief. I know I just can’t lose my shit in public. I know I probably overreacted, but I don’t regret it.

  I look up to see Ares returning to the secluded room. I hadn’t realized he left. He’s tapping away on his phone, not paying much attention. When he looks up, his eyes go to mine and he studies me for a long second, then slides his phone into the inside pocket of his suit coat. Taking a deep breath, he directs his attention to Mia.

  She’s gathered herself together in the last few moments. Her back is straight, and I can see her patting her hair back into place. Eventually she turns, finding Ares only a few feet away from her with his hands tucked into his pockets, drawing the fitted material even tighter across his rump. I look away quickly, irritated at myself for even noticing at a time like this.

  “I called a car for you. It shouldn’t be too long.” Ares casts his gaze over her, his eyes shrewd.

  Mia tips her chin in the air and she walks with exaggerated slowness over to her stool, then gathers her purse and jacket from the back. Her back is stiff as she makes her way out of the room, giving each of us a wide berth. I think my open show of powers may have scared her a little more than even I was intending.

  Ares lets out a huff. “Let me make sure she gets picked up.” He turns to follow Mia out of the room.

  Milo takes Ares’s abandoned seat, pushing away his plate. Silence falls over our group and I’m not sure what to say at this point. The side door opens, revealing the waitress again. She gives our group a slight nod with a tight smile. “May I?” She places her hand on Mia’s plate, waiting for an answer.

  “Yes, of course.” I stack the plates to make them easier for her to gather. Her presence seems to have broken the proverbial ice. Dante stands, raising his arms up above his head in a languid stretch. “Want to wait in the car?” he rumbles.

  “Sounds like a plan.” Ollie jumps up from his seat and Milo is quick to follow.

  I’m slower to rise. “The bill,” I murmur, looking to see if the waitress placed it somewhere.

  Milo leans down. “What was that?”

  “The check, we need to pay the bill.”

  “Mr. Costa has already taken care of the bill.” The waitress backs out of the room, her arms piled high with plates and glasses.

  We make our way through the restaurant, seeing several other private rooms, and the normal tables and booths you’d expect to find. Ares is standing near a bar not too far from the host’s podium. Mia pushes out of the ladies’ room as we approach.

  Not even acknowledge her, Dante folds his fingers over mine as we continue out the door.

  Milo hangs back, stopping at Ares’s side. “We’ll wait in the car.” I don’t hear Ares’s response, or if he even had one, as the door closes behind us.

  I draw in a deep breath once we’re out in the open. “Sorry, I let her get to me,” I admit as we make our way over to Dante’s car.

  “Mia can be a bitch.” Ollie shrugs like it’s enough of an explanation. He opens the passenger door and pushes the seat forward to climb in the back. Ducking my head, I follow after him.

  “I still shouldn’t have done that, it was too risky.”

  “You’re still learning, nobody blames you Laura,” Milo soothes as he settles into the front seat. Dante doesn’t start the engine, but he cranks down his window to get a little air in the car.

  “I’m excited to get back in the house. I dismissed it too fast last time.” Ollie changes the subject as he leans forward, folding his arms on the front seat. His right arm lands on Milo’s shoulder and he gives a little squeeze. “Think we could clear out a room or two, pile a bunch of stuff downstairs or something so we can get a better idea of the space?”

  Milo nods. “We could do that, the lower level was pretty bare.” He turns a bit more to face the middle, and Ollie’s hand slides closer to his chest. “It would make it easy for the movers to get everything out anyway, those front stairs would be a bitch to get the furniture up and down.”

  “Think we could convince Ares to spend the night there tonight? Then we could be there tomorrow and make sure the movers finish.” Ollie runs his hand over Milo’s pectoral in a caress.
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  “Wouldn’t count on it, you know how he likes everything just so, unless…” All three guys look at each other, speaking in some silent code.

  “Unless, Laura asks him,” Ollie finishes. Confirming I was right about their hive mind meld.

  “It would be easier than waking up super early and driving out here to meet the movers,” Milo adds, being all reasonable.

  I roll my eyes, not nearly as confident in my ability to convince Ares as they seem to be. “Where would we sleep?” I don’t want to sleep in a stranger’s bed. I suppress a shudder.

  “We could get some sleeping bags,” Ollie quickly replies.

  “Or we could go get the mattress from the house,” Dante interjects. I’m not excited to sleep on the floor, so his plan sounds good. I’m not afraid to admit I’ve become a little spoiled since living with the guys. “I bet we could even get our dads to bring them over, we wouldn’t even have to drive back to Canton tonight. You know Mom will want to see it anyway.”

  Milo nods his head, agreeing. A shadow falls over the car before Ares taps on the driver’s side window. Dante cranks it down the rest of the way.

  “You want to follow me over?”

  “Oh yeah, that sounds good. Laura, why don’t you ride with him,” Ollie suggests a little too quickly. Ares’s eyes narrow, scanning each of the guys suspiciously. He knows they’re up to something.

  I shake my head, thinking that Ollie has a lot to learn about subtlety. Ares’s eyes land on mine, assessing. His lips lift on one corner, before he schools his features into something sterner. “Well, come on little sacrifice. I know there’s no way they’d offer you up without a reason. Let’s say they’ve piqued my curiosity.”

  Dante drops his head back to the headrest and groans. Milo lets out a little chuckle as he glances over at Ollie in accusation. Ollie scrunches up his lips, and states, “Too much.” He nods, understanding his error.

  Using my shirtsleeve, I wipe across my brow. It’s almost seventy-five degrees today and I’m feeling the heat. Dante and Milo lost their shirts over an hour ago. Watching them use brute strength to lug around a bunch of furniture is enough to make me sweat, but at least I can blame the temperature.

  “Got another one.” Ollie’s voice echoes down into the garage.

  Milo stands from his crouched position as he releases the legs of the couch, a light sheen of sweat coating his chest and arms. “Coming,” he hollers back. “I got this one if you want to grab a drink,” he adds, talking to Dante. He looks completely relaxed. It’s probably the first time I’ve seen him using his ability so much.

  Dante rises, a little slower than Milo, but he doesn’t look nearly as exhausted as I feel just watching them. I’ve only been carrying the smaller stuff up and down the stairs and my legs feel like jello. He nods, and replies, “Ares should be back soon, you want anything?”

  “I’ll take a Gatorade, orange if he has it.” Milo bounds up the stairs two at a time.

  Dante glances over in my direction and he lifts his hand, beckoning me forward. “How about you, we working you too hard?”

  Even though we’re both hot and sweaty, I give in to the urge to lean against him. The power inside me swirls to life. I draw in his scent, Dante smells like worn leather with something musky underneath. Delicious. I brush my nose against his bare skin and low sound rumbles up my throat. Dante slides his fingers into my hair, his palms on my cheeks, and tips my face up so he can press his lips to mine.

  He takes his time exploring my mouth, his tongue sliding past my lips to tangle with mine. I crawl my hands up his chest, loving the way his muscles bunch under my touch. Once my hands are up around his neck, I lock my fingers together and climb up his body, wrapping my legs around his waist. Dante takes my weight the moment my feet leave the ground, cupping my bottom and pulling me tightly against him.

  My brash behavior is not even registering. Dante just accepts it, while I’m driven mostly by instinct alone. Keeping my arms over his shoulder I thread my fingers through his thick hair, tilting his head so I can deepen the kiss. Dante runs one of his hands over my butt and slides it up under my shirt, securing me to him firmly. I lock my ankles around his back and settle against him, enjoying the feel of his warm, hard body.

  In the distance I hear car tires crunching along the driveway. Ares left to go to the store and to meet his parents so they could follow him back here. Reluctantly, I slow the kiss after several open-mouthed pecks, and I lean back and look down at him. Dante is slow to open his eyes, not making a move to release me.

  I kiss his forehead and wrap my arms around his head, tucking him to my chest. Dante nuzzles his face against me, and I feel his chest expand as he drags in a deep breath. Walking over to the old green couch, he balances his butt on the back and I slide a little lower as he does, straddling his hips now. I feel his erection under me, and I tuck my face into his neck and close my eyes—it’s a fight not to rock against him.

  A car door slams, followed quickly by another. I still don’t want to move, but I know I should. I give Dante one final, tight squeeze before lessening my hold on him. Dante grabs my hips and eases me down until my shoes touch the ground, and his forehead rolls across mine before he gives me another sweet kiss on the corner of my lips.

  Ares reaches the open garage door with a white Styrofoam cooler in his arms. Dante lays his arm over my shoulder. “Do you need a hand grabbing anything?”

  “Here, if you want to take this I can go get changed. I had Mom grab me something.” Ares holds out the cooler.

  Dante steps away from me and takes it, flipping the lid up to look inside. He grabs a Gatorade and holds it out to Ares, then reaches back in for a couple waters. “If you’re going up, take this to Milo.” Dante gestures to the drink in Ares’s hand.

  Ares looks around, stepping closer as he does. “You guys already got a lot of stuff done.” He pulls the plastic bottle from my hands and drops a kiss quickly to my lips. I peek up at Dante to see his reaction, but he’s looking around the garage, already stacked with furniture.

  “This isn’t even half of it, those people had way too much shit.” Dante cracks the lid on one bottle and hands it over to me first.

  I take it happily, tipping my head back and gulping down the icy cold liquid.

  When half the bottle is gone, I look back up and find both of the guys watching me. “Thirsty?” Ares questions.

  I look at the bottle in my hand wondering why they’re staring at me. “Ah yeah, did you want some?” I offer the bottle to them, thinking maybe I drank too much, and maybe he only picked up a few.

  Heavy footsteps on the stairs have me turning away before they answer. Milo is coming down the steps slowly. His arms wrapped around the bottom half of a recliner. “You want a hand?” Dante offers.

  “Nah, everybody is here, I figured I’d bring this down before we took a break.” Milo sets the chair near the corner, and then he stands and looks around. “Unless we start stacking stuff on top of each other, we’re about out of room.”

  Ares extends his hand out to Milo, the orange drink he asked for held out. Milo grabs it, taking a few sips while still surveying the garage.

  “We could put stuff over there.” Dante points to a heavy door.

  “Definitely some boxes and stuff, but it’ll suck to get the bigger stuff through that door,” Milo tells him, closing the lid to his drink and tossing it onto one of the couches.

  “I’m going to go get changed. Why don’t you guys come up so we can show everyone around, then figure out where to pile the rest of this shit.” Ares’s fingers brush along my neck as he passes me to head for the stairs.

  Milo and Dante turn to follow him up, I trail behind them. I can hear Ollie before I see him. “I thought it was too small when we first looked at it, but now that all the furniture is out of here it’s not too bad.”

  As I reach the top of the stairs, I see Linda and Matt walking around the kitchen, opening cabinet doors and looking over the counters. “I
really like it.” Linda spins, going closer to the window. Her hand comes up to touch the glass, “Look out there, you can see forever.”

  Matt notices us first. “Hey guys.” A wide grin overtakes his face. “How’s being a first-time homeowner treating you.”

  Ares continues past them. “No complaints from me.”

  “You haven’t done anything!” Ollie calls to him as he walks away.

  “It’s not like you’ve done much other than delegate.” Milo crosses his arms over his chest with his eyebrows raised.

  Ollie points at his head. “It’s all up here—paint, flooring, furniture. Somebody has to think ahead, take care of the hard stuff.”

  Dante snorts and shakes his head. Their easy banter has me grinning. Ares returns, he’s in a short-sleeved, dark gray t-shirt with a loose pair of gym shorts. I’ve seen Ares in his boxers, but for some reason he looks strange in the shorts.

  He looks down at himself when I don’t stop staring. “What?”

  I glance around, but no one else seems to think he looks strange. Milo is chatting with Matt, running his hand over the kitchen counter. Dante disappeared at some point, and Ollie is holding up his phone with swatches of colors against the wall.

  “I don’t know, I guess I’ve never seen you in shorts. I’m used to suits and the occasional pair of sweats.”

  “I think it would be kind of restricting to work in my suit pants, but I can change if you’d like.”

  I swat his arm when he moves to my side. “Stop it, it just took me off guard.” Ares grins at me teasingly. He places his arms behind him and leans against the counter. Milo and Matt have moved into another room, leaving only Ollie and Linda, but they’re much too interested in the paint colors to notice the blush that stains my cheeks as my eyes travel over Ares. He’s just way too damn attractive for his own good. He’s not even trying, and I can’t take my eyes off him.

  “I wish it wasn’t so far away, but I do really like it. I can see why you snagged it up.” Rosa enters the room, coming over to me. She leans in for a quick hug and retreats back to Mal who is right behind her. Dante must have gone looking for them, because he’s follows them in.