“Shhh.” He grabs my cheek gently, forcing me to look at him. “You don’t have to apologize, Rochi.” His thumb caresses my skin.
“But . . .”
His thumb moves to hover over my lips.
“No, stop.”
The touch of his finger against my lips tickles.
“Okay.”
“Now go home and rest.” He lowers his hand and sits up, giving me a kiss on my forehead, then lies back down. “Go, I’ll be fine with Medusa.”
I laugh a little. “Don’t call her that or you’re going to have a very long night.”
Joshua shrugs.
“It’s worth it. It’s the most appropriate nickname I could think of.”
Dani comes in, muttering something about the quality of the hospital’s coffee, and finds us grinning like idiots. She raises an eyebrow.
“What? Were you talking about me?”
“Nope,” we say at the same time. And I leave them, fighting over nicknames and nonsense as usual.
I arrive home to an empty, silent house. I close the door behind me and rest my back against it, playing with the keys in my hands. I slide down against the door until I find myself sitting on the floor. I pull my knees up to my chest. I know I need to bathe and sleep, but I can’t find the energy to do it. I just want to stay here.
I take my cell phone out of my pocket and look at the dark screen. It ran out of battery a few hours after I arrived at the hospital, and I wonder if Ares has sent me any messages. Maybe he’s too busy celebrating New Year’s with his family to notice my lack of texts, and I can’t blame him. I haven’t told him what happened with Joshua. My mind has been so focused on trying to understand and believe all of this has really happened, that I forgot to send Ares a message. Then my cell phone died, and I didn’t want to tear myself away to go charge it.
With slow steps, I go upstairs and take a hot shower. I can’t deny that the water feels good on my skin and eases my tense muscles. Now that I’m a little more relaxed, I let the Greek god invade my thoughts.
I miss him so much.
These weeks have felt like an eternity. It’s so disconcerting when you get used to seeing a person almost every day, and suddenly you don’t see them anymore. It’s still a few days before he comes back, and I know it will be hard, especially now, when I would kill for one of his hugs, and to feel him next to me, giving me security.
In my pajamas, I sit on the bed and plug my cell phone in to charge. I watch it turn on, and message alerts begin to echo throughout the room. Rocky is sleeping peacefully in the corner; the sounds of notifications don’t seem to bother him at all.
Quickly, I open Ares’s conversation. I have a lot of messages from him and I didn’t expect to.
12:15 a.m.
I was calling to wish you a happy new year, and you didn’t answer.
12:37 a.m.
Witch?
1:45 a.m.
Why don’t you answer the phone?
2:20 a.m.
Did you fall asleep?
9:05 a.m.
Raquel, I’m starting to get worried. Are you okay?
10:46 a.m.
Shit, Raquel, I’m really worried now.
That was his last message.
I bite my lower lip as I begin to type a response; however, I don’t even finish typing the first word when my phone rings in my hand.
Incoming call: Ares <3
My heart speeds up, threatening to burst out of my chest. I take a deep breath.
“Hello?”
There’s a second of silence, as if he didn’t expect me to answer, as if he was used to me not answering.
“Where are you?” he asks, and the seriousness in his voice surprises me.
“At my house,” I reply.
“Look out the window.” And he hangs up. I stare at the phone in confusion before my gaze falls on the window. It’s snowing again, so the window is closed. I get up and walk over to it, moving the curtains aside.
Ares is standing on his patio. He’s wearing jeans and a black jacket over a white shirt, and he looks a little tanned. His black hair is in that messy style that suits him perfectly, just him. I’d like to say that I’m getting used to seeing him, that I’m getting used to the depth of those blue eyes, the confidence of his posture, and how beautiful he is, but I’d be lying. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it, and especially now that I’ve gone two weeks without seeing him.
My body reacts to him as usual, my heart pounding desperately, my stomach turning, and my hands sweating a little. However, it’s not the physical reactions that always take me by surprise but the sensations, what he makes me feel, the excitement that fills my chest, how he makes me forget that there is a world around me.