“Finally, I’ve found you guys!” he shouts, approaching us. He told us he would catch up with us, but that was about an hour ago, and when he didn’t show up, we assumed he wasn’t coming.
“How the fuck did you get here?” Marco asks, laughing. Gregory shakes his phone.
“Uber.”
Marco pats him on the back. “You’re like a damn cockroach. It’s so hard to get rid of you.”
Gregory acts offended. “A cockroach? Really?”
“Haven’t you heard that cockroaches would survive radiation from a nuclear blast?” Samy intervenes. “It’s a compliment to your endurance.”
Marco smiles at her, looking pleased, but says nothing. I have noticed that, although he is not very expressive and affectionate with her, his look says it all. I find it sweet when a cold boy falls in love.
“I don’t care,” Gregory shrugs. “At least I got here, and I think I heard someone say beach. Count me in.”
Joshua looks at Ares, Apolo, Gregory, and Marco, and mutters: “Wow, you guys are incredibly handsome.”
We all laugh, and Gregory winks.
“Single at your command.”
Joshua gives him a tired look. “No, I mean you guys are the first male friends I’ve ever had, and you’re too good-looking; this isn’t going to work.”
“You’re breaking up with me,” Gregory says, pretending to run out of air. “And we haven’t even started?”
Joshua ignores him. “I mean, if I go out with you, I won’t get girls.”
I turn my gaze to him and grab his cheeks.
“You’re handsome, too, Yoshi.”
I can feel Ares’s heavy gaze on me, and I slowly lower my hands.
Marco grimaces. “Yoshi? Like the turtle in Mario Kart?”
Apolo laughs a little, but I give them a stern look.
“It’s not a turtle. It’s a dinosaur.”
Gregory grabs the bridge of his nose. “Can we focus on going to the beach?”
Samy nods. “The cockroach is right, it’s a two-hour drive, so let’s go.”
Dani worries about the logistics of the affair, and I admire her for thinking about it when we have been dawn-drinking.
“We don’t have bathing suits or food,” she notes.
Gregory clears his throat. “As my grandpa would say, ‘no matter what you lack, you will find it somewhere along the way.’”
“Didn’t your grandpa leave your grandmother for a woman he met on the road?” Marco asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Exactly, he lacked love and found it along the way. Hey, stop ruining my cool moments.”
With Marco and Gregory arguing, we started walking to where we left the cars.
Time to travel.
Ares is driving with the window on his side open. One arm rests on it and his other hand is on the steering wheel. He’s shirtless, wearing only a backward cap and sunglasses. The sun streams through the window and slides over his skin, highlighting the definition of every muscle in his torso.
Virgin of Abdominals, why did you bless him this much? Why do you bring such a being into this world? So that poor mortals like me must suffer every time we see him?
Gregory’s head appears in the middle of our seats.
“I feel like the son back here,” he says. “Mom, I want booby.”
I tap him on the forehead with my fingers.
“Very funny.”
“Child abuse,” he says, moving to the other seat. He grabs Ares’s shoulder and shakes him. “Dad, aren’t you going to do anything?”
Ares sighs.
“Relax, son, I’ll punish her later.” He gives me his crooked smile.
“Uuuuuugh!” Gregory scrunches up his face dramatically.
Ares laughs. “How do you think you came into the world, son?”
“I give up! Now!” Gregory returns to his post with his arms folded across his chest as if in a tantrum. Apolo, who is on his right side, grimaces, and Dani, who is on his left side, ignores us, looking out the window. Joshua left with the others in Marco’s car.
We stop at a store to buy what we need for our impromptu adventure. I walk by where the bathing suits are hanging, trying to pick out a simple one. Ares appears in front of me, with a one-piece in his hands.
“How about this one?” he asks. I cross my arms over my chest.
“I like two-piece swimsuits.”
“But this one would look great on you, and you can wear it with these shorts,” he shows me one in his other hand, smiling. “A good combination.”