“Don’t lie.” He gets a little closer. “I remember that night when you came in here too.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I feign disinterest and step aside to join the group.
As I pass by him, he takes my arm and stops me.
“Every time I sit on that couch, I remember you: naked, virginal, wet for me.”
I swallow thickly, shaking him off.
“Stop saying such things.”
“Why? Are you afraid you’ll get excited and let me fuck you again?”
I say nothing and walk away from him. Suddenly it’s hot in here.
Virgin of Abs, why do you make it so difficult for me?
“Are you okay, princess?” Carlos asks me when I join the group again. “You’re all red.”
“Princess?” Ares asks, reaching us. Carlos grins like a fool.
“Yes, she is my princess, the owner of this humble heart.”
And that’s how the most uncomfortable minute of the day begins, in silence. Ares tenses up, clenching his jaw. Dani and I look at each other, not knowing what to say. Carlos keeps smiling innocently. Finally, Apolo notices the tension.
“That’s funny, Carlos.”
“Let’s get started.” Dani changes the subject.
Surprisingly, Ares plays along. “Sure, how about if Carlos and I have the first duel?”
Carlos points to Ares and then to himself. “You and me?”
“Yes, but a duel without a prize is no fun.”
“What’s the prize?” Carlos asks excitedly.
“If you win, you can take three original games from my collection.” Ares looks at me, and I expect the worst.
Carlos’s face lights up so quickly. “What if I lose?”
“You call Raquel by her name from now on. No princess or whatever you’re used to calling her.” The coldness in his voice, in his request, again reminds me how icy Ares can be.
Carlos laughs loudly, surprising us all. No one says anything, I don’t think anyone moves. I open my mouth to tell him that he has no right to decide what others call me, but Carlos beats me to it.
“No.”
“What?”
“If it’s like that, then I won’t play.”
Ares stretches his hands. “Are you afraid of losing?”
“No, I’m a very funny person, but what I feel for her is no joke to me.”
Ares clenches his jaw. “What you feel for her?”
“That’s right, and it may not be reciprocated, but at least I have the courage to shout it out to everyone, and I don’t go around manipulating and creating stupid games to get what I want.”
The knuckles on Ares’s clenched fists turn white. Carlos smiles.
“Men fight for what they want openly; children act this way,” he says, pointing to Ares.
Ares holds back, and it seems to be so hard for him. Without a word, he turns around and walks out of the playroom, pulling the door shut behind him. I let out a sigh of relief. Carlos smiles at me as always.
Dani sits on the couch next to us and lets out a long breath. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”
Apolo wears an expression that I can’t quite make out. Is he angry? For the first time I can’t read his sweet face.
He turns to Carlos. “You were lucky, you shouldn’t have provoked him like that.”
“I’m not afraid of your brother,” Carlos replies, standing up.
Apolo smiles and it’s not sweet, it’s that cheeky grin the Hidalgos wear when they don’t like something.
“You talk a lot about maturity, but you just provoked someone to make yourself look like the mature one and the victim. Who’s the one playing stupid games? I’ll be right back.”
He leaves through the same door as Ares. Regardless of who’s right, Apolo will always be on Ares’s side. They’re brothers after all.
The enigmatic Hidalgo brothers.
THIRTY-NINE
The Feeling
Since I got home from Ares’s house, I haven’t moved from my bed. It’s been a few hours now. Night has fallen, it’s cold, and it’s starting to rain. A part of me feels guilty, and I don’t know why. We did the right thing by leaving. Besides, we didn’t want a fight between Carlos and Ares.
The rain always puts me in such a melancholy mood. I sit in the semidarkness, and my small lamp gives everything a yellow hue. My eyes are on the window watching the raindrops fall. Rocky is next to me on the floor with his muzzle on his front paws.
The rain gets heavier, so I get up to close my window. The last thing I need is for my whole room to get wet. Every time I go near those curtains, I remember the first times I interacted with Ares. When I reach the window, my heart stops.