Page 38 of Witches and Wine
Apollo
Too easy. See ya then.
Blowing out a relieved breath, I turned off the screen and tossed my phone out of reach on the other side of the couch. My emerald green crushed velvet blanket hung haphazardly from the armrest, and I slid it over my legs, sinking into the cushions to get comfortable. Riley made circles on my lap until contentedly curling up and closing his eyes.
I hadn’t intended on sleeping on the couch tonight, especially not in my work attire. Yet, the mentally and emotionallyexhausted part of me decided this was precisely what I needed as slumber pulled at my brain.
“I told ya.Should’ve married her,” Bruce mused, stretching his arms skyward before interlacing his fingers behind his head, leaning on one of Hermes’ cows and pretty damn proud of himself.
I’d swung by the Speedy Sandal as a distraction from whatever the shit just happened with Chelsea. One moment, I’m on my knees, lapping her up while the maenads made her feel like a goddess in my sanctuary that I share with no one else, and the next? She’s distant, cold as a fish, and can’t find it in her good graces to say more than a few words to me. It was our months’ worth of strict texting, but in physical form, and Ihatedit.
“Shut the fuck up, Bruce,” I growled, my claws and canines jutting out, the tips of the horns peeking through my skull.
Bruce’s ears flicked, his tail going bone straight, and he pushed off the bovine, heading for the field gate exit. “Okay, that’s my cue to bail.”
Hermes came back from the barn with a hay barrel in his grasp, wearing only his pants, boots, and a dirtied white tank top. He raised a brow at a ruffled Bruce passing him.
“You’re up, Herm. Good luck,” Bruce grumbled before shoving his hoof into the gate, shimmying through it when it swung open.
Hermes moved his gaze on me, and I could already feel his judgment edging me on further—the kind of ridicule only a best friend who has been through some of the best and worst shit with you could provide. The sort of reasoning and common sense you didn’t want to hear but thank them for later. Butnowwasn’t later.
“What the hell did you say to him?” Hermes asked, tossing the hay in the middle of the field and using a knife to cut away the twine holding it together. He wiped his forehead, already sheened with sweat, with his forearm.
Irritation bubbled in my gut. “Whyare you sweating? We don’t sweat.”
Hermes chuckled, flashing that award-winning perfect smile of his. “We can if wewantto.”
“Oh, you want to, do you? Hoping to have your way with me? Giving me a show?” I clicked my claws together, not bothering to make them disappear yet.
Hermes’ smile faded, and he haughtily tossed the rope into the dirt. “I make myself sweat so I can feel the outcomes of my hard work that our godslihood robs from us. Youknowthis, Dion, so what the fuck is going on with you?”
“You know what this is about. Don’t give me that,” I sneered, snatching my hand away from a cow trying to sniff me.
Hermes frowned and shoved me away from the animal, affectionately petting its muzzle. “Firstly, don’t you take this out on my cattle. Secondly, yeah, I know this has to do with Chelsea, but I’m waiting for you to tell mewhy. Because the lastI heard, you had an actual banging time in your forest with her and the maenads, and she wasmorethan into it. Now you’re here standing in the sunshine,inArcane Cove looking like a lost puppy. So—” Hermes held his arms out at his side, the glistening sweat he’d summoned making those lean muscles of his more pronounced like a right dickhead. “—the fuck, bro?”
Snarling, I balled my hand into a fist with all intentions of punching a nearby tree but stopped short and let my hand thump against it instead. “She’s gone cold all of a sudden. Can barely stand to look at me.”
“That’s weird,” Hermes replied, scratching the stubble on his chin.
“Iknow,” my beast answered, the depth resonating in my chest.
Hermes fanned his palms and slipped a rag from his back jeans pocket, using it to wipe his face. “Walk me through it, Dion. Can you do that without skewering one of my cows with your horns? Or should we take this inside?”
Grinding my canines, I jutted my head toward the building and made my way for it. I’d had enough control of my beast that I doubted an accident with one of the animals could happen, but the sun was stifling. Also, the less Hermes sweated, the better for my nerves since he insisted on conjuring it.
The cool breeze from the ceiling AC vents drafted over my face and neck, simmering the heated rage boiling in my veins. I’d closed my eyes, only to open them when the sound of the screen door echoed in my ears, Hermes following behind me.
“Alright, Hoss, what makes you think she’s become distant?” Hermes asked, dusting off his hands and leaning on the counter with his arms folded.
Absently flicking the mail cubby boxes, I tapped a claw against the golden name plate labeled “P.” “Her not being ableto look me in the eye or hardly speak to me isn’t enough of an indicator for you?”
Hermes slammed his fist on the counter, making a drawer pop open. It was filled to the brim with every variety of chocolate bars known to the universe. He unabashedly grabbed a Snickers, tore it open, and bit into it. When I raised a brow at his sudden urge for a sugar rush, he shrugged. “What? I did a lot of running today. I feel woozy if I don’t eat sugar. Anyway—” Hermes continued between chews. “Do you think she’s embarrassed about what happened? You said she’s normally the shy type.”
The way Chelsea had arched her back for me and presented herself to me like a female in heat had a disgruntled snarl vibrating in my throat. “I asked her that. She swore it wasn’t. And we may have hidden things from each other a time or two, but we’ve neverlied.”
“What happened between the beastly bang and the sudden distance?” Hermes shoved the rest of the candy into his mouth, forming a large lump against his cheek.
Unease made my neck tighten as I recalled my conversation with Bruce about the godsdamned Crone. “She went to see Cressida.”
