Page 57 of Through My Window
I give him a knowing smile. “Cheers!” Our glasses clink.
It’s my turn, and I have no idea what to say. Everyone is waiting for me, impatient. “Never have I ever kissed anyone in this circle.”
Marco raises an eyebrow, and Ares lets out a sarcastic laugh. Very carefully, I watch as Ares and Samy drink. Sadly, I drink too. So Samy has kissed Ares. The confirmation makes my heart sink. Watching Samy, I feel at a disadvantage. She really is very pretty and nice. No doubt, Ares would choose her and not me. I know I would choose her.
Gregory grimaces. “Ohh.”
After three rounds of the game, we are all too drunk to play decently. We decide to jump into the shallow end of the pool. I splash water on my face and head. I’m dizzy, but I know if I stop drinking now, I can make it home.
Samy hugs me from behind. “Raquel!”
I let go of her embrace and turn around. “Samy!”
“I think we’ve had too much to drink,” she says, and I nod. “You’re very nice!”
“You too.”
“I need to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“When we were playing, you drank when you asked about kissing someone in the group.” She pauses. “I know it’s obvious, but did you kiss Ares?”
Okay, drunk or not, I’m not ready for that question.
Samy gives me a sad smile. “That silence says it all. Do you . . . do you have something with him?”
“Samy . . .”
“No, no, I’m sorry, don’t answer that. I’m being intrusive.”
I’m feeling uncomfortable, but at the same time, I identify with her so much. “You . . . and he . . .”
She shakes her head. “I’m just a cliché, you know, the girl who falls in love with her best friend.”
“If you two have something, I would never stand in the way.”
I’m being honest, I would never interfere in anyone’s relationship. I may have very little dignity left, but would I be the other woman? Never.
Samy takes my hand. “He and I have nothing, so stop looking guilty.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t even know what I’m apologizing for.”
“Ares is . . . difficult, you know, he’s been through a lot.” She takes a drink from her glass. “Somehow, I thought I’d be the girl who would change him. After all, I’m the only one he’s ever let in, the one he’s told so many things to, and revealed parts of himself he hasn’t let anyone else see. But the fact that he trusts me doesn’t mean he’s in love with me. I understood that too late.”
I can hear the pain in her voice. She’s definitely not a bad person—she’s just a girl who fell in love with a guy who didn’t feel the same way, like me.
“I think we have something in common. A broken heart.”
“He likes you, Raquel, a lot, and he probably doesn’t know how to handle it because it’s never happened to him before.”
“I don’t think so. He’s made it very clear that he’s not interested in me,” I say.
“Ares is really complex, just like Artemis. They’re boys being raised by absent parents who have always prioritized business and money over them. Tonight is a good example. Here we are having a party in their house, and they’re nowhere to be found. His dad is probably on a business trip, and his mom? Having fun with other high-profile ladies in town somewhere. His parents have always made it clear to them that having feelings is a weakness. It’s giving another person power over you.”
“And why is Apolo different?”
“When Apolo was born, Grandpa Hidalgo moved here for a while. He was the one who raised Apolo with a lot of love and patience. He tried to instill that in the two older boys, but they were already grown up and living through things they shouldn’t have been living at that age.”
