by Staci Hart
But she wasn’t going to be with Dean, not anymore. Was it worth hurting Travis and potentially damaging his career for nothing? Because exactly nothing came out of her and Dean but pain.
There was enough hurt going around without putting any more on Travis. If she and Dean had ended up together, well … that would have been different.
It was in that moment that she wondered if the tarot reading had been about Travis. Infidelity, the breakups, the deception, the sun, the fool … they all made sense. But it was all realized distantly, because the truth was that Dean wasn’t someone she could put her faith in or give her heart to. She had already ripped off the band aid, and there was no point in putting it back on, not for someone that she was convinced would hurt her.
“Travis, it’s okay. I’m not angry. I care about you, too … so much, but it’s never been love for me, either.” She paused as she took in the guilt on his face, feeling it mirrored on her own. “I’ll get my stuff together and go to Kara’s.”
“Lex, I don’t want to put you out with nowhere to go. You can stay until you figure things out. I’ll crash on the couch. All your stuff is here. It would be a huge pain in the ass to drag it all to Kara’s and then to another apartment. Just stay … unless you don’t want to. But don’t leave because you think that’s what I want. You’re my best friend, Lexie. I want to keep that.”
She looked at Travis long, then looked away. “Me too,” she said as she leaned over to lay her head on his shoulder. He moved his arm around her as they sat in the silent room, together and apart.
———— Olympus ————
“Oh my gods, I fucking did it.” Dita’s cheeks hurt from smiling, and Perry grinned at her.
“Brilliant. I can’t believe you turned the prophecy around. I mean, I can believe it because you’re smart as fuck, but that really was genius. What are you going to do now?”
Dita’s smile fell a smidge, and her eyes dropped. “I don’t know, exactly. She’s not going to run straight to Dean, not as sure as she is that he’s wrong for her.”
“Well, you’ve got eleven days to figure it out. I have faith in you.”
“I just want them to be happy.” Dita said quietly. “There’s so much hate and hurt in the world and so much unnecessary pain for Lex and Dean right now. They need each other. She can heal him, and he deserves something real and true and good in his life. He deserves to find home.”
Perry’s eyes were wet. “Stop it, you big softy. You’re gonna make me cry.”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to make it happen for them. I just hope I can pull it off.”
“Well, if anyone can, it’s you.”
Day 18
LEX POURED A CUP OF tea with her phone in the crook of her shoulder. “It’s not that weird, Kara.”
“It’s kind of weird. Just come stay with me.”
“All my stuff is here, and I’m staying until I can get out on my own. Travis and I are friends. We don’t have to be sleeping together to share space.”
“If you say so. You guys are bizarro.” Kara chuckled.
Lex giggled back. Relieved didn’t even begin to cover how she felt about Travis. She didn’t have to hurt him, and they were going to stay friends. Win-win. And then, there was the big lose.
Dean hadn’t left her mind, but her heart was dead in her chest. She’d poured her pain into her art, and she had to admit that the finished product was good. At least it made her feel a little better to focus her hurt into something constructive. ‘Tortured artist’ wasn’t just a cliché. That shit worked.
“So,” Kara whined, “can we please go out tomorrow night? You need an excuse to take a shower, and I need an excuse to dance.”
“God, that’s like the fourth time you’ve asked today. Okay, okay. I give. Uncle. You’re relentless, you know that?”
“Peer pressure works. I need a t-shirt that says that. I’ll pick you up at nine. Maybe I’ll even bring you flowers.”
“Overachiever.”
“She’s in.” Kara set her phone down and twiddled a pen in the air, gnawing on her lip as she peered at Travis and Roe, who sat at her kitchen table.
“Good,” Travis said.
“Are you sure about this?” Kara asked. “Because if it doesn’t work, she’s going to kill me.” She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the two of them. “She’ll probably kill both of you too, so don’t look so satisfied with yourselves. I’m talking full-on crime scene. Chalk outline. Redrum.”
Travis leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “It’s going to work. It has to. I honestly don’t know how I didn’t see what was going on between them. She’d been avoiding me, staying with you, and wouldn’t go to practice when she’d been every day before. Dean’s been drunk and unwashed, with all these new moody songs, looking like someone ran over his dog. Yesterday after … well, after we broke up, I was at practice, and we were playing one of the new songs, and I heard it, really heard it for the first time. Whatever she did to Dean, I don’t envy him.” He shook his head. “I wish you guys would stop feeling guilty for filling in the details. I’m a Grade-A dumbshit for not figuring it out on my own.”
“Trav, it’s good you came to us. You’re right … we’ll make tomorrow night work. I can at least get her to the club. Hopefully, when she sees Dean, the rest will take care of itself. I told you, she can’t deny me.”
Travis snorted. “This I know.”
Roe shredded off another strip of paper napkin and dropped it onto the pile in front of him. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you, man. None of us knew for sure how you would react. I mean, you seemed cool about it, but no one thought you actually meant it. And, so far it’s been pretty harmless, aside from all of the lost love drama.”
“It’s all right. You couldn’t have known,” he said with a shake of his head. “Lex and I should have been honest about our relationship from the beginning. I won’t say it didn’t hurt to find out that she had a thing for Dean and went out with him behind my back, but we both knew our relationship wasn’t going anywhere. On the other hand, I can’t say I blame her for not telling me. If I were in her place and I thought that telling her something could hurt her chance at happiness, there’s no way I would drop it on her.”
Kara put her hand on his arm, her eyes misty. “We should have trusted that you could handle it.” She shook her head when her voice cracked. “Now, stop being such a puss, and let’s get ready for tomorrow night. It’s game time.”
———— Olympus ————
Dita plopped down on an oversized recliner in the front row of the theater room and tucked her legs in. “Popcorn, please,” Dita said as she reached into Perry’s giant bucket.
“Hey.” Perry frowned with a mouth full of popcorn.
“Oh, don’t be greedy.” Dita picked up the remote and powered the massive television on. Kara was on the screen, flipping her hair, and Kevin’s mouth was doing something weird.
“So, what am I looking at here?”
“My secret weapons. You didn’t get to watch the night that Kara and Roe got together.”
“Ooh,” Perry’s face lit up. “I was super bummed to miss that.”
“Well, now you don’t have to.” Dita hit play, and Kara’s hair swung into motion.
“—and that is why you never, ever taunt a Koala,” Kevin said.
Kara laughed, her eyes sparkling as she took a sip of her drink. Lex walked up with her bag on her shoulder.
Kara pouted. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”
“I have to work in the morning,” Lex said lamely.
Kara looked over at Dean, who watched them from the table. She looked back at Lex and took another sip of her drink. “Mmmhmmm.”
Lex jumped when Travis walked up behind her and asked, “You ready?”
“Yup.” She flushed and hugged Kara, pressing their cheeks together. “Much love.”
“Bye, guys.” Kara watched the two walk ou
t. Dean’s eyes followed Lex as they walked by.
“Did you see that?” Dita whispered to Perry.
“Uh-huh. Puppy dog eyes. Big time.” Perry stuffed another handful of popcorn into her mouth.
Kara sighed and turned back to Kevin. “You up for another game, Kev-O? You’re getting better. You’ll be a world class dart champion in no time, at this rate.”
“It’s all in the wrist. I was going to go check up on Dean. Look how lonely he looks.”
They both looked over at Dean and laughed. “Good luck with that.”
Kevin walked away, and Kara looked down at her mostly full drink. Kevin and Dean laughed, and she considered hanging with them until she caught sight of Roe chalking a cue, watching her. He raised an eyebrow and motioned to the table. She took another pull of her drink, and sauntered her way over to him.
Dita grabbed the remote and hit fast forward. “Blah, blah, blah. They flirt. They play pool. This part’s boring.” She hit play, and Kara’s laughter filled the room.
“Oh, my god. He didn’t!” Kara said.
“He totally did.” Roe laughed and took a swig of his beer while Kara laughed some more.
“Where did Dean go, anyway?”
Roe looked over to their table. “And where’s Kevin?”
“I think we’ve been ditched.”
Dita whispered to Perry, “Actually, that was me.”
“Duh.” Perry took a long sip of her gigantic soda.
Roe shuffled. “Well … another game, then?”
Kara set her cue down and moved to him. “Sure, we could do that.” She slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. “Or, I can think of a few other things we could do.” She stretched up on her tip-toes, and he leaned down to brush his lips to hers. They wound together, kissing for a long moment before she broke away and grabbed his hand. “Come on, I live close.”
Perry grabbed the remote from Dita and fast-forwarded again. “Man, this is getting good.”
When she hit play, Kara was sitting on Roe’s lap as they made out on her couch. She slipped her hands under his jacket and peeled it off. He tossed it, and his hand moved to cup her cheek as he kissed her. She dropped her legs off the couch, grabbed him by the t-shirt, and pulled him up when she stood.
She giggled and trotted off to her bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind her. He laughed as he pulled his belt loose and dropped his jeans, then yanked his shirt over his head and followed her.
She lay stretched out on the bed on her back with her dark hair like satin fanned out around her. He climbed onto the bed, and she smiled invitingly as she looked over him, laughing when she reached his feet.
“Oh, my god, Roe. Take off your socks.”
Roe blushed, smiling as he sat and pulled his socks off and threw them at her. She squealed.
“Gross! That has to be the least sexy thing ever, mood killer.”
Perry threw popcorn at the screen. “Boooooooo.”
He lay next to her and kissed her laughing mouth, and their teeth bumped together. They laughed even harder, their bodies shaking until their touching skin couldn’t be ignored. He kissed her hard, and she wrapped herself around him as she wound her fingers through his golden hair. His hands ran down her waist, cupped her backside, and she bit his lip as he hoisted her up.
She shifted her weight to roll him over, and they did roll … straight off the bed. Their arms and legs flailed, and they landed on the floor with a solid thump and a burst of laughter.
Perry couldn’t catch her breath. “He … gods … he’s … whew. Oh, my gods. That is the best ever.”
Dita wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “Oh, gods. So awesome.”
“I can’t believe I almost missed seeing that. I haven’t laughed like that in forever.”
“I know.” She picked up the remote and turned the television off. “From here the rest of it is pretty standard.”
Perry let out a satisfied breath, her cheeks pink. “They’re a fantastic secret weapon.”
Dita leaned back in her chair. “I’m cautiously optimistic. Roe and Kara have been busting their asses to try to figure out how to get Lex and Dean in the same room again. If they can pull it off, I think I’ve got this.”
“Do you think Apollo has any more tricks up his sleeve?”
“I don’t know. But if I lose here in the last leg, I’m going to go primordial.”
“You could always use one of your stockpiled tokens.”
“No way. Not until I’m out of options. I’ll never hear the end of it if I call in a favor, but I’m not going to sacrifice Lex and Dean.”
“Aww, Dita. You’re such a mush.”
“Perry, they’re meant for each other. And I should know. How can I deny them? I’ll do what I have to do.” She looked back in on Lex and hoped that the pieces would all fall into place.
Apollo sat on the floor of his bathroom, digging through the trash can.
He rummaged through toilet paper and Q-tips, looking for a token. It was the last room to search in his apartment, and he was desperate, because he was out of options.
Apollo’s plan hinged on Dita not figuring out that Travis was the object of the prophecy until it was too late, never even considering that she would make the prophecy come true. He wondered how she managed to turn it all around on him, and how he could have been so dumb to let it happen.
All he had left was a Hail Mary.
He needed a favor, but tokens weren’t easy to come by. Not only was it was decades between his turns, but he just wasn’t deceitful enough to pull it off when it was his turn. He took most things at face value, because that’s what he gave, which was why he lost. A lot. And almost all the tokens he did earn he’d spent, though he knew he had a few spares, if he could find them.
So far, he found two.
The first he found in his couch cushions. He grimaced as he reached between the cushions, and crumbs stuck under his nails. When his fingertips brushed a token, “Aha!” bubbled out of his mouth, and he grinned. Until he saw it.
Glowing, white molten lava swirled inside. Apollo rolled his eyes. So much for that. Heff would never help him beat Dita, no way. Apollo stuffed the useless thing into his pocket.
He found the second token when he dumped out the magazine rack in his bathroom. The glass sphere rolled across the floor and hit the floorboard with a clink. Black fog swirled inside, and his lips pressed into a flat line as he reached for it. Hades. He closed his fist around it, resisting the urge to throw it at the wall. With Perry being Dita’s best friend, and Hades being Perry’s bitch, there was no way that he would help, either.
He reached the bottom of the trash can, then glanced around the bathroom. He’d checked everywhere, so he hastily cleaned up the garbage and stood to make his way back to his bedroom. Apollo’s mind was muddled as he tried to remember exactly where he had already searched. He scanned the bed and the white sheets and pillows, deconstructed and lying in a heap on the floor.
On a whim, he knelt down and pressed his cheek against the cool, hardwood floors to peer under his bed. An orb rested amongst dust bunnies and feathers from his bedding. He reached out and inched his way under the bed with his hand outstretched, mildly appalled by the dust getting all over his clothes.
Inside the glass orb floated an ornate set of flapping golden wings. Hermes. Apollo slinked out from under the bed and stood. As he looked at the token in his hand, he realized it was never going to work, but he had to try. He dusted off his sweater as he made for the elevator.
Hermes sat in the kitchen with his Chucks propped up on the bar, texting. He didn’t look up as Apollo approached, but when he placed the token on the granite bar, Hermes’ flying fingers froze. He turned to Apollo and raised an eyebrow.
“And what would this be?”
“This would be a favor. That I need. From you.”
“Are you trying to cash this in for help in the game? Because you know how I feel about that.”
“Her
mes, come on.”
Hermes slapped his phone down on the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “Listen. The heist challenge was it for me. You assholes all helped Heff, almost every single one of you. None of you refused, so none of you get my help.”
“You have to admit that you play dirty. It was only a matter of time until we retaliated.”
“Well, then I guess it’s my turn to deliver paybacks.” Hermes turned back to the phone to bang out messages with his fingers flying. There was no messing with Hermes when it came to games, since he ran them, and not with him being the patron of thieves and wit. Once he decided something, that was it. They’d all have to wait until his tantrum was over to get any help from him.
Apollo picked up Hermes’ token and put it in his pocket as he turned for the elevator. Heff was next on the list of long shots.
As he waited in the elevator, he caught his reflection in the shiny wall. He still had dust smudged on the front of his white sweater, and his blue checkered collar poked crookedly out of the neck. He smoothed his mussed hair down as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
Apollo stepped into Heff’s foyer. His heels clicked on the concrete floors and echoed off the walls as he walked by the dark leather furniture. Heff came out to greet him with a greasy rag in his hand.
“What can I do for you, Apollo?” Heff wore a pleasant smile as he wiped his hands off on the towel, but Apollo knew right then that it was a lost cause, despite the warm welcome.
Heff gave Apollo a sideways look when he held up the warm, glowing token between his fingers.
He chuckled. “I don’t suppose you want to use that against Dita, do you?”
“I do.” He put on the most depressed face he could muster, which wasn’t hard.
“You know I can’t help you.”
Apollo closed his fist and dropped it to his side. “I know. Had to ask.”
Heff inspected his fingernails as he ran the rag under them. “She’s not unbeatable, you know. But it’s not easy, and I most definitely will not stand against her. Do you have any other tokens?”
