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Ares tilted her head.
“I knew Ryan had a sister, but I never met her,” she said softly. “I’m…”
“Glad that you didn’t meet her?” I laughed, filling in the blank.
“Ummm, yeah,” she admitted.
Her eyes went back to mine. “She’s not your sister?”
I shook my head. “No, well technically she’s a step-sister. But she’s Ryan’s sister. No relation to me. His mother was married before she met my dad.”
Ares snorted. “Uhhh, yeah. You could say that.”
I eyed her.
“I can give you the balloons back,” she said. “But shit, she just made me really mad. She was yanking him and pulling him along, and he was dragging his little feet on the ground. And she let him get lost in the first place…”
I held up my hand to stop her.
“I know,” I said. “Trust me, I know.”
Her eyes went soft. “Kinda between a rock and a hard place, huh?”
If only she knew.
“Have a good one, Ares.”
With that, I walked away, managing not to look back until I was in the shadows.
Only then did I allow myself to sneak a peek at the very first thing that caught my attention in years.
And what a beautiful thing she was.Chapter 1If you don’t mean what you say, shut the fuck up.
-Ares to her brother
Ares
Six months later
“Mom,” I said into the phone, praying that she would check her messages in time.
“What?” she asked, startling me.
“You answered. Oh, thank God.”
“What is it?” she asked, sounding alarmed now.
“My period is here. I’m at your house. You don’t have any tampons at all.” I moaned. “I have a date in like forty-five minutes. Can you bring me some tampons?”
“No,” she said. “I’m at work. I can’t just leave. Why can’t you just leave?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Because I’m here with Lock’s demon spawn while he goes and buys an anniversary present for his wife,” I answered. “And I don’t have a car seat.”
My mother hummed in understanding.
“Your dad is at the store.”
I groaned.
“Mom,” I whined. “I’m not asking dad to buy me tampons.”
“I can’t do this, Ares.” My mother sighed. “I’m sorry.”
I sighed, long and loud. “I’ll figure it out.”
Turns out, I didn’t have to.
Because my dad called moments later, sounding amused.
“So I heard that you need something from me?” he drawled.
I closed my eyes and tried not to feel embarrassed.
Having a period was a normal bodily function.
It wasn’t the end of the world if your father knew.
“Yes,” I sighed. “I do.”
He chuckled.
“What kind do you want?” he pushed. “Tampons or pads?”
I tried not to let mortification overwhelm me.
“Tampons,” I answered.
“Okay,” he sing-songed. “There are about eighty different kinds. Will you be playing sports while wearing one?”
I squinted. “No. I’m going to be going on a date.”
“Gotcha.” He paused. “How about those ones that are small and can fit into small places? Like between your boobs.”
“Did you just call my boobs small?” I snorted. “That was unoriginal.”
“No,” he countered. “I was calling the tampons small.”
I rolled my eyes. “Find the ones that say ‘Pearl’ on them. Those are the ones I want.”
“Found them.” He paused. “What’s your flow level?”
I groaned.
“I don’t know. Just get the variety box.”
I really didn’t want to be talking with my father about tampons.
“Are we talking super-duper, I’m going to need three of these at once flow? Like a raging river with rapids?” he asked. “Or are we talking about just the smallest of smalls? Ones for the tiny little creek beds in the middle of a drought. The ones that have just the smallest amounts of water flowing through them?” He paused. “Because there are two variety boxes. One with light and medium, and the other box with heavy and extra super heavy.”
There was chuckling on the other end of the line that didn’t sound like my father.
“Is there someone there with you?” I asked, belly tightening.
“Umm,” Dad said. “Just someone from work.”
I closed my eyes.
Just someone from work.
Goddammit.
“Dad, if I’d known you weren’t by yourself, I wouldn’t have asked you to do this,” I growled.
“My cruiser’s in the shop,” Dad said. “I didn’t have a choice.” He hesitated. “Big box or small box?”
I gritted my teeth.
And, since it was my dad, and I didn’t feel guilty for making him pay extra for the big box, and I could use them next month and the month after that, I said, “Big box.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen. Just have to check out.”
I hung up without saying thank you, mostly because Lock’s demon spawn decided to projectile vomit everywhere, thankfully not soaking my clothes when he did.
Almost fifteen minutes later, my dad did indeed walk through the door.
Only, he wasn’t alone.
Hayes followed behind him, a grin kicking up the corner of his mouth as he pushed through behind my dad.
Mortification rolled through me, and I had the sudden urge to scream at my dad like a lunatic.
