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I wasn’t in denial! I didn’t like this guy. It wasn’t even worth acknowledging that first part with a response. So I focused on the question. “What’s it to you?”

“I’m wondering on a scale of one to ten how drunk you are.”

“None of your business.”

“Everything you do is my business, Aphrodite.”

I rolled my eyes. “On a scale of one to ten I’m probably at a twelve.” I hit send. I wasn’t. I was tipsy, yes, but I was still very aware. I knew I was, because I was currently aware enough to know that my mystery man was pissing me off.

“Do you have a ride home?”

As if I was going to tell this guy where I was. “I’m sure lots of guys here would give me a ride home.”

“I’m sure they would. Are you trying to make me jealous?”

Was I? I shook my head. No. I was just trying to piss him off. “I’m trying to make you leave me alone. I told you from the start, I’m not available.”

“That’s not what you said. You told me you were close to making a mistake. And I warned you not to make it.”

This guy was putting words in my mouth. Mr. Halifax was not a freaking mistake! And I never would have referred to him that way. “Then let me clear the air now. My heart belongs to someone else.”

“That may be true now, but it’ll belong to me soon enough.”

This guy was impossible. “Stop it. Whoever you are. I’m not interested.”

“Aphrodite may be vane and vindicative. But she’s not a liar.”

Was he calling me vane? What the hell? I didn’t get a chance to respond, because my phone buzzed again.

“And the way you moaned when I touched your thigh definitely indicated that you were interested.”

“I only moaned because I was picturing Mr. Halifax’s hands on me!”

No. Wait.

I stared in horror at what I’d just typed.

What did I just do?!

There was a long pause. Or maybe it just felt long because I was freaking panicking.

Shit! I hadn’t meant to say Mr. Halifax’s name. Was there a delete button somewhere? How could I undo what I’d just done?! I...damn it!

My mystery man finally responded: “Is Hephaestus your teacher?”

I swallowed hard. “No, Hephaestus isn’t my teacher. I don’t know anyone by that name.”

“You know what I meant, Aphrodite.”

Gah!

“So you like older men? This just keeps getting more and more interesting.”

“Look, I don’t know who you are,” I typed. “But whatever you think you know, you don’t. You couldn’t possibly understand.”

“I think I do.”

Yeah...well, crap. I hadn’t exactly left it a mystery. “Please don’t repeat any of this.”