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"And if the three of you hadn't tried to bribe him to win," Ares joked. "He should have taken the wisdom from Athena."
A loud snort escaped me. "He really should have." If only I hadn't been so young and vain at the time and realised that a golden apple wasn't any kind of prize.
I sipped my wine, taking a moment to consider the room. It was impossible to tell what kind of paranormal any of the people here were unless I knew them already, which only really meant I recognised some of the gods.
I let out a groan as I recognised one of them.
"Zeus?" Ares guessed.
I set my wine down. "Why does Aine have to invite him?"
"You know the answer to that," he pointed out. "Zeus adds credibility to the event. And he's fun so long as he's trying not to get in your pants."
A shudder ran down my spine just at the idea. I'd seen enough of that to put me off for good. "Time to avoid at all costs."
Ares shrugged and drank more of his wine. "Maybe you should take more of a leaf out of his book and have some fun."
I gave him a withering stare. "I wouldn't call any of what Zeus gets up to fun."
"Eurgh, go get yourself laid, Aphie, you're wound way too tight."
"Sex won't fix that."
"Aha, so you admit that you are uptight." His impish smile only infuriated me more.
"You're impossible. I should go find someone else to talk to." I got to my feet, ready to see through my threat.
"Mmhmm, preferably someone tall, dark, and handsome."
"I'm not in the mood."
"All right, how about petite, possibly a dancer, long blonde hair. You do love a blonde," he mused.
I rolled my eyes. "Not today, Ares."
"Suit yourself." He finished his wine. "I might go see if there's anyone interesting myself."
"I thought you were going out with Bellona again?"
"No, I said we were hanging out, there's a difference," the other god responded.
"I don't think I'll ever understand you two."
"There's nothing to understand. Meet you back here in an hour to compare notes?"
"Sure." There was no harm in doing that, or in talking to a few people while I was already here. There was no way of knowing where I'd meet the right person for furthering my charity's goals, or for solving any of the other multitude of problems that running one brought up.
Ares headed in the direction of a woman just like the one he'd described as perfect for me. No doubt she was some kind of fae given her delicate features.
I finished my wine and turned to set it down on the bar, only to crash right into someone.
"Whoa, careful," he said in a low voice, his hand reaching out to steady me, the touch warm against my bare skin.
I looked up, meeting the gaze of a handsome man in a smart suit.
"Sorry, didn't mean to get in your way." He flashed me a friendly smile.
"It's fine. My fault," I said. "At least this was empty." I raised my glass and set it on the bar.
