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"Huh?"
"You must have a concussion." He came closer and sat on the edge of the spa. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
I frowned at his index finger waving in front of my face, and slowly raised my middle finger out of the water at him.
"One," I said.
Laughter fell from his throat. "I knew I liked you."
"What do you mean, they have a thing for me?"
He shrugged, "Just lately I've noticed they have been acting differently, in a good way, and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with you."
What!?
I furrowed my brow at him. "Look. I don't know what you're talking about. I barely know either of them. They barely know me. You must be mistaken. Something else must be going on and it has nothing to do with me."
Atlas just shrugged again with a smug grin on his face.
"Tell me. You call each other brothers, but you are nothing alike. Are you all related in some way?"
Atlas let out a long breath. "Ooh, long story."
"Well apparently I have a good hour and a half left in here, so I've got time." I leaned back against the tub making a show of getting comfy.
He smirked good humoredly. "You have me there. Well, your suspicions are right. We are different and not related by blood in any way. Our brotherhood bond comes from a time when we were all young boys. You could say we grew up together."
"You were orphans?"
He thought for a moment, "You could say that, yes."
I frowned at his obtuse response but listened as he continued.
"We all come from different cultural backgrounds. Luca is Spanish, as you know. Nico has an Italian background, and me, Greek, obviously." He flexed his bicep muscles, "Built like the gods."
I rolled my eyes but giggled at his playfulness.
"We all tried to get back to our roots, but it's hard when you're young and so far from your own country. That's why we stuck together, built a life here. Besides, we all have a lot in common, and you could say we have the same goals in life. All we had growing up, was each other."
"And look what you've all accomplished." I gestured to our surroundings.
He smiled his sad smile, "Well, we were highly motivated." He looked at his Rolex, "But that is definitely a story for another time. I have to go. If you need anything, there is help just outside the door."
He leaned over, kissed me on the forehead and left.
I leaned back in the tub, thinking of everything he had said. Growing up with no family. I could only imagine what that must have felt like. I decided I'd had enough sad feelings for one night and turned my attention instead to other things. My thoughts immediately went to the hooded man in the alley.
Who was the guy that saved me?
At first I had been scared and intimidated by him. He was tall, and clearly strong by the way he handled those dirtbags in the alley. I thought back to when he had taken off his shirt, revealing his toned physique underneath. I was too traumatized at the time to appreciate it, but now, thinking back, his body was quite impressive, despite the numerous scars on his forearm.
Strangely, although I had not seen his face at all, he did seem familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I swear I'd seen him before. I frowned. Maybe I was just imagining. I shook my head of the thought. The more important question was, what was he doing in an alleyway in the middle of the night? Was he a homeless man, or a low-life scum feeder like the rest of them, just drifting through dark corners of the city?
I reached out of the spa and picked up his shirt that I'd worn and examined it. I gave it a quick smell. No, he was neither. The shirt was clean, fresh even, and smelt amazing like Patchouli and sandalwood. What was more interesting, was that it appeared to be a quality shirt. More expensive than what you'd find on someone on the streets. I leaned back in the tub, closing my eyes and taking another whiff of the shirt, my heart fluttering at the thought of him. My mind then drifted to Luca and Nico and what Atlas had insinuated earlier.
Could it be true? Are they both interested in me?
It was then a disturbing revelation came to me.
If I was completely honest with myself, I was attracted to them both as well.
