Deer in Headlights (Hearts and Arrows 1) (Good god series) (3 page)

He smelled roses and booze in Jenny’s wake as she slipped past him and into his apartment. He closed the door and leaned up against it, folding his arms across his chest, watching her as she set the bottle down. She turned to him as she twisted the tie of her coat around her fist, gave it a tug, and dropped the garment to the ground.

The hot pink lace that made up her bra barely contained her overflowing breasts, and her tiny panties showed him exactly what he was about to get. She slinked over to him and ran her hands over his chest, down to his belt, pulling it open as she looked up at him with a scandalous smile and those crazy, crazy eyes.

She bit her lip, her big eyes on fire as she popped his button and opened his zipper. She moved her hands down his hips, dropped his pants, and took his hand to lead him to the bedroom as he admired the view from behind.
 

When they reached the bed, she ran a slender finger across his t-shirt as she walked around him. Dean turned to follow her, stopping with his back to the bed. She put her tiny hands on his muscular chest, pushed him bodily onto the bed, and climbed up after him like a cat. Her hands slid under his shirt, and he sat to yank it over his head before lying back, watching as she made her way down his stomach behind a curtain of platinum curls.
 

She flipped her head back and grinned at him, and he knew right then that he was in deep shit, if Elliot found out.

Jenny’s head rested on Dean’s shoulder as her fingers traced circles on his chest. He was instantly uncomfortable. He squirmed out from underneath her, reaching for her lingerie that lay in a pile on the floor, tossing it to her as he stood.

Her blond curls hung in disarray around her face, and she tucked the sheet under her arms as she propped herself up on her elbow. "Are you serious?" Her mouth hung open.
 

Was she serious? He stared back at her, puzzled, and turned to head to the shower. “Just let yourself out, ‘kay?” The bathroom door closed just as her shoe slammed against it.

The gods erupted in noise, some booing, some laughing, along with few “Ooh’s” and one very loud “Pig!”

Perry elbowed Dita with her mouth open. “Did you set that up?”

“Duh,” she said with a giggle as she stood and walked to Apollo. She held her hand out for the remote.

“May I?”

“Be my guest.”

Dita smiled as she turned to the television and mashed a few buttons. On the screen was a gorgeous girl with porcelain skin and dark hair that tumbled over her shoulders as she bent over a counter in a bookshop, writing in a black notebook. Her face was propped on her hand, and her blue-green eyes were on the snow that fell beyond the window, white against the dark night.

Dita watched Apollo as she hit play, smiling when she saw recognition click behind his eyes.

Lex stared out the window in the quiet shop, smiling as a couple walked by with their arms around each other. She dropped her eyes back to her sketchbook, and her pencil flew as she drew them on the soft, cream page.

When she was satisfied, she laid her pencil down, and her eyes wandered around the room, appreciating for the zillionth time how much she loved the bookstore where she had worked for almost ten years. Heavy, worn book cases lined the walls, interspersed with inlets of cushy pillows in Indian silks, perfect for cuddling up with a book. Warm light from candles and lamps filled the store, and the scent of jasmine hung in the room alongside the musk of books and paper.

She glanced back down at her notebook and picked up her blending stump, rubbing the edge of the girl’s coat to shade it a little more, then took a moment to look it over.
 

The couple was in love. She could see it in the tilt of his head and hers, something small in the way that they touched each other that telegraphed their feelings. It was her own version of a magic trick, cultivated through years of drawing, to be able to read people through their body language. She thought about the couple in her sketch, and her mind wandered to Travis.

They had been living together for some time, nearly a year, but as she looked over the sketch, she wondered if they had ever looked like that couple did. She was almost positive they hadn’t.

Something was missing. She cared for him, and he clearly cared for her too, but she didn’t think it was love on either end. Not real love. Not knock-your-socks-off love. It was more of a deep fondness, although, if she were being honest with herself, it was probably the closest she’d gotten to the real thing.

They were the same thoughts that had wormed their way through her mind for days, and every day that passed, the less she could ignore it.
 

The bell over the door jingled, and she looked up to find Travis standing tall and blond in the doorway as he shook the snow off his coat. He stomped his boots on the mat and smiled, his teeth sparkling in his face, tan even in the dead of winter.

“Hey.” She smiled.

“Hey, Lex.” He made his way over and pressed his chilly lips to hers.

“I didn’t expect to see you until after the show.”

“I guess no one’s willing to brave the snow for Italian food. Luke let me off early, so I figured I’d stop by on my way to Helios and walk with you.”

“Great, I hate walking alone. Kara’s meeting us there.”

“Spike will be thrilled. He loves to sing to your bestie.”

Lex laughed. “I’m sure he does.” She turned to the register to close it out. Travis turned his head to look at her sketch.
 

“This is really good.”

“Thanks,” she said with a small smile as she closed the notebook and stuffed it in her bag. She hated when people looked at her unfinished work.

Lex listened while Travis recounted stories from the few tables he’d had as she closed up and pulled on her jacket, scarf, hat, and gloves.
 

“You warm enough, Lex?”

“Ha, ha. It’s stupid cold out. I don’t know how you never wear gloves or a hat.”

“Why do I need gloves or a hat when I’ve got pockets and hair?”
 

“I guess I’m just not as tough as you, big man.”

Travis turned to her and adjusted her knit hat. “Lucky for me, you’re extra cute when you’re all bundled up.” He kissed her nose, and they left the shop and headed for the bar.

Lex spotted Kara as soon as she walked in, sitting at a table just off the dance floor. She sipped her beer as Spike, the lead singer of Travis’ band, laid a skinny arm over her shoulder. Her lip curled on her heart-shaped face, and the second she saw Lex, she shot a 9-1-1 look.
 

Lex shrugged off her coat and hung it on the back of a chair, eyeballing Spike, who looked like a short, starving Billy Idol.

“Hey, Spike.”

“‘Sup, Lex? Are you ready to witness our set? Try to keep your panties on.”

“Oh, I’ll try. Hey, Kara, come with me to the bathroom?”

“Absolutely,” she said, a little too enthusiastically, and set her beer down with a thunk.
 

Spike hitched a thumb at her and turned to Travis. “Chicks. Am I right?”

Kara pushed the door open with a sigh. “Why do I agree to come to these things?”

“Because you love me and wouldn’t make me sit in a dive bar all by myself.”

“Every time I have to see that little shit, you owe me dinner and a movie.”

“You think he’ll figure out at some point that you don’t like him?”

“It’s my fault. Clearly I was very, very drunk when I hooked up with Spike.”

“I still can’t believe you hooked up with a guy named Spike.”

“Hilarious, Lex. At least you got Travis out of it, though that has kept me on Spike’s radar all this time, which I will never forgive you for.”

Lex bit her lip, and Kara eyed her in the mirror.

“Oh, no. You’ve got that look.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You can’t lie to me, Alexis Greene. You’ve got the itch to ditch, don’t you?”

Lex sighed. “Not here, okay? Let’s go enjoy this wonderful display of musical talent. Come over tomorrow and I’ll spill it.”

Kara snapped the lid on her lipstick and raised an eyebrow. “All right. Let’s go watch Sid Vicious’ wannabe cousin spit all over a microphone, and tomorrow you will tell all.”

“Sid Vicious?” Lex snorted as she pushed the door open. “The least talented, most famous punk rocker to ever exist? Spike has about as much talent as a safety pin in Sid’s cheek.”

“Only in his most productive dreams.”

STEAMING WATER BEAT DOWN Apollo as he scrubbed a bar of soap across his chest, belting out the lyrics to “The Reflex” along with his iPod. He was ecstatic. Dean was perfect.

The Olympian’s reactions to Dean’s slutting around was priceless. He grinned involuntarily, holding back a laugh, marveling that he would be giddy about the competition. But something felt different from the previous games with Dita. Something
was
different, though he didn’t know what that meant. Only that he felt good about it, for once.

Apollo thought again about Dean and Jenny, and the fact that everyone agreed that Dean was a little sleazy. Apollo’s smile slipped as the thought crossed his mind that Dita had set up the encounter with Jenny, but he shook his head and smiled wider. There was no way she could have known who he would choose.

He scrubbed under his arms as he sang. “Oh the reflex what a game, he’s hiding all the cards. The reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark.”

Apollo rinsed off and stepped out of the shower, drying off with a fluffy, white towel, humming to himself as he made his way to his closet, deciding on a lambswool sweater and tailored jeans. He stopped in front of his bathroom mirror and combed his golden hair, whistling along to the music as he ran a hand over his stubble, deciding to keep it for a few days more.

His heart skipped in his chest when he thought about Daphne.
 

This is it.

He’d waited so long, and if he won, he could get her back. They could be together after thousands of years apart. Dita would have to give him anything he asked if he won her token, and he would ask for Daphne.

Apollo sat on his couch and looked in on Dean as he walked up the sidewalk to the warehouse where the band practiced, wondering if Dean would really be the player to win. He’d chosen so many before, and every one had been a bust, despite his best efforts. Apollo was terrible at the game, there was no doubt about it. He just didn’t have the cut-throat frame of mind that the other gods did, which wasn’t something he was sorry for, but it worked against him when he competed.

But Dean … Dean would do it. Apollo’s smile stretched even wider as Dean grabbed the handle to the warehouse door.