Chapter 324

“Oh nooo,” Jesse scolds, making me snap my eyes to him.

“What?” I ask, confused and a little worried. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re not hungry?” he says, eyes wide, gesturing towards my plate. “You, Ariel Sinclair, eater of fourth servings, are not hungry!?”

“What are you talking about – I eat a normal amount!”

“You’re a complete pig!”

“Jesse!” I gasp, scandalized. “I so am not! I –“

“Ariel Cora Sinclair,” he snaps, leaning forward to point at me as he narrows his eyes. “I have seen you eat three cheeseburgers in one sitting and double fries –“

“Rafe eats just as much!”

“Rafe is four times your size!”

I balk at my cousin, appalled but…a little unable to deny that it’s true. I mean, I have a healthy appetite! What’s wrong with that!?

“I think I’ve been in this friend group long enough to translate Jesse to the rest of the world,” Ben says, cutting in helpfully and nodding to Tony.

“Oh, please do - I am deeply lost,” Tony says, smirking and lounging back in Rafe’s chair.

“Yes, very pleased to be of service,” Ben says, nodding to him and then turning to me with a sigh. “What Jesse means,” Ben says, holding my gaze now, quite gentle, “is that it’s not like you to turn down supper. Something’s up, and we can tell, and we want to help.”

“That’s what I said –“ Jesse spits out, throwing his hands out in frustration.

“You called me a pig!” I growl, glaring at him.

“Pigs are pink, and cute, and intelligent, and they like to eat,” Jesse says, pressing a hand to his chest and starting to grin at me. “I stand by the analogy.”

I can’t help it - I huff a laugh and shake my head, looking down at my plate of food. But even if they’re right, it doesn’t make me any more hungry.

“Spill, Princess,” Tony says, friendly and gentle. When I look at him I see that he’s giving me a soft smile. “Seriously, we want to help. Before we all go into the Games tomorrow and hunt you down and shoot you with paintballs.”

I laugh harder at this, but shake my head, leaning back against the cushions. “I can’t tell you guys this stuff. You’re boys.”

“Listen, we are honorary girls,” Jesse says, and I look up to see him beaming at me. “We love you, none of us want to date you, and we want to help. What’s it going to take?” Ben and Tony look at me with very sweet, earnest expressions and I find that I actually do very much want to talk to them – that it might help to unburden my little sad heart to my friends.

“Well, you two I can tell,” I say, sighing and looking at Jesse and Ben. “But I can’t talk to you about Luca,” I continue, turning a little glare on Tony. “You hate him!”

“I do not hate him,” Tony says, pressing a hand to his chest and leaning forward to glare at me.

“Oh really?” I say, crossing my arms and leaning back against the cushions, raising an eyebrow his way. Jesse likewise grimaces, turning to Tony, waiting for a response.

“Really!” Tony says, nodding eagerly. But then he hesitates and sits back in his chair, grimacing a little. “I just…think he’s kind of a dick and he deserves bad things and I…want to punch him.” I looks away from me, mildly guilty.

“Tony!” I gasp snatching a pillow from the couch and hurling it at his face. Satisfyingly, my shot lands precisely where I aimed it, probably because Tony doesn’t yet have Sinclair-level pillow-attack reflexes. “That is so mean! That’s my mate!”

“Yeah!” Tony says, laughing a little and pulling the pillow down by his side even as he gives me a sad smile. “And what the hell the Goddess was thinking matching you up with that jackass, I’ll never know!”

“Tony!” I shout, leaning forward, starting to get seriously offended.

“He is our friend, Ton,” Jesse says, looking over at Tony, letting him know that he’s on shaky ground. “You’re gonna want to…modulate your language here.”

“Seriously, Tony,” I say, shaking my head at him, not getting it. “What is your problem with Luca?”

Tony sighs, holding out a hand towards me. “Look, Ariel, I just…I don’t think he’s a bad person, okay? I just think that he’s…a little manipulative, and needy, and that he…” he grimaces here, “he punishes you emotionally when he doesn’t get what he wants. Okay? And I don’t like that, because you are such an incredibly nice and good person, and I think…you deserve to be treated better than that.”

My jaw drops a little as I stare at my friend because…I mean, I had never really thought about it that way. Is Tony right?

Still, my wolf raises her hackles and shows her teeth, her instincts to jump to Luca’s defense coming forward.

“Luca wouldn’t do that to me,” I say, crossing my arms and raising my chin as I give Tony a cool stare.

“Ariel,” Tony sighs, shaking his head and leaning back in the arm chair, looking like he hates to be the one to tell me this. “He does do that to you. Like all the time.”

“Wait wait,” Jesse says, turning more fully towards Tony with a frown. “You’ve only been getting close to Ariel lately – since this semester started and then in this past week. But you’ve been cold to Luca since the moment I first saw you guys interact – when we had magic class here in the room after the God of Darkness attacked and you wouldn’t let him stay. So…what gives? Have you been like, spying on us?”

“No,” Tony says, slumping back in his chair and covering his eyes with his hand for a second. “Look, if you want to know, my ish with Luca is a little…older than I may have suggested so far.”

“What?” I breathe, leaning forward, fascinated and a little horrified. I mean, I know Luca’s a celebrity, but what is he talking about?

How old is his grudge against Luca?

And who even is Tony, anyway? I wrack my mind but honestly, I don’t know anything about his past. Quite suddenly I feel guilty for not asking and also like a very, very bad spy.

“Okay,” Tony sighs, looking around at the four of us. “Can I please assume that this is a zone of secrecy in which we do not tell others what was said in our little square of trust?”

“She’s definitely going to tell Jackson,” Ben says, settling back against the pillows with a pleased smirk, looking like he’s enjoying himself.

I glance at Ben but then return my eyes to Tony and give a little shrug, because it’s true. I reserve the right to tell Jacks everything.

“Fine fine,” Tony says, waving a hand to dismiss it. “Square of trust though? With one adjacent silent boulder of a man who doesn’t have anyone else to tell?”

We all nod, agreeing to it.

“Fine,” Tony says, his voice deepening and becoming quite mysterious. “Then I’ll let you all in on a secret. Although I am now a very handsome, very suave, very dangerous assassin,” he says, raising an eyebrow as he looks at each of us in turn, almost daring each of us to counter him on it. I start to grin, unable to help it. “I used to be…a busboy.”

I burst out laughing, as do Jesse and Ben. Tony smirks a little, looking around at us.

“Oh come on, Tony, that’s not so bad,” I say with a sigh, curling up on the couch and prepping myself for a story.

“Nah, it wasn’t so bad,” he says with a smirk. “I was a city kid – needed money, worked my way up in some bars. But eventually I got a pretty sweet gig – my share of the tips was insane for clearing tables and running drinks and generally letting rich guys treat me like shit. It was at the Excelsior Club.”

I go a bit still at this, turning my head to the side staring at my friend.

He keeps his eyes on me. “Name ring a bell?”

Ben and Jesse turn towards me curiously. “Yeah,” I whisper. “Luca’s mentioned it. One of his favorites.”

“Yeah,” Tony says, again giving me that sad little smile. “It sure as hell was.”

“I’ve been there a couple times,” Jesse says, frowning over at Tony. “Did I ever see you there?”

“I saw you once or twice,” Tony says, turning to Jesse. “I wasn’t ever on your table, though. They talked about you and Rafe in the back, though – always good things. Sinclairs are good tippers.”

I scowl at my cousin. “I can’t believe you went without me,” I grumble. I turn to Ben and give him a little kick. “When we get back to the city me and you are going by ourselves and leaving everyone else out. I want to be the one excluding people for once.”

Ben gives me a steady nod and holds palm up. I quickly smack my hand against his, the high-five sealing our deal.

“So am I right in intuiting where this is going?” Jesse asks, dry. “That you had a certain…regular customer?”

“Yup,” Tony says, returning his eyes to me. “Luca Grant, every weekend night with a new girl.”

I sigh, shaking my head at Tony, not fully sure that I like where this is going. “Can we get back to the point, please?” I ask, a little perturbed. “You’re saying a lot of incendiary things about my mate and not really backing them up yet.”

“I know, Ari,” Tony says, turning his attention back to me. “Please, eat something – it might take a minute to get there. But what I’m trying to say is that I don’t just have some random grudge on Luca. I know this guy. Way more than he thinks I know him.”

I sigh, glancing at my plate of tacos. But I have to admit, I’m even less hungry than I was before.