Page 12 of Eye of the Hurricane (Weathering Doves Harbor #2)

Katherine

Ares knocks on my door and a rush of adrenaline courses through me. I’m determined to hook up with him tonight. I’ve spent the past week thinking about my conversation with Luna and she’s right. I’m doing all of the parts of dating that I’ve been so worried about but not enjoying the fun parts.

Of course, I lose all of that nerve as soon as I open the door and see his face. He looks so fucking sexy and it feels good to not pretend he doesn’t for once.

He’s got on a pair of gray sweatpants, a plain black t-shirt and a chain hanging over it. He looks… Slutty .

“We have plans tonight,” Ares announces as soon as he walks in the door.

“You can’t just spring plans on me. What if I’m not dressed for it?” He looks me up and down, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. I can’t tell if there’s something extra enticing about him tonight or if I was just a master at ignoring it before.

“You’re overdressed for it.”

“Do I need to change?”

“No, this is good,” he assures me, looking me over once more. “Really good.” I can feel the burning in my cheeks. This is ridiculous . I need to get it together.

“So, what are these last-minute plans?” I question.

“Family dinner at Audi and Roman’s.”

“No no no. I’m not crashing a family dinner. I’m not family.”

“You’re not crashing. I’m taking you as my date. This is our trial run. If we can convince my best friends, we can convince anyone.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea… if I wasn’t crashing a family dinner. Absolutely not!” I protest.

“They don’t mind. You’re not crashing. And we’re all just best friends. Family dinner is what we call it because we’re all like family.”

“You’re sure they don’t mind?”

“Positive.”

“Okay, fine. I need a half hour to get ready.”

“Well, honey, you’ve got fifteen minutes.”

He’s the biggest pain in my ass. I should refuse to go for springing it on me. But we need the practice and he isn’t wrong about needing to be able to sell it to his best friends. I’m a girl on a mission and this feels like a good step to get there.

Ares knocks on the door and Audra opens it to greet us. She looks surprised to see me and I immediately want to punch him. I’d venture to guess that he didn’t tell anyone he was bringing me.

“Oh, hi!” Audra exclaims, greeting us with a sweet smile. I offer her the brightest smile I can muster. Not because it’s fake, but because she’s welcoming me into her home despite not inviting me.

Ares’ hand hovers behind my lower back, millimeters away from touching me, guiding me into the house. It sends a buzzing feeling up my spine, one I’m not familiar with.

“You have such a beautiful home, Audra,” I gush, walking past her and scanning my surroundings. When Ares brought me here before, we didn’t come inside. The outside of their house is beautiful but it doesn’t hold a flame to the inside. It’s a warm and comforting mix of coastal and country style.

Audra walks around to the front of us, leading Ares and me into the dining room. The table is big enough to seat multiple families. I envy the closeness they all share to get together like this every week.

“Are burgers alright? You don’t have any restrictions, do you?” she asks, nervously.

“I love burgers on the grill. No restrictions, just love to eat. Ares didn’t tell you I was coming, did he?” I ask.

“No, he didn’t. It’s perfectly fine though! Might have thrown on a skirt or something, though,” she says with a laugh. I look down at my own outfit before looking back up to her.

I’ve got on a baby blue dress covered in glitter that sits just above my mid-thigh and strappy baby blue heels to match. She’s got on ripped jeans and a band t-shirt. I’m the odd one out here. Everyone else is dressed casually, even Ares.

“Please, don’t feel that way! I dress this way all the time.

It’s just what I prefer, I never expect anyone else to match.

You look beautiful,” I assure her, dropping a delicate hand on hers.

Audra is beautiful, she’s got this raven black hair with white strands lining the edges of her hairline.

She wears a much more intense shade of eye shadow than I do.

She’s got this ethereal, gothic vibe to her.

“Thank you!” she says before turning her attention to Ares. “She is welcome anytime.” He gives her an acknowledging nod before she walks off to the back deck.

Soon, Roman’s friend Beck shows up, then Ravyn. Over the course of a half hour, it goes from just Audra and Roman and us to a full house.

It feels like there are unassigned assigned seats. Everyone has a puzzle piece they effortlessly fit into, everyone except me. I just sit next to Ares. Ravyn sits on the other side of him. Audra and Roman sit next to each other and Beck sits on the other side of Roman.

We came here with the intent to give a trial run to our fake relationship but I wish I could pull Ares aside and beg him to abort the mission.

I’m already feeling like an outsider and the last thing I need is to be the center of attention.

I don’t say a word, though. I just wait for him to drop the bomb.

“So we have an announcement to make,” Ares says, addressing the table. He looks at me, then back to the group.

“This should be good,” Ravyn says, leaning into Audra to whisper in her ear.

“We,” Ares pauses, taking my hand in his before starting again.

“Just wanted to let you all know that we’re dating now,” he says, placing a kiss on my knuckles.

His lips are soft and warm, and my hand is cold.

He’s smiling ear to ear and I’m scanning the room, waiting to see if they’re buying it. This is so awkward.

“How did that happen?” Roman questions. I wait for Ares to answer but he’s frozen so I guess that leaves me.

“Well, after months and months of him begging for a chance, I figured, why not? We gave it a try, and what can I say? We’re in love,” I lie, shrugging. Audra is clearly trying to fight off a look of shock. But she’s doing a terrible job, which is making it increasingly difficult to not laugh.

“Wow… I had no idea! I’m so happy for you. Both of you!” she exclaims. There’s a sense of uncertainty, or maybe it’s confusion? Doubt dominates her tone either way.

“Yep. One night with me and she was addicted. Dick is really that good,” Ares boasts. Audra struggles to swallow the liquid in her mouth and Ravyn smacks his arm. All I can do is scoff, he’s a terrible liar. Obviously, we need to get our story straight before we do this.

“Goddamn it, Ares. I knew we couldn’t pull this off. If you can’t convince them, you definitely can’t convince my family,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Yeah, I wasn’t buying it,” Ravyn says.

“This makes a lot more sense than you two dating,” Roman adds in.

“You guys are assholes! I could totally get a girl like Kat,” Ares says, crossing his arms across his chest. I laugh, rubbing the top of his arm.

“Sure you could, big guy,” I tease, lacing each word with sarcasm. He could, though. I know he could and I’m nearly certain he knows he could, too. When he’s touching me, I’m putty in his hands.

Ares holds the keys out to me, jingling them.

“Do you want to drive?” he offers. I shake my head. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ve grown fond of playing passenger princess with my fake boyfriend.

“No, I like when you drive,” I admit. There’s an obvious grin on his face when I say it.

All I do the entire drive back to my house is try to hype myself up enough to ask him to sleep with me. Nothing quite as awkward as the good ole ‘hey, since we’re fake dating anyways, wanna pop my cherry?’.

I groan internally, cringing at the words. I hate the term ‘popping my cherry’. I hate the term ‘losing my virginity’. I’m not losing anything, there’s nothing to be popped. I’ll be the same Katherine tomorrow that I am right now.

As a society, we give men way too much power. I can use dildos, tampons, my own fingers, yet the second a penis slips inside, I’m a new and lesser person? Kill me.

Ares parks the car in my driveway and I look at the time, it’s 8:05 P.M.

“Do you want to come in?” I ask, heart hammering in my chest. Tomorrow is Monday but Jacob gave me the day off because classes resume next week. So I have shortened hours with the team this week.

“Yeah, just let me know when you need me to head out, I know you work tomorrow.”

“Actually, I have the day off. I’m yours for the night,” I tell him .

When we walk through the front door, I turn and face him. He’s looking down at me, waiting for me to say something. I’m looking at him like I have something to say.

“Want to keep watching Hardly Dating?” I ask, twiddling with my thumbs.

“We can watch the show right after you tell me why you’re acting so weird tonight.” He sits down on the couch, nodding his head for me to sit next to him. I sit, facing him.

“I am not being weird,” I defend.

“Kat, I’ve never seen you so nervous. Just tell me.”

“I was just thinking about the rules. I thought maybe we could talk about them again.”

“The rules? That’s what has you so nervous? Did I do something to make you uncomfortable?” He tilts his head like a confused puppy.

“No, no. Nothing like that, I promise… The opposite really,” I start. A smirk creeps up on his lips.

“Aww, Kitty Kat, did you catch feelings for me already?” he teases. I scoot a little closer to him.

“I had a whole speech planned about how I think the rules are standing in the way of us faking it better. But if I’m being honest, it has nothing to do with that,” I admit.

I turn my body, pulling my legs up onto the couch to face him more straight on.

“I want to have sex with you. This isn’t like last time, I’m stone-cold sober and this isn’t some impulsive, stupid decision…

Well, it’s not impulsive.” His face is equal parts surprise and amusement.