“So,” Linda begins, her eyes going over my face again, “tell me why we’re just hearing about you.” Ares looks up then, giving me his full attention.
Taking in a deep breath, I return her gaze, and answer, “I didn’t know anything about being a Synergist, or about any of this really.” My shoulders shrug. “It took the guys a little while to convince me they weren’t crazy.”
Linda frowns, her eyes going over my shoulder. “But—”
“Mom, we should probably head out. We can talk about it in the car,” Milo interrupts, saving me from explaining what I’m not sure I understand myself.
Chapter 13
“I’m sorry, Milo. It’s an emergency, or I wouldn’t go,” Stephen tells him after returning to the room following a brief phone call.
“What’s going on?” I whisper to Dante, watching Milo reach up to give the man a hug.
“Stephen is a surgeon. He must have been called into work,” Dante answers.
“Well, at least I got the call before we left.” Stephen heads over in my direction with Linda wrapped under his arm. He gives Linda a soft squeeze with a disappointed frown on his face. “I’m really sorry I can’t stick around longer, Laura. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to getting to know you.”
Milo comes to my side. “It’s okay Dad, really,” he answers for both of us.
Stephen quickly hustles out the door thereafter, leaving the rest of us to figure out the driving situation.
After a short debate about riding in two vehicles, we finally settle on all riding together in a black suburban. Phil and Matt are in the front. Ares, Linda, and I are in the middle row, which leaves Dante, Milo, and Ollie crammed into the very back. Good thing Columbia is only a forty-minute ride. I offered several times to trade places with Dante—he’s the tallest of those in the very back—but he refused, not meeting my eyes. At one point it was on the tip of my tongue to demand he change seats with me, but I bite my lip to keep the words in. I narrow my eyes on him; I don’t like it when he ignores me, that feeling of wanting to punish him wells up inside me.
I turn to face Ares, pleading with my eyes for a distraction. Everything feels so raw, like one little thing will push me over the edge and I’ll lose my shit, it won’t be nearly as pretty as Linda and her crying episode either.
Ares lifts his arm and tucks me into his side, I close my eyes, absorbing the calm he’s exuding. “Ready?” Phil questions everyone in the car, looking in the rearview mirror briefly before pulling onto the long driveway.
“I got another room at the hotel. We’ll be there while you’re all at the banquet this afternoon. I have a few things I need to finish up with work. What are the plans for this evening?” Ares breaks the silence in the car a few minutes into our trip.
“We should celebrate.” Linda claps her hands together once, like she’s been waiting to say something for a while.
Ares, ever bossy, apparently even with Milo’s parents, shuts her down immediately. “Not this time.” He at least softens his words when he tells her. Linda turns to face him, her eyes narrowed like she might argue. Before she can, he continues, “We have bigger issues than having to convince Laura what she is to us.” Ares looks down at me, his lips tip up in an infinitesimal smile. He returns his gaze to Linda and any evidence of his face softening is gone. “Laura’s mom disappeared not long after they moved here.” I feel a hand on my shoulder from one of the guys in the back. “The circumstances are suspicious.” He drops the information in a matter-of-fact fashion, sounding completely unaffected. I try not to let it bother me, since I’ve noticed Ares’s demeanor can change depending on who’s around.
“Oh, honey, that’s terrible.” Linda grabs my hand, petting over my fingers. Her concern seems genuine, and I don’t really know how to process it. Directing her attention back to Ares she asks, “What are you doing about it?” I wince at her tone, she sounds like she’s accusing him of failing me somehow.
Completely unbothered by her question he answers without hesitating. “I’m still gathering information at this point. That’s why we haven’t announced ourselves to the community. There’s more to this than we can cover in a short car ride.” I wrap my hand over his thigh, leaning on him a little more. I don’t like the way he’s taking on all the responsibility.
Linda seems to take the hint that Ares has told as much as he’s going to right now. She stays quiet for a few minutes with her gaze focused out the window. With a heavy sigh. she pats my leg. Her touch is different from the guys, but I don’t feel as uncomfortable as I thought I might. Taking her hand from my leg she reaches over her shoulder and Milo places his hand in hers immediately. “I really am so happy for you guys.” I can tell she’s close to getting weepy again. That makes me uncomfortable.
“We’re happy, too, Mom,” Milo interjects before she can say much more.
“How about dinner?” Phil offers from the front seat. “I can see if the hotel has a private room available, or we could just find a nice, small place to grab a bite later this evening.”
“We can have dinner at home where we can all be comfortable,” Ares chimes in. He turns so he can see Milo in the backseat. “Or we can stay in Columbia, it’s up to you.” I’m pressed so close to him, I feel the muscles in his torso shift as he turns his body.
“I’m okay with going back home, but I feel bad that everyone came all the way out here just for this,” Milo answers.
“Milo, this is important. We want to be here,” I tell him before thinking about it, and I glance over at his mom, feeling a little self-conscious for speaking up.
Linda’s lips are tipped up in a smile. “She’s right dear, we all want to be here.”
“I know,” Milo mumbles from the back seat.
The drive to Columbia goes pretty fast considering the seating arrangements. We pull up to a fancy hotel with valet parking. I notice a young guy coming over to the driver’s side window, and his eyes go wide as we all pile out of the SUV. Dante and Milo are shaking out their limbs and stretching the moment they crawl out of the back.
Reaching for Dante first, I rub my hands over his shoulders and back trying to help alleviate the soreness. Dante rolls into my hands, reminding me of the big cat he is. After his quick rub down, I head toward Milo; he’s twisting his neck from left to right while his shoulders bounce from him rolling them. He’s a few inches shorter than the other guys, so I’m able to reach his neck and shoulders a little more easily. I give him a few quick squeezes before rubbing my hands down his back. “I’m getting in the back on the way home,” I demand.
Another valet comes over with a wheeled brass cart to help retrieve the bags from the back. “We don’t have any bags,” Ares speaks up as he extends his hand to the man, and when the valet pulls his hand back, I see a flash of light green. He tipped him just for walking over.
Ollie lumbers over, the long lines of his body seemingly unaffected by the car ride. He drops his arm over my shoulders and leans some of his weight onto me. My feet stumble before I recover, and he laughs before adding more weight. I grit my teeth but bear the weight, taking a step with him hanging off of me. “Give me a piggyback ride?” Ollie jokes, lifting his leg like he might try to jump on my back. I giggle and bend my knees ready for the challenge.