The pit of anger in my stomach flared at the thought of those girls who had laid a hand on Atalanta. After hearing about what happened from Jason the day before yesterday and then actually seeing the fading bruises and scratches on her face today, my protective instincts were kicked into overdrive.
It's what pushed me to finally claim her. To pull her close and claim those lips as mine and damn had it stirred something in me that I thought had been dead long ago. I had felt the sting of rejection when she pushed me away but was somewhat comforted to know it was because of her loyalty to Jason and his feelings towards me. Not because she didn't carry the same level of attraction that I held towards her.
I admired that loyalty, though I hoped it wouldn't constantly come between us in the future.
I wondered if perhaps I should discuss this with Jason, but first I had to get rid of Lidia.
I snapped my attention back to the girl who was still checking me out and placed a mask of authority on.
"I'm sure Jason would love to hear more about your day with the children but unfortunately I need him for some paperwork in my office," I said walking the rest of the way to them and behind the desk with Jason. His computer was still open to the site that discussed the details of the date I had suggested he and Atalanta go on.
"What paperwork?" Jason asked, his tone nothing but indignant.
I wanted to kick him out of that chair.
"The paperwork for the new shipment of books I have coming in tomorrow,” I said, glad that I was able to maintain my calm tone.
“Oh, alright…”
He nodded a goodbye to Lidia, got up, and went to the back room. I gave Lidia my own curt nod before heading in after him. She did not look happy to have her eye candy taken.
My office was still…cluttered. As I hadn’t had the opportunity or drive to tidy up, there were still piles of books everywhere along with stacks of papers. It was a bit too dim for Jason’s eyes, so I flicked up the dimmer.
“Your office is a wreck, Percy.”
I shrugged off his comment. It was organized chaos.
“I believe we have other things to worry about beyond the condition of my office."
“Atalanta?" He asked.
"She's intelligent and has pretty much figured out what's going on. I haven't said anything directly, but our next move should be figuring out what to tell her. Whether we brush this off or bring her in."
Technically it wasn't a lie as I hadn't actually told Atalanta anything about our true identities.
"I don't want her to know.”
My eyebrows shot up, surprised at this insecure version of the man I had known. "Are you ashamed of yourself, Jason? Because you should be proud of what you are."
Our truth wasn't a completely guarded secret. We didn't go around shouting it to everyone we met, typically only telling a select few we cared for deeply. The humans in town preferred not to get involved. While a small number knew the truth and most had an idea, they kept it to themselves rather than being tagged as nut jobs by the media.
Every so often, some overzealous snoop poked around, trying to find evidence to support their suspicions but with a few suggestive words, almost all of them disappeared. And the few that didn't? Oh, the advantages of this modern day. Anything they ever got out to the world was seen as some sort of hoax, leaving them discredited.
"I like her, and I don't want her freaking out before I've even gotten the chance to really know her." He slumped into one of the high back chairs I had propped near the wall for reading. “Besides, if we tell her then there might come a time where my family gets involved and we both don’t want that.”
He was correct. I loathed Jason’s family as much as he was subservient to them. Telling Atalanta would get their attention if they weren’t already privy to the human girl who was asking too many questions.
But still.
“She already knows something is going on. If you want to stay in her good graces, I would advise you to tell her the truth,” I pointed out.
"Why don't you tell her then if you're so insistent on it,” He said defensively.
"Because you're the first one she's actually given a chance and the one who first seemed to arouse her suspicions. Therefore, the truth will be better coming from you."
Jason had told me about his first moments of meeting Atalanta. Having grown up in a town so familiar with our oddities that no one questions them anymore made him careless. At first, I thought that the girl had simply let it go, perhaps even forgotten about it, but today she had shattered our comfort and delved right in to try and discover our secrets.
Jason sprung out of his self-pitying slouch, his eyes wide.
"The first one? There are others? Who?" He studied me for a long moment. "Percy. Do you like Atalanta?"
I held back a chuckle, amused by the fact that he had only seemed to focus on the suitor part of my statement.
“Yes, I fancy her. She intrigues me,” I admitted, knowing that hiding the truth would make this harder on him.
I watched his heart break before my very eyes. The question was whether his sadness was from my confession that he was not the only one after the girl's heart or that I was interested in someone other than him.
Jason was a good kid who I had watched grow into a handsome young man over the decade I had lived on the surface. And while I had felt some attraction to him once he came into his own and I was made aware of his crush towards me, he was my employee and still had a lot of life to live. Atalanta was the first person besides me that he seemed to show interest and I felt inclined to make sure he did not screw it up. However, that didn't mean I would sit back and let him have her all to himself.
I knelt down in front of him. "Jason. I have known you for many years at this point. And while you are my employee, I feel that I should tell you I know about your feelings for me."
His cheeks reddened immensely and slowly his eyes came up to meet mine, wide like a deer in headlights.
“When? How?"
"Probably before you even realized. But what's crucial is that this girl is important, and you shouldn't let the idea of other suiters stand in your way."
"But it's hopeless. You’re…well, amazing, and if I'm up against you in a race for her affection…trust me, it's going to be you every time."
My mind flashed back to earlier when she had pushed me away for his sake despite the lust and hunger I had seen in her eyes.
A small smile spread across my lips. “Don't count yourself out of the running yet."
I stood up and made my way to the door, wanting to give him a moment to process the things I'd said.
Before I left, I turned back to him. "I would start by telling her the truth."
Chapter Fourteen
Jason
Tell her the truth? But how could I do that?
It was the next day, and I stood on the steps of Atalanta's rundown cabin. At least it looked like someone had replaced the missing window panes. I was nervous, more nervous than I'd ever been on a date. Of course, this was the first time I'd ever gone out with someone I actually liked instead of just keeping up appearances.
Yesterday had been a rolling thunderstorm of emotions for me. Percy insisting I tell her the truth, and then revealing I wasn't the only one after her, and confessing he knew about my feelings?
Fuck.
Fucking fuck me up the tailpipe without lube.
Nothing is more embarrassing than your longtime crush admitting they know about your feelings and admitting they have feelings for your new crush.