A third girl piped up. "He is just too good looking. I can't wait till next year and I get him for English. The perfect amount of eye candy to get me through the day.”
“Yeah, seeing as some of the hottest guys in school are leaving this year.”
“Do you think that senior, that really hot blonde one with the motorcycle, would ever consider going out with an underclassman?” Girl Two asked wistfully.
I chuckled softly and stared up at Hip who was looking at me. He smiled and rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know, Rache. I heard he was raised by humans.” Girl Three said, her tone harsh and full of judgment.
My eyebrows scrunched. Humans? They were saying it like they weren’t, and neither was Hip. I was still staring up at him, but his smile had turned into a scowl and he averted his gaze.
I had my suspicions, but that just confirmed it.
The girl I assumed was Rache gasped. "Really?”
“Yeah. My mom said he’s got that dirty blood,” Three replied, her tone haughty.
“But how? He’s not a half, right?” Girl One hopped in, apparently curious now too.
“That’s the thing. No one knows. I heard my grandpa say he was just washed up on shore. They think some human just abandoned him.”
“Oh, but that just makes his mischievous bad boy thing so much hotter. He’s got a mysterious past.”
The girls finally left the bathroom, taking their conversation and knowledge right along with them.
I sighed and leaned heavily into him. “So, you want to tell me what they meant when they said you were raised by humans?”
He hummed. "I’ll tell you, but it won't be on the bathroom floor. Or at school for that matter.”
I was taken aback. He didn’t try to lie or deny what we just heard. I wanted to demand answers from him now, but I was afraid he would clam up like the rest if I pushed too hard.
“Okay, but where's a good place to tell me?” I pushed.
He was silent for a moment before asking. “You’re working today, right?”
“Yeah, and you have practice.” I pointed out.
“I’ll tell you after practice if you’ve got the time.”
I tilted my head, thinking about how I promised Dad I would go out on the boat with him, but this was my chance to get some answers. He would forgive me if I was a little late.
“I’ll make the time.”
Chapter Twenty
Atalanta
We eventually left the bathroom, waiting for the next bell to ring so we could blend in with the other students. My legs were stiff and my ass was cold, feeling bruised from sitting on the hard ground for so long.
Before Hip and I separated, he slowly brought me in for a hug, giving me ample time to pull away if I wanted, but I didn’t. As his arms wrapped around me, I didn’t feel sympathy or judgment. Just the warmth of friendship.
That warmth carried me through the rest of the day with people’s stares and annoying questions.
Jason never showed up to any of the classes.
I gave into the urge once the bell for the end of the school day rang and pulled out my phone.
Jason? Are you okay?
When I didn’t get a reply immediately, I slipped the phone back onto my pocket.
“You look worried,” Hip asked as he suddenly appeared next to me.
I jumped a little. “You have a habit of doing that.”
“Of being amazingly sneaky?” He shrugged. "It’s less of a habit and more of a talent.”
I sighed. "I haven’t seen or heard anything from Jason.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. Mr. Perfect was probably called away to become the next President of the United States.”
I snorted. “I could believe that.”
He tilted his head towards the parking lot. “Give you a ride to the center?”
I nodded, and we made our way over to his bike.
When we reached the community center, the parking lot had several more cars than usual. Students piled out of a few of them and made their way to the center. The swim team, I guessed. There were more people than I would have expected.
Going through the entrance, I noticed Theseus at the counter talking to Lidia. A little flicker of jealousy sparked in me as I saw how Lidia looked at him. Her eyes constantly running down his torso and back up to his mouth, licking her lips seductively. When she reached across the counter to stroke his hand, I couldn’t help but growl.
“Down, girl,” Hip said with a chuckle. “Lidia isn’t much of a threat to you.”
“She looks like she wants to have him for dinner,” I grumbled.
“She looks at almost all guys like that, but most of us wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole.”
It was then that I realized that I was being openly territorial right in front of one of the guys.
“Shit, Hip. I’m sorry, I probably just hurt your feelings.”
He shook his head. “You didn’t. Well, perhaps a little, but it's something that we’re gonna talk about later. For now, know that it’s okay.”
I smoothed down the sleeves of my jacket. “Okay.”
“I’m going to head to practice. You have a good day at work,” He said, before kissing my forehead and sauntering down the hall which I knew lead to the pool.
I took a deep breath before walking up and behind the counter to put my things in the office and grabbing my work clothes out of my bag.
I felt familiar hands slide along my hips and down to the tops of my thighs before sliding back up again.
“You didn’t say hi,” Theseus whispered in my ear.
I turned so that I was facing him, his hands still at my hips. "I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation.”
I tried to keep the jealous expression off my face, and I knew I succeeded when Theseus did not look concerned.
He nuzzled my nose with his. “I’ll happily take an interruption from you any time.”
I giggled, and with a little surge of courage, got up on my tip toes and gave him a peck on the lips. I saw behind Theseus that Lidia was glaring at us, which made me reach back up on my toes to kiss him again, this time less chaste and with more claim to it.
Mine.
When I pulled away, his lips tried to follow mine, his eyes closed.
I tapped on his chest. “I’m gonna go get changed and we can get started, okay?”
He nodded, the look in his eyes telling me he wasn’t just staring at my lips to read what I was saying.
With a bit of a skip in my step, I went to the bathroom and quickly swapped out my…somewhat nice jacket and jeans with sweat pants and an old long sleeve that had holes in a couple of places.
Today we worked front to back, going from room to room to tidy up and swap out the trash bags people filled up since yesterday. My mind was constantly wandering to where I knew the swim team was practicing and hoping I would get a chance to slip away to watch them before they finished. I was also thinking about Jason and why I hadn’t heard back from him personally.
Not long after my shift started, I got a text message from Hip—I don’t know how he got my phone and put his contact info in under ‘Usain Bolt’— with a photo of Jason in a speedo, the caption reading:
“It seems Mr. Perfect has lost the election and decided to return.”
I was glad Jason was okay, but I wish he would have texted me himself. In fact, I wondered how I had even missed his arrival.