My Date From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy, #2)

Oh, to have popcorn! (Part 3)

"Don't kill my happy, Fee." I still couldn't believe Kai had tried to kill Persephone.

Kai looked at us both like he was totally lost, then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his shirt cuffs scrunching up with the motion. He lazily eyed me up and down.

I could feel his gaze on me and tried not to visibly shiver.

Don't drool ...

Channeling classic girly girl, I gave a flirty head toss, hoping it might upgrade my hair from limp and sweaty to something slightly less "wet dog." "Glad you got out unharmed."

Kai's gaze never wavered from me. "Me too. Otherwise I couldn't ask you on a date. Wanna go on a date with me, Sophie Bloom?"

"Is that a euphemism?" Festos asked from behind me. "Because you don't date."

Kai shot him the finger.

A date, huh. Until I convinced Pierce to just shoot us into falling in love, I guessed it wouldn't hurt to go on a date, since getting to know each other better was important when falling in love. I could handle that. "That would work."

Kai focused on me with a look so intense it could fool any girl into believing she was the only thing of worth that existed. "It'll be fun."

Oh my, yes. My smiled widened. My heart raced. I was lightheaded with anticipation.

And nerves. Definitely nerves.

Because Kai was an ancient god who'd been with how many girls? During Persephone's absence alone I got the sense he'd bagged a lot of trophies. Whereas my dating experience was limited to practically zilch.

I took a step back, discreetly wiping my palms on my thighs. I knew we had to be in love by the time the equinox rolled around in a couple of months. But especially if Pierce wasn't going to help, I needed to proceed at a comfortable rate. I could talk big but channeling my feminine wiles wasn't easy for me. It was actually kind of scary. Especially with Kai. Nevermind all my other issues with her.

"It would. Be fun. But we wouldn't want to rush things."

"Speak for yourself," he said, reaching for me.

I ducked out of his way. I'd set the pace here. "Nope. You don't get what you want this time."

Kai just grinned and grabbed me around the waist. He leaned in close. "I always get what I want."

"Bos-sy," Festos called out.

I flashed him a huffy scowl.

Then I tilted my head up to look at Kai.

Bad move. His face was inches from mine.

"What's the matter, Goddess?" he murmured, his eminently kissable mouth right there in smooching reach. "What are you scared of?" He dragged his finger up to my lip.

Was that a challenge? I couldn't help myself. I bit his finger.

His eyes flared dark.

"Holy Hannah, sister," Festos said. "Changed my mind. Go with him before I combust over here."

I walked forward, intent on backing Kai up against the wall. Making it clear I was in charge.

It halfway worked. Kai managed to flip our positions in a fluid motion so that my final step resulted in my back hitting the wall.

I gazed at him through half-lowered lashes. "Whatcha gonna do, bad boy?"

Kai leaned in, bracing his arms on either side of me. He shot me a grin that was 90% Cheshire cat and 10% wolf. "Do you even need to ask?"

His low, slightly accented voice vibrated through me all the way to my toes.

I barely registered Festos' laughing comment of, "Ooh, I wish I had popcorn."

Every cell in my body was hyper-aware of Kai, but other than my fingers twining into his soft, thick hair, neither of us pulled closer.

My body throbbed with wanting him so badly. But I couldn't bring myself to close the gap between us and kiss him. It was irrational, but I was the tiniest bit nervous. Even though we'd kissed before, we were starting down a whole new path. Everything was on the line.

I chickened out. Instead, I made it his move, jutting my chin out, daring him to kiss me.

I thought he was going to. Not like he hadn't before. But no. His eyes flared and an odd look crossed his face. Kai balled his hands into fists with a growl and took a step back. "Go back to Hope Park. I'll meet you there and we'll have our date. Properly." He vanished.

My jaw fell open.

It was only somewhat comforting that Festos had the same expression on his face. "Did he just say what I think he did?"

I nodded, still stunned.

Festos looked worried. "You sure he wasn't hit on the head?"

"Thanks a lot, dummy. Maybe he's trying to do this the right way. Maybe I'm worth that?" Hope and doubt warred inside me resulting in a churning, queasy feeling in my belly.

"Maybe."

I kissed Festos on the cheek, grabbed my coat, and carefully placed my flower in my pocket. After Festos pried the door free of the lava so we could open it, he came outside to cover me in case of incoming minions. None were about so I headed straight to my tree transport and back to school.

I arrived in a secluded corner of the back field in time to see Pierce holding a gold arrow. Along with Theo and Hannah, he stared at Bethany across the grass. As usual, she was holding court. The rain had stopped and the sun broken through, making it warm enough to hang outside.

I hurried over to my friends.

No sign of the Gold Crushers or Infernorators. Theo caught my upwards glance. "Reinforced the wards," he said as I approached. "Don't know if they're coming back with new tricks, but all is quiet for now."

"Any luck?" Hannah asked.

I pulled out my chocolate flower and cracked off a piece for Hannah. "Kai's back. He brought gifts. He'll be here soon." I popped a petal in my mouth. "But in terms of the memory retrieval?" I shook my head and tried not to think of pain that came at levels of fourteen. "Plan B it is." I munched on the daisy.

She gave my arm a consoling squeeze before stealing the last piece of chocolate.

"Is it time for the firing squad?" I asked. "Who's the contender?"

Hannah laughed and pointed over to Jackson Birt, doltish jock extraordinaire, currently attempting to crush a pop can with his head. After two misses he succeeded, thumping his chest with a "Who da man?" and a large belch.

"Not evil but still stupid, sexist, and egocentric," Theo said.

"He'll do nicely," I agreed.

Pierce nodded. "Aphrodite has her knickers in a twist about getting this done, and now. Soon as Bethany gets in line with him? Showtime. Then your turn."

"Curious about how any of it went?" I asked Theo as we waited. "Because Festos was delightful."

Hannah got the significance of the scowl Theo bestowed upon me. "Really?" she gushed. "Do tell."

"Nothing to tell," Theo said. "Except treachery and deceit."

"He was cute, if you like them cooler than thou," I told Hannah.

"All the best love stories have treachery and deceit. Right, Sophie?" Pierce asked, as he notched up the arrow, Bethany coming ever closer.

"I wouldn't know. Or care. All I want is to get Persephone's memories back."

He let the arrow fly. "And we're off," he told Hannah, since she couldn't actually see his arrows.

"Has it hit her yet?" Hannah asked.

I shook my head, watching in fascination as it flew straight and true toward Bethany, waiting for the the hopefully painful impact.

But it never came. Instead, it flew right into Kai, who had chosen that moment to follow me.