Saving Athena ✓

35) Breath

A t h e n a

"What's with all these hangouts?" Cartier asks, I shrug my shoulders.

"Beats me, Oscar invited us over," I say, turning to face him. His eyes glisten and a smile tugs at his lips. "But who knows? He could just be inviting us over to kill us."

He winces. "Ah, yes, that's always an option."

✧

It's been twenty minutes, and we're not even at Oscar's house yet. I turn to Cartier and narrow my eyes. "Do you know where you're going?"

"Is it bad if I don't?" He winces and makes a u-turn. "I've only been here a handful of times. Oscar isn't very homely." I laugh and pull out my phone. I end up telling him where to turn and such until we finally arrive at his place. Cartier turns to me and high-fives me. "Thank you, Miss Athena."

I slap his shoulder lightly. "I'm free to be your mortal and literal compass anytime, Cartier."

He smiles and we get out of the car. I link my arm around his and shiver from the cold. He wraps an arm around my shoulder and helps me to the house. He offers me his jacket and I take it happily. We knock on the door and after a little bit, Oscar opens the door with a white cat in his hand. His cheeks turn pink as he holds it up. "Look," he smiles like a child. "Kitty."

"Aww," I gush. "They're so cute." Oscar nods and steps to the side, me and Cartier step in, glued to each other. I smile at Eve and Ronan and Ace, his eyes narrow at Cartier and I.

"I think mama bears jealous," Cartier whispers. I laugh before nodding. The arm around my shoulder is peeled off as he goes to the bathroom. I go to walk past Ace but his hand reaches out, his fingers curling around the belt loop of my pants as he yanks me down.

"Oh," my cheeks turn pink. "Hey."

His eyes narrow at the jacket around my body. I shiver from the cold and press it tighter to me. He scowls and tilts his head.

"You okay?" I ask, running a hand through my hair.

"No, I'm not okay," he replies, hand coming up as he presses it against my cheek. "Are you cold?" I nod, his scowl turns deeper as he unzips the jacket and pulls it off of me, I open my mouth to argue but he takes the coat and pelts it at Cartier just as he comes back from the bathroom. "Take your fucking jacket back." He looks back at me, I watch as he takes his coat off and pulls it over my head. I relish in the warmth and he tucks it into place.

"There," his scowl goes away. "Better."

I smile. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

He glares at me and pulls me closer. "You had his jacket on. Shush."

"And now I have yours on," I joke. He smirks arrogantly as my face nuzzles into his chest. He runs his hand through my hair. I bring my knees to my chest and curl up into a ball beside him.

✧

The door is knocked on after a bit, right when I'm about to fall asleep, Eve opens it up and smiles widely when Ronan steps in. He gathers her in a tight hug before he pulls away and waves to us. He sees the cat and smiles, walking over to it but Oscar slaps his hand and pulls the cat closer to his chest. "You haven't earned the right," Oscar mutters.

Ronan scowls. "Fuck you and your cats."

Oscar flips him off like a child, Eve sits back next to Oscar. He hands her the cat and smiles. "She likes you," he says, smiling at how the cat relaxes in her hold, her cheeks turn pink.