Clarrisa's POV

“Look, there’s Damon!” Griffin says, waving at him.

I freeze.

I knew Damon had been watching the entire time, but now he knew I was aware of him looking at me. If I wanted this to work, I had to ignore him.

Usually, I would go straight to him, but this time I let Ares lead me into the beach house. I know it would hurt him that I didn’t even bother to turn around and look at him, but this had to be done.

Letting Ares hug me earlier was not part of the initial plan, but I wanted to make it as believable as possible. He knew I was upset this morning. I wanted to show him that this wasn’t just one of my ‘tantrums.’

I wanted him to know that he wasn’t the only one that could go on dates. All along I’ve made it super easy for Damon; I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

“He’s glaring at your back,” Autumn whispers to me.

Good, he can see me walking away from him. I’ve played nice all along, and maybe Damon got the wrong impression from me.

This way, he can get a clear picture of what I wanted. It was time that I fought for him. If he told me he didn’t feel the same way, I would be heartbroken, but at least I would know I tried.

I wasn’t sure when exactly I would be ready to confess my feelings to Damon, but for now, I would show him very subtle signs.

“I’m surprised to see you today after you disappeared last night,” Ares tells me. “You promised you would return, but you never did. I waited the whole night for you.”

I try not to laugh at his words. Did he think I would believe that? Ares Prince, waiting for a woman to return?

“I’m sure you found someone else at the dance,” I say.

I look around me; the girls here were dressed in even smaller bikinis than mine. And they all were glaring at me. I forgot for a moment that I was the main target of bullying. Did I make a mistake by coming here today?

“Why is she even wearing a cover-up?” Someone whispers behind me. I try my best to ignore them. I was happy that I at least had Autumn next to me in case things took a turn for the worse.

“Do you want to take a swim with me?” Ares asks as he puts his arm around me. It felt weird.

Just last night, I was in Damon’s arms, and it felt so much better than this. I would much prefer it was Damon with me here and not Ares. Even if I told Damon the truth, what would that mean for us?

It’s not like our family would ever be supportive of our relationship. Everything would turn into a big mess if they found out. That was my biggest fear besides Damon rejecting me.

“Clarissa?” Ares asks again.

“I’m not so sure that’s such a good idea,” I answer him as I move his hand from around me. I was scared that my coverup would slip and reveal the tattoo.

“Why not?” He asks me. “We can have some fun in the water. My brothers are in there with some of their girlfriends. I can introduce you to them if you haven’t met them already.”

Could he possibly be referring to Carter? Now knew more than ever that I didn’t want to go into the water with him.

“I’m fine here with Autumn,” I explain. “You don’t need to stay with me. You can look around and find someone else to swim with.”

He chuckles, “you’re playing hard to get, aren’t you? If that’s the case, you know exactly how to get a guy to want you. Because that’s what I want right now, you; I want you, Clarissa.”

“Well, that’s just too bad,” Damon says behind me. I gasp. How long had he been standing there? Was he listening to our conversation this entire time?

“Damon.” Ares greets him with a smile. He lifts his hand for a handshake, but Damon ignores it.

“I was just asking Clarissa to join me in the water.” He informs him.

“That can’t happen because Clarissa is coming home with me. Right now.” Damon explains. I spun around to gape at him. I didn’t want to go in the water, but I never agreed to leave the party with him. That was the plan from the start, to get Damon to leave Anya and come for me but the plan was about to change.

“I’m not going anywhere, Damon,” I tell him when I spot Anya behind him. I wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

“You heard that, big brother?” Ares asks him.

“Clarissa said that she’s staying. Besides, we have plenty of fun activities to look forward to. We were all just about to play some spin the bottle.” I freeze.

Spin the bottle? Wasn’t that a kissing game? I couldn’t play that! I promised to give Damon my first kiss, and I wouldn’t break that promise. Not for a stupid game.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” I tell him.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Anya cuts in. “I think Damon and I would enjoy playing this game.”

Did she really say that? Was she okay with kissing another man while her ‘mate’ was right there? I’m sure Damon didn’t feel the same way that she did.

“Clarissa is still pretty much a child.” She adds.

“She wouldn’t enjoy a game like this.

“No.” I cut in. “I think this game might be fun after all. Anya is right. Let’s all play.” Ares grins. “I’m happy to have so many new players. It was beginning to get boring seeing the same players every single time. This will add some excitement.”

“Are you playing as well?” Anya asks Autumn.

“Are you insane?” She demands. “I’ll rather not have my husband freak out at home when he hears about this. I’m going to sit this one out. You guys enjoy.”

“You can count me in,” Griffin adds behind us.

This was becoming weird. What if the bottle landed on Griffin? I definitely would not be kissing him. While I didn’t see Damon as my brother, I did see Griffin that way.

“We have a twist in the game. If the players refuse to kiss each other, they must kiss the player next to them.” Ares tells us. “I think it’s fair enough. We don’t want anyone backing out. We take our games quite seriously.”

I’ve never heard about this rule before. But maybe that was an excellent addition to the game.

If it landed on Griffin, I’d have to kiss the person next to me instead. But would I be brave enough to kiss anyone that wasn’t Damon?

I just had to hope that some magic happened that could help me out. I looked at Autumn just then, and she winked at me. She was thinking the same thing that I was.

I was safe, after all. Now all we had to do was start the game.