Filthy Gods (American Gods 0.5)(18)

I folded my arms across my chest. “That’s risky, Nathaniel.”

He smirked. “I calculated the risks.”

I frowned at him, but he sat down, making the bed seem much smaller.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said, looking down at me.

“Yes, I have,” I admitted, clenching my hands in my lap.

He cleared his throat. “Whatever I did in the past, I apologize.”

I bowed my head, emotions surging through me too fast. I had never expected him to apologize.

“I wanted to treat you as an equal,” he said, softly and my heart seized. “I knew you would despise me if I went gentle on you. I didn’t want to pretend you were a weak opponent. But perhaps, I got carried away.”

My throat felt tight and hot and for once, I couldn’t talk back to him. He was right. I would have despised him even more if he had treated me like a damsel.

“You rejected me,” he said, breaking the tense silence.

My head snapped up. “What?”

“I asked you on a date and you flat out rejected me,” he said.

I shook my head, confused.

“It was our first day. We were being toured around and you kept asking a thousand questions,” he said, his eyes flashing back and forth as if he was reliving the moment. “I asked you on a date and you scoffed at me and walked away.”

I blanched, gripping my throat. “I thought you were making fun of me!”

He laughed, shaking his head. “I was quite serious.”

Dread washed over me as I watched him stare at his leather loafers, his hands between his spread legs.

“Shouldn’t you be with your friends?” I asked, staring at him from underneath my lashes as I fidgeted with the sheets.

His gaze swept over me. “No.”

“I’m not in the mood for sex,” I said quickly and regretted it.

He laughed. “I wasn’t looking for sex.”

Slowly, he leaned forward and I was too scared to move. His lips brushed across mine and I gave in. He kissed me, gently, taking his time and soon we laid back on the bed.

I fell asleep in a god’s arms.





Another few weeks passed and the east coast was full-fledged in a summer heat wave. Most guests spent their days on the sandy beach or safely hidden under beach umbrellas.

As I fanned a fresh clean bed sheet with Mandy on the other side, she grinned at me.

“You’re coming with us tonight,” she said, tucking the sheet under the mattress.

I rolled my eyes. “What’s happening tonight?”

“Duh. It’s Fourth of July tonight. Local house party. Not too far from here. We could walk through along the beach.” When I didn’t respond to her and bent over, tucking my side of the sheet in, she groaned. “Oh c’mon. We all have tonight off. It’s the one night we can actually leave this place and enjoy ourselves. We need a break!”

I shot her a look. “And they’d let us in?”

Danielle fluffed a pillow beside me and nodded eagerly. “I heard the guy throws a party every weekend when he’s here.”

I bit the inside of my cheek and stood up, hands on my hips. “Fine. One night.”

Mandy shook her hips, dancing. “Yes!”

Nathaniel had been away for the last week back in Boston where his father stayed. A strange emptiness had expanded in my chest each day and I tried to ignore it, but it kept building.

I shook off the thought.

As the night approached, Danielle, Mandy, and I all got ready together. It was refreshing to wear something that wasn’t our work clothes. I slipped on a black dress with the skirt a delicate fabric; the same one Nathaniel had said had been too flimsy and grinned at that memory.

“Ready?” Mandy asked. She went for a more casual, ripped jeans and t-shirt combo with Danielle dressed in a hot pink dress.

The three of us ventured onto the dark beach. They had drunk a few glasses of vodka-cranberry while getting ready, but I hadn’t touched any. I didn’t like the feeling alcohol gave me; out of control, loopy, disoriented. I liked being in control; I liked being able to focus.

“So you go to Yale?” Danielle asked, wrapping an arm around mine, letting out a squeal when her foot slipped in the sand.

I nodded.

“Do you get to see the American Gods a lot?” She giggled at her own words, resting her head against my shoulder.

“Sometimes.” I had a lot of classes with James and Nathaniel and one with Gabe. Arsen and I barely crossed paths and I was happy about that.

Even still, I saw the four boys throughout campus. They were treated like celebrities as girls gawked at them when they were nearby.

Even the staff feared them. They wielded too much power for three boys so young. I always viewed Nathaniel as the one keeping the balance, keeping them calm before a storm broke out.

When a professor failed James on the basis of him coming to class intoxicated, the teacher was suspiciously removed from the staff the next day.

I pulled my sweater tighter to my chest to keep warm.

A house brightened the darkened coast and music and laughter echoed out onto the rolling waves.

The closer we got to the grey house, the more I realized just how chaotic the party was. People stood outside on the beach and veranda, drinks in hand. People standing or perched on the roof, jumping into a large in-ground pool of white marble below. In the middle of the beach, a circle of people had formed, from which loud cheers could be heard.