Goddess of Love (Goddess Summoning #5)(58)

She was hurt! By Hercules's scraggly scrotum, Griffin had hurt her when he hadn't returned, and the reminder of believing he'd stood her up still hurt!

"Oh, gosh! Hi, Griffin." Pea's sweet voice broke the silence.

Venus turned back to Griffin to see Pea looking flustered, but holding out her hand for him to shake. The goddess's heart plummeted into her stomach.

Griffin's smile was genuine as he took her hand. "Hello, neighbor. Nice to see you again, Pea. I should have realized you were the friend Venus was helping out here at the college."

"You should have?" Pea asked, with a confused little smile.

"Yeah, at the masquerade party Venus said you two were close. Actually maybe you could help me out here. I'm trying to make up for the fact that I got pulled away by business that night and left her outside by herself too long."

"At Lola's masquerade?"

"Yeah, and now she's pissed." He glanced at Venus, and what he saw made him add, "Not that I blame her. But I can make it up to her. Tonight. With dinner. How about you act as my reference and convince her that I'm just an ordinary guy and not an axe murderer."

"Or a liar?" Pea asked, only she wasn't looking at Griffin. She was staring at Venus.

"Definitely not a liar," Griffin said. "That's what I want to prove to her."

"Pea, I can - "

Pea's blank expression didn't change, but she interrupted the goddess with a smooth, "Venus will let you make up for your mistake." Venus opened her mouth, but Pea talked right over her.

"I have a date tonight, so it's only right she should have one, too."

Venus blinked in shock. "A date? Tonight? With..."

Pea's blank mask cracked just a little. "With him, Victor. He came to my office while you were teaching class."

"And all is well between the two of you?" Venus asked.

"Yes, everything's okay," Pea said coolly. Then she cut her eyes at Griffin. "So there's no reason you shouldn't go out with him. None at all." Pea gave her a tight smile before walking quickly away.

Griffin stepped closer to her and Venus felt her stomach flutter again.

"Say you'll go out with me tonight." His gaze caught hers, pulling it away from Pea's retreating back. They stared at one another. Griffin was so close Venus could easily imagine his body against hers, and even through her worry for Pea, she found herself wondering what it would feel like if she and Griffin were naked and able to take their time pleasuring each other. Would it be as good as the rush of lust she had experienced during their hasty coupling under the tree...?

"Yes, I will," Venus heard herself say.

He stepped even closer to her and Venus could smell his unique scent and feel the heat of his body. "You won't regret it," he said.

"I - I have to go talk to Pea," Venus said abruptly. "I'll see you tonight." She started to walk away, but his voice made her pause.

"When and where tonight?"

"Six o'clock." She picked the time randomly, her mind already trying to figure out what she was going to say to her friend. "Oh, and right now I live with Pea." At least Venus hoped she still did. Griffin smiled and nodded. "I'll be there at six sharp, my goddess."

Pea was sitting at her desk staring at the wall when Venus entered her office. The goddess couldn't remember when she'd ever felt so terrible.

"Forgive me, Pea," she said, without any preamble. "I should have told you that I'd been with Griffin that night."

Pea shrugged and wouldn't meet her eyes. "Whatever. You're a goddess, and goddesses can do whatever they want."

"No, that's not true." Venus sat heavily in Pea's interview chair. "Actually you are partially right. As a goddess I can literally do whatever I want to do, but as your friend there are things I wouldn't do."

"You mean like go after the guy I have a major crush on while you're making it look like you're helping me catch him?"

"That's not how it happened."

Pea finally looked at her and Venus hated the hurt that so obviously filled the mortal woman's eyes. "Then explain it to me, because from where I'm sitting it looks exactly like that's what happened. And worse than that, it looks like you're one of those terrible girls who made me so miserable in high school."

"Oh, Pea, no!" Venus felt her eyes fill with tears. "Please don't think that! What happened was an accident, and the biggest mistake I made was not telling you about it."

Pea lifted her chin and finally met Venus's gaze. "I just want to know one thing. Was it all a lie?

All that stuff you told me about myself?"

Tears spilled down Venus's cheeks. "No! I didn't lie to you, not even about Griffin. I just didn't tell you everything I should have. I wanted to. I even started to. But I didn't want to hurt you. And," Venus added as she wiped at her face with the back of her hand, "I didn't want to lose your friendship."

"Tell me what happened."

Venus drew a deep breath and told Pea everything - from the instant connection she'd felt - and tried her best to ignore - with Griffin to how he approached her at the masquerade. By the time Venus got to the part about him ravishing her under the tree, Pea was listening wide-eyed. Then she explained how she believed Griffin had stood her up.