Page 13 of Loved By Aphrodite

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you soon.” Tapping the call off, he put the phone in his pocket, grumbling under his breath. Transporting himself to Hestia’s home, he knocked on the door, and when the goddess of the hearth answered, explained what he needed. Hestia was only too happy to let him pick some pears from her garden, as well as a few other fruits she knew were Artemis’s favorites.

“Here you go,” he announced as he popped into Artemis and Cade’s living room, next to the couch where Artemis was curled up, watching a show on the massive TV mounted on the wall. He dropped the basket of fruits on the coffee table with a loud thud.

“You got them for me! Yay!” Throwing the blankets off, she wrapped her arms around him. “Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you.”

“Alright, well, I should get going?—”

“What?” She released him and glanced up, eyeing him carefully. “So soon?”

He prayed for patience silently. “Yeah. I thought you just wanted the pears.”

“I did but…” Her shoulders dropped. “Cade had to attend an emergency meeting with a few of the West Coast Alphas, and I’m all alone until he comes back tomorrow morning. Can’t you please stay for a bit?”

“Artemoula—”

“Please?”

He expelled a breath. “Alright. Fine.” Plopping down on the couch, he looked at the TV. “What are you watching?”

“My Instant Fiancé.”

“My Instant Fiancé? What is that?”

“Oh, my gods, you’ve never heard of this show before?”

“No.”

She let out a squeal as she grabbed the remote. “It’s a reality show. I know it sounds stupid, but I swear, mortals produce the most addicting stuff. It follows couples who get engaged after knowing each other for a short period of time.” Navigating through the on-screen menu, she selected the show and pressed play. “Here, we’ll watch the first episode, I don’t mind.”

Hephaestus grumbled under his breath but hunkered down anyway, turning his attention to the screen.

“On the premiere season of My Instant Fiancé,”began the narrator,“we follow five couples as they navigate the triumphs and trials of being…My Instant Fiancé!”

“Who the hell would get engaged after two weeks of dating?” he said.

Artemis didn’t say anything, but raised a knowing eyebrow.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s different and you know it.”

Before his arranged marriage and divorce, Hephaestus had never spent much time with the former goddess of the hunt. They had been cordial before then, and of course, during the war there was no opportunity to make friends. However, sometime after the divorce, Artemis had come to him for help on one ofher bows. It was during this time that they had formed a bond, unlikely as it may have seemed. She was like an annoying little sister he couldn’t get rid of at first, but he found that he enjoyed her company and didn’t mind her pushy nature. Surprisingly, she never asked him about Aphrodite or what had happened, but if she had, he likely would have put an end to their friendship.

“Humans watch this trash?” he commented.

“I think they watch it because itistrash. Just keep watching, I swear it gets better. This is my favorite storyline—Tulip and Jed.”

Hephaestus turned back toward the screen, focusing his attention on the show. How anyone could be entertained watching this, he couldn’t understand. There surely were so much better things to?—

“What in the world?” he exclaimed. “He told her to shave her unibrow?”

Artemis laughed. “I know right! The nerve of this guy, it’s not like he’s a catch. Jed’s thirty-five, has no job, and still lives with his mother.”

“Tulip’s so sweet too.” Anyone would be lucky to have a fiancé like this woman, who apparently had moved halfway across the country. “I hope she leaves his ungrateful ass.”

“It gets worse.” She wrinkled her nose. “But—no wait, I won’t spoil anything.”

Hephaestus glanced at the clock. He supposed another forty-five minutes wouldn’t hurt.

“He was sending the money to his side chick back home?”

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