Page 19 of Incurably Cupid

I raked my hands through my hair, which probably looked like I'd stuck my finger in an electrical socket, and chuckled darkly. “Nope. I have a gargoyle in my bedroom.”

Mordecai raised an eyebrow as he found a whisk. “One, I didn’t know you rolled like that, and two, I’m glad it’s not a student.”

I gaped at him. “I’m not sleeping with him, Mordecai! And are you sleeping with your students?”

He shrugged.

“What does the shrug mean?”I was his friend; I could ask, right? Was I being nosy? Yes! But still—he shouldn’t be sleeping with students!

“Once or twice,” he admitted, dumping everything into a sizzling skillet.

I glared at him, and he hunched his shoulders and turned his back to me. “It was just sex, Indie. It doesn’t mean anything.”

I got up and smacked the back of his head. At his “oww!” I snatched the spatula from him and pushed him toward the table. “You are now required to co-teach Love 101 with me. You can be my teaching assistant. You’ll do better than Horror, at any rate.”

“Lust and love are two different things, my friend.”

I nodded emphatically. “Exactly!”

He sighed deeply and scratched the black stubble on his chin before slumping in his chair. “Yeah, it might be good for me,” he finally said. “I’ll help teach it. It fits into my schedule, anyway.”

I flipped the first omelette out of the pan and served it to him with a fork and napkin, then went to work on Mesmer’s and my own. “What is wrong with you? It’s like you’re self-destructing.”

“You don’t know me well enough to say that,” he argued, glaring at me indignantly while moaning over his food. Seriously, it was just an omelette.

“I’m a cupid! That gives us more authority than any therapist will ever have.” I waved the spatula at him. “And you've got self-destruction written all over you.”

He sat back and shoved his empty plate away. He was quiet for a moment. “Maybe I am, just a little.” He admitted. “What am I doing with my life? I feel so lost since my mate walked out on me.”

I plated my omelette, popped Mesmer’s in the microwave to keep warm, and sat down, dumping ketchup on it. “Mordecai, honestly, you're registering on my cupid senses as someone who's a bit of a mess right now.”

He sat up, a thunderous expression on his face. But before he had the chance to yell at me, I shrugged and raised my hand. “That doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you just like everyone else. The truth is, we all have strengths and weaknesses, and they constantly evolve and change. Are you a bit whiny right now? Yep. A little self-destructive? Also yep. Do you rudely barge into people’s houses at seven-thirty in the morning and invade their fridge? Yeah, you do that too. I've also seen you be kind and thoughtful. You're still hurting. Hurt people hurt people.”

“Myguess? You’ve confused your mate’s cheating and leaving with you having no value. You take what you think you can get instead of what you deserve. You’re a fire lily in a sea of roses.”

I could hear Leo laughing from my bedroom, but I ignored him. “Stars and hearts, the fact that you came to befriend me, the outcast, should tell you something about yourself!”

“It's not that I'm kind, Indie. It's that everyone is wildly jealous and intimidated by you, and I finally decided not to be.”

I choked on my eggs, and he had to round the table and pound on my back. I gulped down some water and felt like a sea gargling nymph when I wetly said, “What?”

He sat down and shrugged. “It’s true. People are either intimidated by you because you’re so good at what you do, or they’re petty and jealous.”

I had no idea how either could be the case considering my inability to match my assignments. “Which one were you?”

“Petty, jealous, and wildly intimidated,” he said, laughing.

“Is this why you gave me sour-puss face all the time?”

“I did not give you sour-puss face!”

“You did too!” Leo chimed in from the back, still eavesdropping.

Mordecai bit his bottom lip in thought, then looked across the table at me. “I’m sorry, Indie. I didn’t mean to be a pompous jerk.”

I smiled. “Forgiven.”

Mordecai's eyes sparkled with interest. “Now, about this gargoyle in your bedroom...”

---