Page 21 of Incurably Cupid

“Dude!” Mordecai exclaimed, throwing sticky popcorn at him. “I haven’t seen this one yet!”

Mesmer shrugged. “I haven’t either. It’s obvious.”

I snickered. “Maybe obvious to you.”

The movie was only halfway over when Mesmer crashed. Lance took him to his room, and Mordecai and I tried to gently get him into bed without dropping him on the floor.

“This guy,”puff, wheeze,“ismassive,” Mordecai groaned. We made it to the bed, but as we dropped him, he bounced a little. He didn’t even wake up. He just kept sleeping.

“You’re not wrong. Leo, what’s his temp?” I asked, feeling Mesmer’s forehead.

“100.2.”

“Hmm. Better than yesterday.” I looked at Mordecai. "Amskray, I’m going to check under his bandages.”

“You can’t do that right now! He's asleep!” Mordecai said indignantly.

I grimaced. “You’re right. You better stay. Just... face away from the bed. Look at the lovely bathroom with the amazing amenities of a toilet, sink, and shower.”

Mordecai chuckled as he spun away from the bed and checked out my bathroom. “You’re right. Your bathroom is lightyears ahead. It makes me mad that I have to bathe in a tin tub with sputtering, smoking candles every night.”

I scoffed. Mordecai’s fancy mansion in Devotion was legendary. He was a cupid of some renown, inherited from his parents and his own hard work. I guess that had come back to bite him in the butt when it came to finding love. He also, apparently, taughtStatistics of Lovefor fun. So, really, there was no saving him.

I peeled up Mesmer’s shirt, feeling like a creeper because I hadn’t asked his permission, then carefully removed a few of the bandages and got a good look underneath. Most looked fine. The ones that the doctor had been worried about still looked kind of nasty, but they did look better than yesterday.

“Don’t fondle him,” Mordecai warned.

I snorted. “As if you have room to talk. And I’m not.” I lowered his tee shirt and pulled the covers up over him. “He looks like he’s healing, definitely better than yesterday. Let’s let him sleep.”

We made our way back to the movie, but I could tell Mordecai wasn’t really in the mood to watch it anymore. So, we just sat and talked.

“So, he’s the big guy you’ve been working on for a year or so now.”

I nodded, scooping up a piece of bread and dipping it into the artichoke dip. “Yeah, he’s been a tough one. Never been assigned to a gargoyle before.”

Mordecai looked thoughtful. “Did you know they don’t find their mate until they... exchange saliva?”

I choked. “What!”

“Yeah, I’ve been looking into it for you, asking the sentient tech at the Cupid U library to do a little research. Their sense of smell is only slightly better than a human’s, and they lack the intuition that vampires and other shifters have. The only way for them to tell is through taste.”

I gaped at him. “So... the only way for me to find his soulmate is to get him to kiss a million women?”

Mordecai frowned. “It doesn't sound half bad, actually.”

“You are such a... ugh!” I picked up a popcorn bowl and dumped it on his head, then went to change so I could hit up the Cupid U library.

“I’m such a what?” Mordecai said, trailing me to my bedroom door and speaking through it when I shut it in his face.

I quickly threw on a black Cupid U sweatshirt and dark wash skinny jeans, then sat on the bed to put on my shoes. Grabbing my keys, I tossed my ID lanyard over my head.

I opened my bedroom door so quickly that Mordecai almost fell on top of me. “You’re a pig.”

“I am not!”

“You sleep with your students, probably love it when they flirt with you and call youprofessor,and you’re jealous because Mesmer might have to kiss a whole country to find his mate. You. Are. A. Pig.”

Mordecai rubbed his chest over his heart, as if my words were causing him physical pain “You’re being awfully judgy.”

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