“I don’t know that I care for it,” Mist replied, selecting a third piece.
“And yet you keep eating it.”
“I can’t seem to stop myself.”
Eva chuckled and then winced, shifting atop her pile of couch pillows with a hand over her abdomen. A movie played on the TV that neither of them paid much attention to. “I think that means you like it.”
His eyes narrowed as he chewed his fourth piece. “I remain unconvinced.”
Eva shifted again with a muffled groan. “These cramps are a bitch.”
As far as Mist was concerned, she was clearly a human—angel blood or not, she still suffered from the agonies of the human female race.
“And this movie’s terrible, isn’t it?”
“It is difficult to grasp the appeal of watching humans that don’t exist struggle with problems that aren’t real.” He watched the on-screen couple regard each other warily from across a crowded room. “I have observed many real humans with real problems. I don’t see the need to invent new ones for entertainment.”
“Maybe it’s so we can dissociate from our own for a while.” Eva grabbed a handful of popcorn and consumed it with relish.
“Their issues could be solved in one conversation. Why are they incapable of basic communication?”
She laughed, though it ended with another wince. “You just summarized half the romance genre in two sentences. Though to be fair, this movie is especially bad.”
Mist watched her grimace as she held her abdomen. “You appear to be in pain.”
She cocked a brow. “Ya think?”
“Where is your electrical blanket? Have you taken a numbing pill?”
She burst out laughing. “You crack me up, Mist.”
He frowned.
“I have my blanket here, but I’m sweating already in this heat, and I don’t want to be any hotter. And I already took a painkiller. But… there is something I want.”
“What?”
She closed her eyes, and a wistful smile overtook her face. “Ice cream.”
“Ice cream?”
“Chocolate ice cream. With chunks of chocolate. And swirls of chocolate. And sprinkles of chocolate.”
“That sounds like a lot of chocolate.”
“The more the merrier.”
“Perhaps you can arrange for Asmodeus to procure this for you.”
“It’s Thursday night, remember? He’s at Bootleg, and there’s no way I’m calling him back.” The jazz club Eva worked at had a weekly jam she and Asmodeus often attended. “I’m still amazed he went without me. I’m so proud of him for coming out of his shell.”
Mist tilted his head as he considered this. “Asmodeus is lucky to have you.”
“He is, isn’t he? I’m quite a catch.”
“Catch? But you told me you were with him willingly. How can that be if he had to catch you?”
“No, that’s not—” She dragged a hand down her face. “It’s a figure of speech. Nobody caught anybody. That’s not how real relationships work. Everything is mutual and consensual.”
