Meph laughed. “I like this snarky side of you. You’re always such a sullen grump. You know, I used to try to rile you up just to get a reaction out of you.”
“I know.”
“Never worked though.”
“Sometimes it did.”
“Not as well as Bel threatening your girlfriend.”
“I’ll kick his ass if he tries anything.”
“I should probably go pass on the warning. See what everyone thinks. Bel will probably try to veto the idea of leaving. He’s way too proud to run away.”
“It’s not just about him,” Raum said, thinking of Eva’s grin as she bid him farewell. “We have other people to look out for now.”
“Trust me, I know. I’d cut my own head off before I put Iris in danger.”
“Iris is more likely to agree with Bel,” Raum said with a shake of his head.
“She’s feisty like that. Doesn’t matter though. I’ll haul her ass out over my shoulder if I have too.” There was a long pause, and then Meph surprised the hell out of him by saying, “I know I’ve been ignoring you lately, and I feel shitty about it.”
Raum winced.
“We haven’t gone out to party in ages. We haven’t even gone to the gym together in a few weeks. We—”
“Stop. We’re not doing this.”
“We are. You were lonely, and I haven’t been around. Because I’m always with Iris.”
“I wasn’tlonely—”
“I’m obsessed with her, dude. It’s bad. She just looks at me and I forget about everything. But I should have been…there for you and shit.”
“Stop. Before I puke all over myself.”
Meph laughed. “Fine. But I just want you to know I’m gonna make more of an effort.”
“You don’t need to do shit.” Raum’s skin crawled with how much he hated this conversation. “I get it. I don’t blame you—”
“Yeah, but—”
“I know how you feel now too.”
“I bet you do.”
There was a pause, and then Meph laughed again. “What happened to us? Remember when we met, and our idea of a good time was jump scaring humans and chopping up gargoyles into tiny little pieces?”
Raum snorted. “Yeah.”
“And remember when I used to help you steal shit? Like that one time we raided Marax’s treasure hoard and took half his stash?”
This time, Raum actually smiled. “We could’ve taken it all if we’d been able to carry it.”
“Hell yeah, we could’ve. But look at us now. We’re simps with a capitalS. Monogamous simps. Committed to one pussy for the rest of time.” He laughed. “Wouldn’t change a thing.”
Raum’s smile dropped as he considered Meph’s last statement. There was so much wrong with his relationship with Sunshine, in the past and future. No matter how he looked at it, they were doomed.
But he wouldn’t change a thing either.
