“You totally love him. He's your widdle snookums.”

“Don’t sulk,” he told her. “It doesn’t become someone of your age.” She rolled her eyes even as, he was delighted to note, she kissed him back. “Oh, the age thing? You just had to go there, didn’t you?”

“Goddamn, he thought, I don’t love you a little. I might actually love you a lot.”

“He felt goaded by her impenetrability, by what clawed at him from within. He started to growl. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Are you growling at me?”

“You make me sound dictatorial," he said. "Finish your breakfast.”

“Goddammit, T-bird, he said. I love that faerie as much as any of us, but I couldn’t watch and do nothing while she becomes your Titanic.”

“He laughed again. “Not boring and not dumb. That’s so much better than your boyfriend who both bored me and was dumb. To be honest I don’t know what you saw in him.” “Ex. Ex-boyfriend ” she said. “I swear to God I’m never going to live that down.”