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I lift my head so I can look into his eyes. “What the fuck do I say to him? Yes, I was wrong. But all he had to do was tell me the truth. Why does he always have to manipulate the shite outta everything?”
Gabe smiles sadly. “He’s fae. That’s their nature. I think that’s how he saw this. If he took the blame and got us back together, then we could forgive him without creating an imbalance.”
I bang my head back against Charlie’s collarbone. “Ugh, he pisses me off. I hate that everything has to be a bargain. That he has to ‘win’ every interaction.”
Charlie chuckles and nudges the back of my head with his chin. “You hate it becauseyouwant to win every interaction.”
“I do not,” I protest, but it sounds weak even to my own ears.
“You kinda do,” Gabe says, working his arm under Charlie’s to stroke my cheek. “There wouldn’t be so much friction between you two if you weren’t so alike. And you frustrate him more often than not. He’s not going to win this round. We got back together without him. I still haven’t forgiven him. You’re pissed off at him. What kills Darwin is how often he gets it wrong with you. He’s hurting right now, believe me. If you thought he was a mess before ... he’s a hundred times worse now.”
That thought curdles the joy inside me that’s built steadily as our magics combined. “I have to call him and apologize, don’t I? He asked me to blame him and I did. Without ever questioning it. I was so sure I wasright.”
“If it helps,” Gabe says gently. “He’s not looking for an apology. He just wants some way to be with us again.”
“I have to open the door.”
Charlie grunts. “We. You didn’t lock him out on your own, bean. Plenty of blame to go around.”
“You didn’t punch him in the throat, Chaz.”
Charlie snorts. “Thatwas a long time coming.”
Gabe chuckles. “It still surprised him.”
“You do have a wicked fucking jab,” Charlie says.
“Goddess, I’m really going to have to suck up,” I grumble. Like Princely isn’t insufferable enough already.
Charlie rubs a warm hand up and down my hip. “In the morning, yeah?”
I twist to look at him over my shoulder. “You think?”
He nods before kissing my temple. “We’re all knackered. Tonight’s been a lot. We’ve ended up in a good place, but, fuck, I might even have shed a tear or two getting there. I need a kip.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Gabe draws my attention back to him by kissing my cheek. “Tomorrow, I move back in?”
“Absolutely. I’ll help you move Hog’s tank.”
“You mind if I buy you a different toothbrush?” Gabe asks. “I kind of hate that pink one now.”
I chuckle, still a little tearily with all of the emotions of the night. “Pink’s not my color anyway.”
“I claim red,” Charlie says around a yawn.
“You what?”
Charlie’s shrug moves his chest against my back in a roll of heavy muscle. “Seemed like we were claiming toothbrush colors. I’m red.”
“I’m blue,” Gabe says.
“Purple,” I say.
“Yours should be green,” Charlie objects.
“Fuck your Earth-witch stereotypes, Chaz. I’m purple.”
