Page 48 of Demon with Benefits
She made a sour face at the nickname while a secret, deeply buried, never-to-be-revealed part of her warmed.Pathetic, Iris.
Meph took another long drag of the joint, and Iris cuddled deeper into her parka. She’d shoveled the snow off her balcony only yesterday, but already a fresh layer had accumulated. More decorated the top of the iron railing in a thin white stripe.
She shot a glance at the demon beside her. He was not hot when he smoked. He wasnot. Because smoking wasn’t hot. Smoking was bad.B-A-D.
The way he balanced the joint between his thumb and forefinger, showing off the tattoos on his hand, was not sexy. And it wasn’t sexy when he brought the joint to his lips and puckered them slightly as he sucked. And it definitely wasn’t sexy when he tipped his head back and blew the smoke out in a long stream.
Not sexy at all. Her face just felt flushed because she was wearing her parka. That was it.
Every time she invited him over, she told herself it should be the last time. And yet it never was, despite the multitude of reasons she used to remind herself why their continued philandering was a bad idea. A very bad idea.B-A-D.
He was a demon. (Though she couldn’t deny that this particular offense carried less and less weight these days.) He indulged in all the bad habits she was trying to break—drinking, smoking, partying, and all-around belligerent behavior. He was shamelessly unapologetic in all things and showed no indications of trying to improve his behavior, while Iris had been struggling for years to better herself. Really, they had nothing in common except for incredible sexual chemistry.
Unfortunately, it was so incredible, it kept overpowering her well-intentioned self-control, and the longest she’d gone without texting him in the last two weeks was a single, measly, pathetic day.
His worst crime of all? He surprised her. Not often enough that it ceased to be surprising. But just enough to keep her on her toes, to keep her from feeling that she’d ever really figured him out. Just when she thought she’d put her finger on him, he would do something to shake it all up and force her to reassess. It was maddening. It was fascinating. And addicting. But mostly, it was confusing.
Much like his response.
“I think everyone’s problems are equal from their own perspective,” he said just when she’d forgotten her original question. She had to sift through her marijuana-addled memories for a second before she remembered.
“What does that mean?” she asked, staring at his mouth while he took another drag. He blew out a smoke stream, and her core clenched. Itclenched. Really, it was a miracle she was able to follow the conversation at all.
“I mean, some people’s biggest problem in life is that they need to get a job,” he said. “Other people struggle with a murderous alter ego that would like nothing more than to consume everyone in their path.”
“What?”
“Never mind. My point is, I think that to both those people, from their perspective, the insurmountability of their worst problems feels the same. Otherwise they wouldn’t be a challenge—they wouldn’t be real problems.”
She mulled this over for a moment, her gaze wandering across the drifting snow. “So you’re saying... some people can handle tougher shit, so life gives them worse problems to solve. Also, I don’t think ‘insurmountability’ is a word.”
“It totally is.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’m making it a word, then. And I dunno if that’s quite what I meant, but...” He tilted his head. “I guess?”
“So if you suffer in life,” she said, “you should be grateful because that means you’re strong?”
He grimaced. “Well, when you put it like that...”
“Life sucks?”
“Pretty much.”
She snorted at his expression, reaching to take the joint when he held it out to her. Her bare fingers felt like little icicles, but wearing gloves and smoking was a foul combination. She puffed it, the smoke whooshing out when she coughed.
“Well, I think that’s bullshit,” she croaked, coughing some more. “Strong people shouldn’t be punished for being strong.”
“But then they’d stop evolving, because people don’t evolve without challenges. And isn’t that what they’re all here for? The journey of human evolution?”
She frowned, surprised by the hollowness in his voice. It didn’t escape her notice that he saidtheyinstead ofwe, not counting himself among the mortal masses. But wasn’t he pleased to be a superior, immortal being?
She couldn’t bring herself to ask, knowing he would likely brush her off with his customary ill-timed humor.
He laughed and joked and grinned his way through life. It drove her crazy sometimes. She’d never met a more chipper fucking person, and it was goddamn annoying. Cute. Adorable. Frustratingly lovable. But still annoying.
Not because she had a problem with happiness. She wasn’t that bad. But because she knew it was mostly a front. She was the master at faking it to save face, and because of that, she knew when someone else was doing it.
