“And you always jump to conclusions without having all the facts.”
“I didn’t mean—it just… he’s my—”
“I know,” I said, trying to put him out of his misery. “He’s yours.”
Silence. For longer than there should have been.
Then, “I’m sorry. I should have never—”
“I know,” I said and walked away.
Eventually, he followed.
DUSK WAS falling as Gary and I gathered firewood along the edges of the Dark Woods. Tiggy and Ryan were back at the river’s edge at the camp. Ryan said he wanted to bathe, and there was no way in hell I could be in the same vicinity as Ryan Foxheart with soap-slicked skin, so I immediately squawked and volunteered to get the firewood. Or, rather, that’s what I meant to say. Gary assured me as we walked away that it just sounded like I was barking.
We were slowly trudging our way back to camp when Gary said, “You and Knight Delicious Face okay?”
I opened my mouth to respond and everything came to a screeching halt when I realized that Gary had no fucking idea what Ryan was to me. I had never told him. I had never sat him down (as much as a unicorn can sit down) and said, “Oh, by the way, Ryan is my cornerstone and I can’t have him so we’re running away under the guise of needing to learn more control. Even though that’s sort of true because I can do things no other wizard can.”
Gary would be pissed at me for neglecting to share such important information. A pissed-off unicorn was something I didn’t want to deal with right then (or ever), and I reminded myself it didn’t matter in the long run anyway. Only Morgan and the King knew of what he was to me, and I was going to keep it that way. Either we’d go our separate ways eventually and Ryan would get married, or we’d get eaten by a dragon and the whole point would be moot. Funny how okay I was with impending death rather than telling my best friend I wanted to magically bond all over Ryan’s face. Or whatever.
“We’re fine,” I said. “I think. He was being an ass. I was being an ass. He apologized and I said okay and now we’re here.”
“Cool story, bro,” Gary said. “Now tell me the real version.”
I sighed. “He thought I took Justin out to the sparring fields, not the other way around. He accused me of being reckless and not giving a shit, and I overreacted because that’s what I do. He found out otherwise from the King, felt super bad, said sorry, and now we’re here.”
“What a dick,” Gary muttered and I immediately felt better, because that’s what best friends do. “Maybe we should have left him with Dimitri.”
“Right? And then I think he was mad when he found out how long we were leaving for. He acted weird after he heard me tell you it was going to be six months before we got back.”
Gary sighed. “I’m not even going to touch that one.”
“What?” I asked. “You think he’s mad we’re going to miss the wedding? I’ll be honest, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be there. Even though I should be.”
“Yes,” Gary said. “That’s exactly why he’s pissed. Good job.”
“Whatever,” I groused. “I don’t even care.”
“Obviously. The level with which you do not care is astounding. It almost eclipses your awareness.”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”
“Shocking.”
“You are a terrible best friend.”
“Bullshit. I am your everything.”
“How sad is that?” I sighed.
“Shush. Do you have enough wood?”
I leered at him. “I never have enough—”
“Gross,” he said. “Don’t do that. It’s rapey. How are you ever going to land a man if you’re rapey?”
“I can just marry Dimitri,” I said, starting to lead us back toward camp. “He has a size kink for me. And remember, apparently he has a tongue that I just wouldn’t believe.”