I opened my mouth to snap that I hadn’t been trying to impress her, then shut it. They began to mock my many denials over the years, suddenly claiming they knew—dark magic or not—that we secretly loved each other, and I tuned them out until Sloth taunted me. “Anyone with a modicum of common sense could see you wanted her.” “Did you just call me an idiot while boasting of your intelligence in that high-handed, bookworm way of yours?”
