“I’m not the grinch, Joe.”
“Oh, I know. You’re not green, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Uriel said.
Joe passed him a cinnamon crunch muffin before taking a slurp of his coffee. He gave Urielthe lookagain.
“So?”
“So what?” Uriel had gotten a bit distracted by Joe licking his lips.
Joe poked him. “What kind of creature is the grinch?”
“The not-real kind.”
The annoyed huff didn’t help.
“I’m thinking you’re something along the lines of the Smurfs.”
“The what?”
Joe shook his head sadly and took another sip of his coffee. “Why does my coffee taste so much better when you make it? Do you swirl your magical finger in it or something? That would explain a lot.”
“What?”
Okay, this had gone on long enough. He’d tell Joe everything and—
“Eat your muffin, Uriel.”
“But I need to—”
“I’m going to figure it out. Since you seem to have forgotten, I’ve been reading cozy mysteries for months. I am now on the case. I need a catchy title for it, though.Groping the Grinchis taken.” Joe snickered and looked over at Uriel. “Although pretty sure we checked off most of the plot points in that one already.”
That they had.
Uriel reached across the counter and grabbed his phone from the charging station. After a quick internet search, he shot a glare at his mate. “I am not Grouchy Smurf.”
“Sure you are,” Joe said. “And York is Handy Smurf.”
“You’re Clueless Smurf.”
“There’s no such—”
Uriel passed over his phone, showing Joe the description of the Smurf in question.
“Absolutely not. I’m Brainy Smurf.”
Uriel snorted. “Also, how did you watch a cartoon from 1981?”
“Oh sweet summer child, there was a movie a few years ago. Plus there’s this little thing called reruns.”
Uriel scrolled on and confirmed Joe’s statement. “Huh. Never heard of Smurfs in my life.”
“Color me surprised. Are you sure you aren’t a dragon?”
“Positive. Dragons are moody and clingy with their mates. They get allmate mine food eat. It’s ridiculous.”
Joe spun on the stool and grabbed Uriel’s arm. “Say what now?”
