Page 37 of New Nebraska Home

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just trying to—”

“Star in the next episode of Hoarders?” I asked.

She blew out a long breath and then chuckled that sweet soul sound that made my heart skip a beat, and my cock harden.

“It looks like that, doesn’t it? No, this was our family house, and we used to be a much larger clan. The dining room table downstairs expands to seat more, and I was looking for the extensions and a few other odds and ends that will make life a little easier with more people here.”

“Are you just having trouble finding them?”

“No, I know where they are. I can see them. I can just reach them, but there’s so much stuff piled on top that I can’t get them out without the entire tower falling on me.”

“Let me help,” I said.

“You don’t have to. I should be able to—” She stretched up on her tiptoes and tried again to pull out the wooden boards from the pile. They didn’t move, but the things on top of them swayed ominously.

“Let me help,” I offered again, this time standing behind her and reaching out to steady the tower.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” She looked over her shoulder at me, and this close, I could see the flecks of gold in her eyes and smell the strawberries and sweet tea on her lips.

“I don’t mind being of use. I would mind if you got yourself hurt up here. Are the hospitals even operational yet?”

“They were a few months ago,” she shrugged as if she wasn’t a human and so very breakable. Did she maybe not realize how fragile she really was? Even Leif, being a halfling, would eventually become much stronger and faster. Leif would likely never know what it felt like to have a cold or any ailment, really. If he broke a bone or scraped his knee, like all children do, supernatural as well, the medical attention he would need would be minimal.

Looking down at Liz, in all her stubborn frustration and fragility, I wanted her more. My dragon brushed against my ribs, demanding we protect her and provide for her.

Supernaturals didn’t know the pain of being so frail, and she wouldn’t know the pain because I would protect her from everything that could possibly hurt her.

“You okay?” she asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah.” I smiled, shaking my head a little to clear it as I silently told my dragon to settle. “Just tell me what all you need.”

“Winning lottery ticket, new job, and my asshole neighbors to disappear,” she said while she looked up at the tower.

“Well, I can’t do anything about the lottery ticket. I’ll also be looking for a job in the next couple of weeks, so I can’t really help you out there. But I’m sure I can help you dig a hole big enough for all the neighbors in the backyard.” She laughed.

Fuck, I loved that sound. “In the meantime, how about you tell me what you need from this pile?”

She pointed out a few things, boxes and some wooden boards, and I brought them down and set them on the dusty floor.

“So, what do you do for a living?” she asked. Was she filling the silence, or was she as curious about me as I was about her? I had caught her checking out my body, her eyes lingering on my abs when I had to stretch to get a box and even straying to my ass a few times.

Normally, I didn’t like to be objectified, but with Liz, I loved every minute of it. Her eyes on me felt like a gentle caress, a promise of dirty things to come if I was lucky, and she liked what she saw.

“I do odd jobs here and there. Most of my time was spent on the back of my bike, moving around.”

“What kind of odd jobs?”

I knew it was the natural follow-up question, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to tell her. Sometimes, the odd jobs were menial labor, such as cleaning out abandoned houses or cleaning up after a construction crew. Other times, it was bar backing or unloading delivery trucks. None of that was glamorous, but it was honest work for honest pay.

Then there were the other things that I did, the less honest work. For several years in my later teens, I made a small fortune in underground boxing rings. For the most part, that was easy money; beating the crap out of steroid-ridden humans was simple, and I only had to let them hit me a few times to make it look good. Eventually, I made a name for myself in those rings, and everyone wanted a piece of me. That was fine with me. That meant more fights and more money. It also meant more notoriety, and soon enough, the bastard that had bought me at one point came looking to claim his property again.

Nothing about Liz told me I needed to hide that information from her, but I wasn’t ready to tell her either. Maybe, someday.

“Day labor mostly. I would go on Craigslist and find someone looking for a helping hand for a few days or a construction crew that just needed help to finish a big job, and make a couple of thousand dollars in a week or two and then live off of that until I needed to find a job again,” I shrugged. “My last one was only a few weeks ago, so I still have most of that, and it should last me for a bit at least until I figure out what I plan on doing. Now that I’m stuck in a single state.”

“That must be so hard for you,” she said, concern coloring her words. “Not having an endless road open to you anymore. Almost like you’re trapped in a box, a very large box, but still.”

“You know, I thought it would be, but the idea of settling down has been kind of weighing on me for a while. I just never had any idea where I wanted to settle. Nowhere ever felt like home. New Nebraska just gave me the shove I needed to really give a place a chance.”

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