Page 6 of Trolling For Love

“What was the monster realm like? Was it scary? Were there lots of monsters?” he rambled even faster and walked sideways to face me as I stomped over to the last log.

“I’ve only seen a small part of it. The part I lived in was very desolate and nothing but wasteland. Which is why I preferred to live at the edge of the human world there so I could go back to Iceland regularly. Even though Iceland is barren and mostly made of rock, it’s beautiful to me, and will always be my home.”

“You’re from Iceland? Wow, we gotta talk some more. I haven’t traveled outside the county line.”

“There is much to see outside this world.” He stopped walking and was frozen in thought long enough for me to worry he’d been stunned by some unseen evil.

“I can’t believe you’re from Iceland!” he finally yelled and slapped me on the base of my back. “Sorry, you’re really tall.”

“Humans are strange,” I mumbled making him laugh again.

“I know a lot of humans who think that about monsters, but I love learning more about them. You’re all so different,” he said and stared at my horns. “Are those functional?”

“What would I use them for?” I asked and tried to imagine a situation where my horns would come in handy. This human was strange, but he was friendly and very entertaining. I gripped one of them and tugged on it. “They’re not long enough to gore anyone.”

His eyes widened before he laughed. “I guess. But they’re cool as fuck.”

“Thanks, I think,” I said, making him laugh again.

“Can I touch them?” he asked but cringed away when I gave him a stern look.

“No one touches my horns,” I growled. Our horns were special, and something that made each of us stand out. They also were used in ways he did not need to know about. Ben Jackson was pleasant to speak with, but he wasn’t the human I would have as my mate.

“Sorry.” He cringed again and held his hands up. “I didn’t know. I’ll never touch them, I promise. No matter how much I want to,” he mumbled that last part making me laugh.

“You’re funny, Ben Jackson. I do enjoy talking to you.”

“Good thing, I’d rather keep my arms attached. Come on, we’re moving to the next tree,” he said changing the subject. I looked ahead and got a glimpse of Flynn Davies. He was a human I would consider to be my mate, but I wasn’t sure exactly why that was, or what made me think of it. But I decided it might be okay to spend more time with him. And Ben Jackson, because he really was funny. “Hey, where are you staying?”

“I was told there would be a place provided for me.”

“You’re probably staying at the camp then. We have a semi-permanent base camp nearby, so we don’t have to drive all the way from town. Most of us stay there during the week and go to town on the weekends.”

“I do not have a place to stay in town other than the facility.”

“I’m sure they’d let you stay here. Just talk to Flynn or Frank. They’re both great to work for.”

“Thank you, Ben Jackson.”

“You can call me Ben,” he said.

“I will consider you a friend,” I said mostly because the only other friend I had was Einar, but he was in the monster realm, and I was beginning to realize I needed friends here.

Chapter 6

FLYNN

After marking the last tree for the day, I walked back to where the crew were just stacking the logs from one of the other trees I’d marked. Or I should say Gunnar was stacking the logs. The other crew members were making themselves busy clearing the area while he hefted the massive logs on his shoulder to carry to the stack he was building on the level part of the area.

“Hey, Flynn, I was talking to Gunnar, and he doesn’t have a place to stay on the weekends. Would it be okay if he stayed at camp? I know a few already do, and I wasn’t sure he’d ask,” Ben asked as soon as I walked over to where he and another crewman were working.

I glanced in Gunnar’s direction where he had another log on his shoulder and was walking toward the stack he’d made. “Sure.We haven’t had anyone from the facility here yet, so I wasn’t sure how that worked. If they helped with housing or what.”

“Thanks, I’ll let him know,” Ben said and jogged over to Gunnar who was just setting down the latest log. He listened as Ben spoke before glancing at me. I wondered what he thought of this strange world he’d decided to live in, and if he had given any more thought to the type of mate he wanted. Or if he’d be happy spending time with a human just swapping conversation.

I’d grown up in this area and I had family I could stay with in town, but I liked staying out here when we weren’t working. The company didn’t mind because it kept the site a little safer from the local animals, and any human that thought trashing a worksite was a fun way to spend a weekend. The old camp truck rumbled up the rough road and all the guys on the crew dropped whatever they were doing and walked over to where it pulled to a stop as Dwayne the cook hopped out of the truck. “Anyone hungry?” he asked. Dwayne was tall and skinny with sunbaked skin and a long white beard. I wasn’t sure how old he was, but he had to be at least seventy and had more energy than most of the guys on the crew.

“Flynn, how’s it going today?” he asked with a slap to my back.

---