Page 22 of Broken Souls

“I am.” I keep playing with Ghost, who’s trying to lick my face.

“I see. Didn’t trust me.” She chuckles. “I left your house as soon as I woke up.”

“I’m not worried about the house.” I look away.

“Oh. Okay.”

The silence that follows is uncomfortable, and I look for a way to get my dog and get the hell out of here.

She breaks the silence first. “Thank you for letting me stay at your place yesterday.”

“No problem,” I respond gruffly. “Did you fix the pipe?”

“Not yet.” Her face turns cloudy.

“Who did you find?”

“Actually, I haven’t found anyone yet.” She taps her laptop with her fingers. “That’s what I’m doing right now. Turns out Little Hope is low on contractors and plumbers. Everyone here knows how to fix everything, but only for themselves.”

“Small-town life.” I shrug.

“Yeah.” Her voice is flat.

“Did you grow up in a small town?” I ask out of nowhere, not knowing why I suddenly need to know.

She shoots me a weird look. “Yeah, born and raised.” Not in this one though, I’d know. She’d be hard to miss. A woman so ripe for the taking.

“Cool.” I glance at her house. “How are you planning to fix it?”

“I’m still looking for options. I was hoping neighboring towns had something available, you know.” She fixes the glasses on her face, and my dick stirs. Of course it does, at the worst time imaginable. I have no idea why I find her thick-rimmed glasses so fucking sexy. I was never into nerdy girls.

I try to imagine old Mrs. Jenkins in her nightgown, which I accidentally witnessed one time, forcing my dick to relax a little, and I look at my watch. “It’s past two; none of them will come today.”

“Well, nature is right here.” She waves at the woods with a forced smile.

Yeah, sitting on the ground with a bare ass won’t be fun as it gets colder. I feel bad for a moment. “Are you staying with someone tonight?” I ask her.

She vigorously shakes her head.

“Why?” I ask, confused. “You’ve mentioned you have someone in town.”

“A family.” She swallows. A family? Who is her family? I’d probably know them, wouldn’t I?

“So why don’t you stay with them until you fix your place?” It’s an obvious choice to me.

“Because theyare family,” she answers as if it’s the dumbest question in the whole world.

“Makes no sense to me.” It truly doesn’t. I mean, my family is fucked up, but most families aren’t. People tend to help each other in difficult situations. Isn’t that what family all about?

“I know it wouldn’t. I’m just—” She sighs. “I just can’t tell them about this only two days after I’ve moved out.”

“I see.” I stand. “No friends here either?” She shakes her head, biting hard on the inside of her cheek while her eyes go misty.

I internally groan. Looking up, I ask the sky for the strength I sure as fuck will need when I offer her my solution. “You can stay at my place. I’ll be on my twenty-four, so you’ll have the place to yourself.”

“No!” she cries, a little too loud for my liking.

I offered her my hospitality, for fuck’s sake. It’s not like I asked her to drop on the ground and suck my dick.