Page 6 of Same Thing
“Oh. I don’t want that,” she murmured softly, her pretty moss-colored eyes trained on his.
He still wore his sunglasses to hide the unnatural color of his eyes, but he felt like she was looking right into his soul. Huh.
She tightened up her grip and shook it firmer.
“Better,” he said. Liam released her and then tilted his chin in the direction of the mailboxes. “No is a complete sentence.”
“What?” she asked, confusion swirling in her pretty eyes.
“That guy down there doesn’t get hints. Tell him to fuck off next time. Don’t be polite when you tell him no. Tell him you’ll report him to the office if he pins you into a space like that ever again.”
“Oh…” She looked at the mailboxes, and the smile faded from her face completely, transforming it. “I’ve already reported him three times.”
“Mmm,” he rumbled, trying to keep the snarl in his throat.
This wasn’t his business.
This wasn’t his fight.
Hell, this wasn’t even his species.
No way could he take on Nory’s problems. Not with all he had going on right now.
“It was nice to meet you, Nory.”
“Likewise.”
She hadn’t asked him about the too-fast move earlier. She hadn’t asked him if he was a werewolf. Werewolves and humans stayed completely separate as much as possible, but she hadn’t been phased when his hand had blurred to catch the food.
Maybe she hadn’t noticed it. Maybe a submissive human like her had missed the signs.
Good. He didn’t need her telling people here what he was. He would be booted out of the apartment complex, and he really needed a den for a few months.
He could pretend to be a human for a while if it meant he could have a quiet place to lay his head at night.
“Travel safely,” she called. “Down the stairs. I mean, walk safely. Back to your apartment. Okay. I’m going to stop talking now.”
He was biting back a smile as he stood at the top of the stairs, listening to her overthink.
“It’s just I get nervous and then I talk a lot and sometimes I narrate what I’m doing. Hell, I talk to myself a lot too. I said hell. I’m sorry. My mom told me I need to stop cussing so high quality men won’t think I’m trashy. Okay then, I’m going to go scream into a pillow now and overthink everything I just said. If you don’t see me tomorrow or the next day, it is because I’m hiding from the world. Walk safe.”
Her door shut firmly, and from inside, his sensitive werewolf hearing picked up, “Good Lord, Nory, you could’ve just stopped talking! Geez! He thinks you’re so weird now. Seriously! Every time you go outside you have to avoid Jacksonandthe new guy. Oh my gosh!” She lowered her voice and murmured, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I’m going to have to break the lease and move now. I have to.”
He was highly entertained by her crashing out, and he didn’t know what possessed him to do this, but he went back and knocked on the door again. He liked her response to him. Shewas affected, and same. He wanted to smile some more, so he waited for her to open the door.
Nory’s cheeks were bright red, and she wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“Hey, I just wanted to come back and say thank you. You know, for the food. I haven’t had cornbread since I was a…well since I was a kid. My mom used to make it.”
She cleared her throat and pressed her fingertips to her bright red cheeks, like that would cool them down. “My mom taught me how to make it.”
He nodded his head. He wanted to ask her out. He really did. This was a moment he hadn’t had in so damn long, but he was in the middle of Arrangements. Still, the temptation was huge. He cleared his throat and asked a question just to buy more time with her. “I’m new around here. Are there any good spots to eat close-by?”
She glanced up at him, and then at his shoes again. “There’s Barts Barbecue on the corner, and a really good Thai food place a couple blocks that way.” She pointed. “Shipwrecks has good drink and appetizer specials on Thursdays, and they serve fried green tomatoes.”
“Fried green tomatoes?” he repeated, entertained completely.
“They’re the best thing you could ever put into your mouth.”