Page 6 of Trolling For Love (Monster Match season two)

FLYNN

A fter 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.

“Good, we’re on schedule.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” he said and walked around the back of the truck to open the big metal trays of food he’d prepared. “You know the rules, everyone forms a line.”

There were six men on this crew and one troll. Gunnar stood off to the side watching as the first few were handed whatever Dwayne had prepared for us today. I walked over to where he was and stood next to him for a moment before speaking. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t sure the food was meant for me,” he said without looking away from Dwayne.

“You’re on this crew. It’s meant for you, come on.” I took a step then looked back to make sure he was following me. He hesitated for a moment, but then he slowly followed behind me.

“Hey, Dwayne. This is Gunnar, he’s going to be working with us now.”

Dwayne glanced at him before handing him two sandwiches instead of one and an extra helping of the stew he’d also made. “Here you go, big guy. You look like you could use a little extra.” Dwayne grinned at him before handing me my food.

“Let’s go eat over there,” I said and walked over where Ben and a few other crew members were sitting on an old log. I sat down and he sat next to me, and I ignored the way the log shifted under his bulk. He set down the sandwiches next to him and looked at the bowl of stew before picking up the spoon and taking a bite. He turned to me, his eyes wide with excitement.

“It’s good,” he said like he’d expected it to be horrible.

“What have they been feeding you?” Ben asked. “I mean Dwayne’s a good cook but it’s just stew.”

“You don’t want to know that they fed me there,” he mumbled before taking another bite then another.

“What do you usually eat?” I asked and wondered if I really wanted to know.

“Whatever I could find. Lots of fish. There’s always fish in Iceland,” he said.

“Dwayne doesn’t cook much fish, mostly just the occasional tuna sandwich or tuna casserole,” I said.

“Tuna?” Gunnar asked.

“Canned fish,” Ben said. Gunnar’s lip curled showing his fangs, but it didn’t make him look fierce, if anything it softened his features, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at him.

“Not a fan?” I asked.

“There are many things that have to be worse,” he said before setting his empty bowl aside and picking up one of his sandwiches.

I wondered what he was talking about, but after he mentioned eating humans earlier, I didn’t want to bring it up. “When we get back to camp, I’ll make sure you’re set up in one of the tent cabins.” I took a few more bites of stew before unwrapping my sandwich and dipping it in. The warm food felt great. It was still early in the season and the mornings and evenings were very cold. We were up high enough that snow was still possible but unlikely.

“I do not need a tent. I can sleep in the woods,” Gunnar said.

“It’s no problem. The tents are there for the crew,” I said, and his eyes met mine. Once again, I was unable to look away and I hoped he didn’t think I was rude for staring at him.

“You will not touch my horns,” he said taking me by surprise.

“Dude, I said I was sorry. I didn’t know,” Ben said and peeked out from where he sat to meet Gunnar’s eyes.

“Do I even want to know?” I asked and looked between the two of them.

“Probably not,” Ben grumbled.

I turned to look at Gunnar who shrugged a shoulder before he took a bite so big it was half of the sandwich. “What about you?”

“He doesn’t like anyone to touch his horns,” Ben said but I kept my eyes on Gunnar who ignored us both.

“Okay then, no touching your horns.” Ben nodded when I looked in his direction while the rest of the crew ignored us and ate. I wondered what his horns had to do with anything, but it wasn’t my place to ask. I promised myself I’d research it when I got to my tent later though because now, I was curious.