Page 17 of My Demon Manny

Scowling, I pushed the food around in my plate, and offered my last bit of resistance. "I'm straight."

Jerry, the bastard, started laughing. "Archie, we both know that's a flimsy fucking excuse. You took my virginity, remember? Just because you only find a dude attractive once every decade like some kind of decennial bi werewolf doesn't mean you're straight. And if a label is the only defense you have..."

I sighed, wishing Jerry didn't know me as well as he did. This conversation would be so much easier if that was true.

"Well, you want a better reason? How about this? He's an employee, and I don't think I'll find a better nanny than him. I don't want to mess this arrangement up, and I definitely don't want to make him uncomfortable by making any kind of move on him."

Jerry pursed his lips, then tilted his head in acquiescence. "Okay, that's a valid point. Though I don't think the interest is one-sided."

"You don't?" To say I was surprised would be an understatement.

"Nah. Did you see how he hung on to every word I said about you? I'm pretty sure he's into you."

I'd just told Jerry I wasn't a teenager, yet hearing that Lux might be interested in me definitely made me feel like one.

And act like one too, apparently, because the moment Lux returned with Gunner, I shot to my feet, startling everyone in the room, including Lux.

"Jerry, help me clean up." I practically barked the words at my friend before picking up Lux's empty plate and taking off toward the kitchen, ignoring his offer to help.

Throwing the dishes in the sink, I braced my arms against the edges, hanging my head. What the fuck was I going to do now?

I really didn't want to let Lux go as Gunner's caretaker. I didn't think I'd find anyone better suited to the job than him.

Which meant I needed to take care of these feelings somehow.

The thought of hooking up with someone else, a man perhaps, occurred to me for all of a minute before I shook it off. What I felt for Lux wasn't simply lust. IlikedLux. I wanted to go out with him. Which meant hooking up with someone else would be about as effective as patching up a bullet wound with a band-aid.

Maybe I needed to spend a little less time with Lux. It would be easy to do when I was at work, but when I got home, instead of taking care of Gunner together, I'd have to make sure we splitup the work so we were apart for most of the time. Yeah, some distance was exactly what we needed.

"You done formulating your big plan?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Taking the dishes Jerry had brought in, I put them in the sink and started the water.

"Oh, so you weren't just making up a plan that would help you work past these feelings of yours?"

Damn Jerry. Why did he have to know me so well?

"It's not going to work, you know."

"And why not?"

"Because you don't want it to," Jerry said, his voice full of the knowledge that he was right.

Damn you, Jerry. Damn you.

Eight

Lux

Three days ago, I'doverheard Archer admit to his friend that he liked me. Well, he didn't say it in those exact words, but the implication was there.

I'd been happy to sit on the whole mates thing when I first found out because I hadn't wanted to lose my job and because I hadn't really felt much for Archer beyond a certain respect for how good of a dad he was.

Now, though? Things were different.

In the past three weeks, I'd discovered a lot about Archer.

Like how he was a zombie in the mornings until he had his first coffee. I'd started taking a mug to his room when I woke him up with a knock on his door simply to avoid any accidents in the mornings.

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