Page 25 of Secret Shifters Next Door

I left the girls to argue and quietly turned the knob on Harley’s door, doing my best to be silent as I opened it. In the shadowed bedroom, there was a lump under the blankets. My dragon eyes had no problem seeing in the dark, and I could easily make out Harley’s form. Her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open as she breathed deeply. My dragon rumbled as it laid eyes on her. Want, need, desire, and the urge to protect her warred within me. I shook my head. How had this happened? Not just a mate, but a human mate? Was this really possible? I forced myself to push the thoughts aside. After closing the door, I went to grab my tools from my garage. I needed to get the girls some cool air and hot water.

Mariah showed me to the corner of their garage where the water heater stood. One look revealed to me the problem. Theyhad moved in and placed a bunch of boxes near the water heater. Now, one of the boxes was leaning against the pressure relief valve, keeping it partially open. I went outside to the relief hose. It was steadily spraying a small amount of water. The spray wasn’t loud or super obvious, so they’d never noticed, but the tank was slowly emptying water into the backyard before the heater could heat it. Not only would they have cold water, but their water bill would be enormous.

Back inside, I moved the boxes and discovered that the valve was loose. A few turns of the wrench, and it was good to go. The air conditioner was another story. It was on the other side of the house, and once I got the metal plate off, I found the coils completely corroded. The unit was old and needed replacing. If I replaced the coils, it should last for the rest of the summer and fall. I’d need to go to the plumbing and HVAC supply store outside town, and see if they had these parts in stock. I wrote down the serial number and went inside to tell the girls I needed to leave for a while.

“I’ll come with. I’ll be your assistant,” Jordyn said.

I laughed. “I don’t think your mom would want you riding with the neighbor.”

Jordyn punched my arm playfully. “It’s not like you’re a stranger. It’ll be fine. Right, Mariah?” she asked.

Mariah shrugged. “I think it’s fine. Mom wouldn’t care.”

The fact that the girls trusted me made both me and my dragon happy and content, though I couldn’t help wondering if Harley really would be fine with it. Not wanting to disappoint, I agreed.

“All right, shorty, let’s go,” I said.

Jordyn followed me outside, mumbling, “Who’re you calling short?”

“You, because you are.” I laughed as we climbed into my truck.

The drive to the store was filled with conversation, as was the rule with Jordyn from what I’d noticed so far. Thankfully, the store had the coils in stock, but they were pricey. Grabbing new air return filters as well, I swiped my card—it was the least I could do after treating Harley like shit. When we arrived home less than an hour after we left, Harley was still asleep. She must have been exhausted.

Jordyn and Mariah stood outside and watched me fix the unit. They asked questions and seemed to enjoy learning something new. I was no expert but knew enough to fix it and explain what I was doing. After I got the new part on, we went inside, and I turned the unit on while I changed the air filter. Mariah stood by a wall, holding her hand to one of the floor vents.

She sighed with relief and smiled up at me. “Cool air.”

Jordyn laughed and got down on the floor, putting her face over the vent. The silliness of the situation made my heart swell with happiness. I’d done something for them, but it had been forme,too. I could already feel the temperature going down. Before I could get the air filter vent back on, I heard mattress springs creaking in Harley’s room. She was up. I experienced a moment of panic. What would she say when she saw me? Would she call the cops? Kick me in the balls?

Harley stumbled out of the bedroom, still half asleep. She glanced at the girls and laughed, seeing them on the floor with their hair blowing in the cool breeze from the air conditioning.

Harley rubbed her eyes. “How the heck did you guys fix the air?”

Mariah looked at Harley. “We didn’t fix it, he did.” She pointed down the hall at me.

Harley turned and spotted me on my knees as I replaced the vent cover. She froze, face strained, body rigid, and stared at me for several long seconds. I couldn’t blame her for reacting theway she did. What had I done other than treat her poorly since she’d moved here?

“Why are you here?” she asked.

Before I could answer, Jordyn said, “He fixed the hot water heater, too. Now you can take that hot bath you were talking about. We were all miserable, so I went next door to see if he knew how to fix this stuff. And, well, he did.” She laughed and went back to letting the cool air blow on her face.

Harley’s face softened, not a lot, but a little. She actually looked a little stunned. I stood and watched several thoughts go through her head, a range of emotions playing over her face.

She straightened. “Well, thanks. How much do I owe you?”

The innocent question shouldn’t have irritated me, but it pissed me off for some reason. When I responded, I did a pretty good job of keeping the anger out of my voice.

“I didn’t do it for money. I did it so you and the girls would be comfortable. Shorty over there said you guys were sweating your butts off. Honestly, you might want to go ahead and get a little shower in, you’re a little damp yourself.”

“Well, I really would feel better about paying for the service,” Harley said.

“Service? I’m not a plumber, only a concerned neighbor. It really isn’t necessary.”

“Be that as it may, I’d like to at least pay for the parts you had to buy.”

“Seriously, I’m not taking your money.” I paused to taper the feeling of anger and frustration. “It was the least I could do after… well… I’m not going to let you pay me for it.”

Harley sighed and put her hands on her hips. “Fine, but I really would feel better if I paid you somehow. What can I do for you?”

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