Page 24 of Wanted: A Roommate Who Isn't Evil

Luc swept in, placing an arm against the doorframe with the utmost tenderness and positioning himself in such a way that he and all his obnoxious fox beauty took up most of Beth’s vision. The air around him transformed into a sweet-scented lure—others would have missed it, but Dranian sniffed the wretched fox magic with his acute sense of smell. “Oh dear. Are you trying to make my heart falter, dear Beth?” Luc asked her. “Why in the world would you wear that dress and do this to me?”

It was the first Dranian noticed Beth was wearing a dress.

Beth blushed and looked down at her garment. “This thing? I was thinking of throwing it out!” she admitted.

Luc placed a hand over his chest in feign agony. “You’re killing me.”

Beth released a high laugh that Dranian was sure he’d never heard her use with him. He grumbled a few fairy curses and turned to leave for good, but then…

“Is that a dog?!” Beth’s gasp was so loud it caught Dranian off guard. She pushed—pushed—passed Luc and raced toDog-Shayne’s side, dropping to her knees to scratch behind his ears. Luc stared after her with a face that told Dranian the fox was thinking about either grabbing Beth and trying again, or simply killing her right there in the hall for refusing him.

Dranian’s shoulders relaxed, and when Luc looked up from the smitten Beth, Dranian almost cast him a gloating smile. He dropped to a knee to show some affection to his beloved dog, too.

“I love dogs,” Beth exclaimed, patting Dog-Shayne’s head.

“As do I.” Dranian admitted the revelation he’d only learned about himself in the past twenty-four hours.

“He’s so cute! Can I take him for a walk sometime?” She kissed him right on the snout.

Dranian nodded.

Across the hall, Luc looked ready to explode—a strong reaction to the simple rejection. It seemed the fox wasn’t having the greatest day. Dranian didn’t give a fluttery fart of his time to wonder why.

“Since I ran into you two, I was actually wondering,” Beth glanced over her shoulder at Luc, looking between the two fairies a few times before she spit out her request, “I have a huge dresser that needs to be moved out of my bedroom. You guys wouldn’t mind, would you?” She flashed a weird smirk Dranian guessed was meant to be cute.

Dranian’s almost-smiling face fell. He could already feel the burning pain that would come with trying to attempt such a physicalundertaking.

Luc was smiling again. “I’m sure Dranian wouldloveto assist you, dear Beth. He was just telling me how much he enjoys helping damsel humans. I imagine the dresser is…quiteheavy.”

“Aw, Dranian, you’re so sweet!” Beth swatted Dranian’s left arm playfully, and he bit back a croak.

Thirty seconds later, Dranian stared at the enormous dresser in horror. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he approached it under the gaze of BethandLuc—the latter of whom stood by to watch. Beth’s bedroom was not large, so the three of them took up most of the space, along with the mountain-sized dresser.

Dranian pursed his lips as he considered just telling Beth the truth—that all this time he had been assisting her with tasks, he had been doing it injured. He didn’t know what she would think of him if he admitted it. Would she think he could no longer break her enemy’s bones? Would she think of him as a less worthy male? Would she never speak to him again for keeping a secret about himself?

He cleared his throat once. Twice.

Thrice.

He squatted to try and lift the thing whole, hoping he could prop it up on his good shoulder.

“It’s far too heavy to carry like that.” Luc’s nagging voice flitted through the room. Dranian looked back to find the fox examining a bead necklace he’d lifted from Beth’s nightstand.

For someone who didn’t roll their eyes often, Dranian did a rather remarkable roll of them now. He readjusted himself to wraphis arms around the dresser’s middle. In one large heave, he tried to lift the thing. It came an inch off the ground.

A squeak escaped his mouth—he gritted his teeth as warm pain rippled through his bicep, into his shoulder, down to his fingers. It seemed his whole left side had lit on fire.

He dropped it.

Beth shrieked as the dresser slammed back into her bedroom floor. “The hardwood!” she complained.

Luc couldn’t stifle his snort-laugh fast enough. Beth turned and swatted him so the bead necklace he held flew from his hand and bounced onto the bed. “Help him!” she demanded. “This is a two-person job!”

Luc’s smile twisted into a predatory snarl. He seemed to contemplate for a split second. Then he reluctantly sauntered over and took the other side of the dresser. “Dranian might do things like this for free, dear Beth. But I require an exchange,” he said before he would lift.

“An exchange? What do you need help with?” Beth shrunk back a little like the thought of scrubbing his garments clean or washing his dishes was more than she could bear—even though she seemed to have no trouble asking others to do such things for her.

“How about a romantic date?” Luc suggested. His heart-shaped lips curled into a different sort of smile. A lovely, sweet one that Dranian hated.

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