Page 54 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
“I’m not your sidekick.”
“Mhm.”
He sighed in exasperation, which made me chuckle, but he hugged me back. He felt so good in my arms. Warm and strong and so damn sweet. I didn’t want to let him go. But we had to get this crap done so I could take him on a proper date.
And hopefully, many more dates after that.
When I finally pulled back, Miles wouldn’t look me in the eye, but he still smiled and shrugged at me. Gently, I tapped his chin, pressing it up, until he met my gaze.
“I only want this if you do.”
He nodded. “I do.”
“You sure? I’m not pressuring you, am I?”
He snorted. “Win, I’m not going out with you just because you asked. I would’ve said no if I didn’t want to.”
“Good.”
He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling now, which was the goal. He had a lovely smile.
I grinned and kissed his cheek again.
“You guys are really cute and all,” Lyric said, interrupting us. “But I can definitely still feel that evil magic, and it’s making me stabby. Like, really stabby. Like I-want-to-stab-you-for-being-too-cute kind of stabby. Soooooooo… we should probably get out of here. Or at least walk farther away from the house.”
Miles turned away from me and grimaced at the house. “I don’t think we should leave the property until we know it’s safe for others. I don’t want someone else going in there or anything.”
“Okay, then what? Wanna leave a sign on the door or something?” Lyric lifted an unimpressed eyebrow, and I was instantly jealous they could do that.
I was pretty sure when I tried, I looked like a fool… which wasn’t hard for me to do since that was a pretty normal state for me.
Miles didn’t seem to notice their skeptical expression. “Actually, that’s a great idea. Let’s leave a note, and then we can go into the garden. We need to see if it extends to the gardens, anyway, and if there are other faeries out there that need saving.”
Miles walked around to the front of his truck, presumably to get paper, and Lyric came over to me, whispering, “He really loves saving those little fuckers, doesn’t he?”
The thought of how passionate Miles was about saving faeries made me smile. “Yeah, he really does. I love it.”
Lyric stared at me for a few seconds, then snorted. “Of course you do.”
I glanced at them and tried to lift one eyebrow, but I knew it didn’t work. They snorted at my attempt, but I still said, “Yeah, I do because I actually believe in what he’s trying to do.”
Their smile dropped, and they sighed. “I know… and I actually support him too. I know how hard the job is for you at Faerie Be Gone. I know you hate doing it.”
“I really, really do. I always feel so guilty.”
I tried not to think about it too much because it would send me into a depression if I did. But I didn’t have a choice. I’d applied to every damn job in the city—even all the jobs cleaning toilets, and I absolutely hated the idea of cleaning other people’s poo becauseblech—before I’d finally given the pest control company a try. They’d been my literal last choice.
Since I’d been working there for a few years, I’d given applying to other jobs another go, but none of the other businesses could see past my conviction. It wasn’t fair. I’d done my time and paid my price. I shouldn’t have to keep paying for it for the rest of my life. But at the same time, I couldn’t blame those companies for being overly cautious. Who in their right mind would want to hire a convicted felon? And a thief to boot. How could I ask anyone who didn’t know me to trust me?
Especially when my entire family had turned their backs on me years ago.
Everyone but Lyric.
Lyric gave my back a small rub, obviously sensing the direction of my thoughts, as we watched Miles tape a sign on the side door entrance—I assumed the front door was locked up tight already. I didn’t like seeing Miles so close to the house, so I stood up straight, ready to act if any gnomes came out to get him, but luckily, nothing happened.
When Miles walked back over, he asked, “You guys want to walk the gardens? I think there’re a few benches over there. We can sit and look up more necromancers.” His nose wrinkled at the thought.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” I said, offering a grin.
