MANNY
February
“Well, fuck.”
I rolled to my back and stared up at the gray sky. This was my own fault. I was a nurse, for fuck’s sake.
But I’d ignored my empty stomach and low energy. Today was my first day off in over a week—from both my paying job and my, shall we say, side work—and chores had to be done.
The lawn mower had fortunately only rolled a few feet after it’d stopped running when I’d fallen. My grocery delivery was scheduled to arrive soon. I’d finish mowing after I’d eaten something.
For now, I’d lay here and rest. The ground was cold, and I wished the sun was shining, but it was fine.
I was fine. I hadn’t passed out or anything.
It’d only been a dizzy spell. I could get up any time.
And I would, eventually. I’d left my phone in the kitchen, so even if I wanted to call someone for help, I couldn’t.
But I didn’t need help. I’d stay here for a bit, and when my groceries were delivered, I’d go get them off the front porch. No problem. I closed my eyes.
“Shit! Come on!” The shout came from my front yard.
“What? Elton!” This was a deeper voice. A moment later the gate into the backyard on the side of the house rattled.
Fuck. I rolled onto my side and started to sit up.
“Wait! Let me go first!” This was the deeper voice. An alpha macho dude, I was betting.
The gate eased open, and a big muscly guy with dark brown hair and a beard came through and ran toward me. He was a shifter, possibly a wolf or other carnivore, so I’d been right about the alpha macho crap. The guy behind him was smaller, blond with a hipster vibe, some sort of magic carrier.
“Hey, did you fall? Did you hit your head?” Alpha Macho Guy stopped a few feet away from me.
I sat up, maybe not quite upright, but I was only leaning on one hand. A headache bloomed, and I felt my scalp for a lump just to be sure. “I just got dizzy. I don’t think I hit my head.” No contusion, and it wouldn’t have been hidden with how little hair I had these days.
I examined their magics. The smaller dude must have a psychic ability, since he’d been the one who’d known I was in trouble. And he was sick, great. They’d obviously arrived together, but there wasn’t a connection between them, not even friendship.
“Who the fuck are you guys?” I stood carefully, waving away Alpha Macho Guy’s offered hand.
I grimaced at the magic carrier. “If you're here to see me for that cancer you've got going on in your left nut, I'm sorry, but I'm not in any shape to help you. I'm only taking on life-or-death cases these days.” He’d be fine with regular old human medicine. I didn’t have the strength to waste my energy on minor crap right now.
The magic carrier gaped at me. “Holy shit.” Then he got his brain back online.
“Don't worry about me. Why don't we get you inside and find you something to eat? Does your magic always look like that?” He walked closer, standing by the shifter and still staring at me.
“You said you were in bad shape, but your magic is way too weak to be healthy.”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. It's not like I can see my own magic.” Which was a complete deflection. I might not be able to see my magic, but I knew damn well I was running on empty.
Alpha Macho Guy pointed toward the back door to the house. “Elton's right. Let's get you inside and put some food in you.”
Sighing, I shook my head. “There's no food. I'm having some groceries delivered, but they won't be here for another hour or so.”
The magic carrier—or Elton, it seemed—looked pointedly at the lawnmower. “You have zero energy to spare, you haven't eaten, and you thought now would be a good time to mow the lawn?”
I scowled. “I think it’s time for y’all to leave.” What I did was none of their business. I wasn’t going to heal Elton, so they should just go back to wherever they came from.
Alpha Macho Guy opened his mouth to object, but Elton blew out an annoyed-sounding breath. “We'll go, but only after I finish mowing your lawn while Rafferty goes and picks up a burger for you.” He tilted his head and scanned me up and down. “And a milkshake.”
While I stared at him, dumbfounded, the shifter—whose name was apparently Rafferty, since no one had introduced themselves—nodded. “And double fries.”
I narrowed my eyes, glancing back and forth between the two of them. “Why would you do that? It won’t put you at the head of the line to be healed or anything.”
Elton smiled sunnily. He seemed like one of those people who were perpetually in a good mood.
Asshole. “So suspicious. I’m good. I’ve got surgery scheduled for Monday.
One of Rafferty’s pack members told us about you today, so we came by on the off chance you were real.
” He walked over to the lawn mower. “Oh, I'm Elton. He’s Rafferty.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder.
I huffed in annoyance. I’d given my address to one family a few months ago. One. And now people showed up all the freaking time. “Whatever. I’m Manny.”
Rafferty’s indulgent expression made me feel like I was a small child stomping my foot. “Nice to meet you, Manny. Any place in particular you want me to get your food from?”
I planned to deny that I needed or wanted any food, but my stomach growled.
Fuck it. They were offering. I gave Rafferty a few drive-through restaurant options, and, after throwing Elton a super-possessive be-careful-around-the-strange-man look, he left.
Elton watched him go, shaking his head and smiling.
“What's the deal with you two? You seem like friends or maybe more, but you don't even have a connection.”
He made a face. “We resonated so strongly the first time we touched that we're probably mates. He’s all in, but I've only really known him for two days.”
Oh, yeah. Shane and Ellis, Rory’s partners, had accidentally formed a permanent mating connection the first time they’d hooked up. Of course it’d been severed—
I shoved the memory away, nodding at Elton.
“Yeah, you don't want to mess around with that unless you're sure.” I waved toward his crotch.
“And don't let him tell you being mated will get rid of your cancer.
It'll help, don't get me wrong, but there's no guarantee it'll be completely cured. Plenty of mated magic carriers have advanced cancer.”
He looked amused. “Yeah, he tried that argument out on me right away, but I shut him down. Thanks for validating me.”
“Anytime. Surgery will absolutely take care of what you've got there. But, regarding your guy, make sure you’re not letting your testicle situation hold you back. He’s a wolf shifter, right? From what I’ve seen, they’re possessive as fuck. He won’t care about a couple of missing balls.”
“So he says.” His tone was clipped. Fuck, I’d probably overstepped. People didn’t like unsolicited advice, and he might not have appreciated the reminder that he’d already had one of his testicles removed. “Why don't you go inside and rest? I'll take care of this.”
I snorted. “I’m not gonna let you mow my lawn. I’ll do it after I eat.”
He glared. “You can’t even stand up straight. You need to rest after you eat. Go inside and let me do this for you.”
I opened my mouth to argue more, but my entire body swayed, and I had to put my arms out to keep my balance. Fuck. “Fine. Do what you want.” I stomped inside, pretending I was putting my feet down hard because I was mad, not because it made my footing more secure.
I did sit down, briefly. At least enough for the dizziness to go away.
But I had too many chores piled up to truly rest. After picking up the clutter in the living room, I gave the guest bathroom a quick wipe-down in case Elton or Rafferty needed to use it.
I was putting dishes in the dishwasher when Rafferty returned, breezing in through the front door like he lived here.
Shit, I must’ve left it unlocked. Not good when who knew how many people had my address.
“I'm back. Come get some food.” He set the multitude of bags on the table, giving me a pointed look as if scolding me for not sitting down.
“Thanks. Let me get the dishwasher started and I’ll be right there.” I raised an eyebrow at the number of bags. “How much food did you buy?”
He shrugged. “I was planning to take Elton out for dinner, but I figured we'd just eat here.” I opened my mouth to tell him they didn’t have to change their plans for me, but he kept talking. “We’ll go to the movies or something if we want to later.”
“Huh.” I washed my hands then opened a cabinet and took down three tall glasses. “You want some ice water? It’s all I've got to offer right now.” Milkshakes went great with burgers, but they didn’t exactly quench your thirst.
“Sounds great, and I'm sure Elton will be ready for some when he's done with the lawn.”
I scowled down at the glasses. “I can't believe he's mowing my lawn.” I turned to Rafferty and waved an arm at the table. “And you bought dinner. You guys don't even know me!”
“I guess Elton and I are the kind of people who like to help out.” Rafferty came into the kitchen. “Where do you keep your plates?” I pointed at an upper cabinet, and he took three plates out and carried them back to the table.
Rafferty and I were starting to divide up the food when Elton came through the back door. “All done. Can I borrow your sink to wash up?”
“Of course. Thanks for doing that.” Fuck it, might as well admit it. “I... wasn't sure how I was going to manage, and I can't afford a lawn service.” Not unless I took money out of my retirement account, which was not happening.
“It was no problem at all. I put the lawn mower under the carport, but let me know if you want it somewhere else.” He walked past us into the kitchen to use the sink.
I shook my head. “No, that’s fine, thanks. I have a glass of ice water here for you on the table. I'm sorry I don’t have anything else to drink until the groceries get here.”
“Water sounds great.” Elton washed his hands and joined us at the table.