4. Nelly
Nelly
Climbing onto a roof at sunset during a storm warning is exactly the kind of decision that usually works out for me.
"Nelly, get down," Nash calls from beneath me for the third time.
I ignore him for the third time.
"Nelly," Nash says, "just let Ford and Knox get pictures. They can come down here and show them to you."
"I'm not standing on the ground while they figure out my house," I shoot back. My boots scrape against the asphalt shingles as I make my way toward the handymen of Honeysuckle Grove. "I need to see it."
Knox snorts under his breath as he adjusts his flashlight. "She's not wrong."
Ford just sighs. "Doesn't mean it's smart."
"Nothing about this is smart," I mutter as the last of the sunlight sweeps across the damage. "Oh."
"Yeah," Ford says as he stands and wipes off his hands. "Oh."
Fuck.
The roof is worse than I thought.
From the ground, it doesn't look half bad.
Some curling shingles, but nothing that a patch job and new flashing can't fix.
But from up here? It's a disaster zone. The hole in the roof isn't just a hole.
The wood around it is warped and splintered, the underlayment exposed and sagging.
Some of the decking looks like it's been chewed through by time and weather, barely holding on.
There's no patching this.
There's no quick fix.
The entire thing has to be replaced.
That'll require a call to Beau.
Knox crouches beside me, shining his light along the edge. "See those gaps between the decking?"
"Yeah?"
"That's not up to code. That gap is more than a quarter of an inch, so anything we touch, we can't warranty."
Ford joins us, his expression already grim. "Whole thing's gotta be upgraded to code. Ventilation included."
I swallow hard as I drag a hand across my forehead. "You're kidding."
"What's going on up there?" Nash asks.
"Just give us a second!" I call back down.
"That's it, I'm coming up. Something's wrong," Nash says.
"Can't hold all of our weight!" Knox calls down. "Just give us a moment!"
I turn to Ford. "Please tell me you're joking."
"Wish I was," Ford says. "You patch this, it's just gonna fail again, and there isn't a warranty anywhere that'll pick up the slack when it does."
"So, there's no way to get even five more years out of it with some well-placed patches?" I ask, even though I already know the answer.
Knox sighs. "You're just wasting time and money at that point."
Fantastic.
Thunder rumbles in the distance, low and heavy, like the sky itself is laughing at me.
"All right," Ford says, clapping his hands together. "No point standing around. Let's tarp it before this storm hits. We can deal with what to do after it passes."
My phone blares a warning tone from my pocket. I rip it out, only to find a severe thunderstorm alert for the area. Ford and Knox move fast. Like, incredibly fast. Knox is down and up the ladder with a tarp in moments, and I step back to let them work.
"Nelly," Nash says, sticking his head up from the ladder. "Come on, I'll help you down."
I look between him and the massive tarp. "I just want to—"
Nash holds out his hand. "I know. Just come on. You can see the house from my bedroom."
"But I just—"
"Nelly," Knox says, "catch."
Knox tosses me a corner of the tarp. I catch it on instinct, my hands moving quicker than my brain, and I could kiss him for giving me something to do.
"Oh, come on," Nash murmurs.
"Got it," I say as I turn my attention to the two men.
The material is heavier than I expect and rough beneath my fingers as I brace myself and keep it steady. My boots shift against the uneven surface, and I adjust my stance, focused on not slipping.
Thunder rolls in the distance as the last of the sun dips below the horizon. This is familiar. This is where I'm supposed to be. Not on top of the roof, but amidst the chaos. The movement. The figuring-it-out-as-you-go.
This is what I'm good at.
This is what I'm supposed to be doing.
Not taking up space in some Alpha's apartment while I sit around and twiddle my thumbs.
"Pull it tighter," Ford calls.
I lean back into my weight, stretching the tarp until it's tight against the rooftop.
"Perfect," Knox says as he secures it.
"I got this side," Ford says.
"Headed to you, Nelly," Knox says as he moves around the tarp to where I'm holding it taut on the other side.
When Knox switches places with me, I take a step back. I stand there, watching them work until the last light dies and there's nothing but the sweep of their flashlights. How easily they handle something like this feels… off.
I hate feeling like I'm not enough for my own project.
"All right," Ford says after a few minutes as he steps back to assess. "That'll hold for now."
"For now," I echo.
Knox glances at me. "We'll need to replace the whole roof. No shortcuts. But we can figure that out after this storm passes."
"Yeah," I mutter. "I got that."
My brain is already spinning as I head toward the ladder. The cost of materials. Labor per hour. Pushing the renovations back even further than they already are. I keep tallying the money it'll cost me. The figures Beau will throw at me when I call him about this.
It's time I don't have.
It's money I can't spare.
"How long will it take to replace the roof once we get going?" I ask as I reach for Nash's hand.
Knox is next down the ladder. "Shouldn't take more than a few days."
"A week at the most," Ford adds.
"We'll probably kill each other before then," I say under my breath.
"What?" Nash asks.
"Nothing," I say.
But as I'm coming down the ladder, a voice I don't expect cuts in.
"You eaten dinner yet, Nels?" Levi asks.
I stumble.
Actually stumble.
My foot misses the last rung, and Nash's hands catch me around the waist. I spin so fast I nearly lose my footing again, and there's Levi, grinning at me.
Hands shoved into his hoodie pockets.
"Where the hell did you come from?" I ask as Nash stands there, anchoring me to the ground.
Why does the sight of Levi make me want to take off into the air?
"The elevator," he says with ease.
My face twists. "You followed us out here? Why?"
He shrugs. "Instinct."
Nash snorts as his hands fall away from my waist. "Yeah, well, your instincts can go home now."
Levi's eyes don't move away from me. "Have you eaten anything today?"
I wrinkle my nose. "Why do you care?"
"Just answer the question, Nels."
There's a suspended moment between me and Levi where the world slows. My nostrils flare, moving without my body's permission, and I suck down the amazing scent of ink, smoke, and spice. Something in his expression shifts when our eyes lock, and it's hard for me to look away.
"No," I say breathlessly, though I don't understand why my voice sounds that way. "Haven't eaten dinner yet."
Levi nods. "Then let's get you some food."
"I've got something back at my place we can cook," Nash says.
Levi's easy grin spreads wider. "That what you want?"
I scoff and turn toward the house, watching Knox and Ford drop down from the ladder. "What I want is for the roof of this house to not be as fucked as it is."
"We're going to get soaked if we stand here any longer, Nelly," Nash says as he presses a hand to my shoulder to turn me toward him. "There's nothing else we can do here. Staring at the thing isn't going to fix it. Just come inside and let me cook you some damn food."
"We'll give you a ring after the storm blows over," Ford calls from his truck.
"You guys stay dry!" Knox calls.
And just like that, they're gone.
Is this really it?
We're just going to… leave the house vulnerable like this?
Thunder crashes above our heads as a hand tugs at my arm. I relent, and the three of us move toward the apartment complex. The rain unleashes the second we're inside, like the sky was holding it back just for me.
At least someone somewhere is doing me a solid.
"You can stay with me however long you need, Nelly," Nash says as the three of us slip into the elevator.
Levi huffs a laugh. "And I'll drop by and make sure he's not hounding you too badly."
"Thanks," I murmur.
"And hey," Levi says as he nudges me with his elbow, "you can always come stay with me if you need a break from Mr. Stick-In-The-Mud over there. I'm on the floor just above him. 5E."
My brain short-circuits.
"What?" I ask as I look up at Levi.
"She's fine at my place," Nash says.
"Hey, I just want her to know she's got choices," Levi says.
"She's already got her stuff settled into my place. She'll be fine."
"Trust me, we all need a break from the sheriff from time to time, Nash. Nothing personal."
"Sounds pretty personal to me, Mr. Instincts."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I say as the elevator doors ding open on Nash's floor. I rush out. "Did I miss something here? Since when did this turn into me collecting housing options like Pokémon cards?"
Levi snickers. "Just offering."
"Well, she didn't ask," Nash mutters.
"And I wasn't talking to you, so it doesn't matter," Levi shoots back.
"Oh my god," I groan as I drag a hand down my face. "I don't have the energy for this."
"Because you haven't eaten dinner yet," Levi says.
"Which we will fix once I get her inside. Nelly?" Nash asks.
I turn toward him. He's standing in his apartment doorway, arm out, ushering me inside.
"Man," I murmur to myself, "why can't my roof just not be a disaster?"
"Too late," Levi says.
I glare up at him as he walks beside me.
He just smirks down at me, unbothered as ever.
"How do you do it?" I ask as we both stop just shy of Nash. "How do you stay so carefree about everything?"
"Simple," he says with a shrug. "I don't tie myself down to anyone, and I don't care about anything other than my business."
"I do that!" I exclaim as I toss my hands into the air. "I don't care about anything except my business!"
Levi chuckles, and I swear the sound of it does something weird to my gut.
I decide to ignore it.
Because whatever is making him smell so damn wonderful can't possibly be a good thing.
Levi lingers near the doorway as Nash disappears inside, and his attention swings back to me. "But seriously, Nels. If you end up needing a break, I'm in 5E."
I give him a small smile. "Thanks. I'll come knock if I end up wanting to kill Nash."
Levi nods once, like that's enough, and then he's gone.
I slip into the apartment before Nash closes the door behind me, a little harder than necessary. "You don't have to stay with him," he mutters.
I kick off my boots. "Good thing that's not your decision."
"I'm just saying, you'll be fine here as long as you need."
I turn to look at him. "Temporary, remember? And it's not like you own me while I'm here. I'm free to come and go as I please."
His jaw tightens. "Yeah. Temporary."
"So relax," I say, waving a hand. "It's just a backup option in case we get sick of each other."
"You don't need a backup option."
"Says the man who's got a roof over his head that isn't rotting from the inside out."
He doesn't have a comeback for that.
Good.
I head down the hallway, my body dragging now that the adrenaline's wearing off. "I'm going to get cleaned up for the night."
"I'll cook us some chicken and rice. Try not to flood the place," he calls after me.
"No promises."
I shut the bathroom door behind me and lean against it. I need a minute to breathe. So I stand there, letting everything settle over me. Rain batters the windows, and I groan. The fact that I'm stuck in a place that isn't mine for at least a week makes my skin crawl.
I hate relying on others.
"Get it together," I whisper to myself.
I can fix this. I fix things. It's what I do for a living.
And while the temptation to take him up on his offer lingers, I don't give in to it.
Levi smells way too good. That smirk of his and those tattoos that peek out from beneath his hoodie collar would get me into more trouble than the mindless bickering Nash and I get up to.
Nash is the safer option, even if he has to have the last word about everything.
Because the last thing I need is my instincts getting me into trouble during this incoming storm.