Dylan knelt down next to him, patting his cheek gently. “You okay?” she asked.
“Need. A…” He stopped to pant a few times. “Minute.”
“Why did you sneak up on me like that?” she asked, punching him in the arm. “What in the hell were you thinking? Because I know I was thinking Larry escaped the mental institution and came back for me!”
“Sorry,” he wheezed. “Ice. Need ice.”
Dylan sighed and got to her feet, disappearing down the hall. She returned with a bag of frozen corn and the beer he’d wanted when he came into the house. Right now, the idea of drinking anything made his stomach turn.
She handed him the corn. “It’s all I could find. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Clay took the frozen corn, squeezing the bag a few times to break up the kernels, and placed it over his abused balls.
“S’okay. Should have known better than to scare you. Sorry ’bout that.”
She stroked his cheek. “You ruined my surprise,” she said, suddenly changing the subject.
“Your surprise?” he croaked.
“I was moving back in today,” she answered. “I wanted to have all my things put away before you came in from the shop.”
“Is that why this place is such a mess?” he asked, gingerly shifting his weight to his butt before he sat on the floor. Holding the frozen corn to his crotch, he leaned back against the footboard of his bed.
“Yeah. I realized that I had a lot more clothes than I thought and I was culling out my wardrobe to donate some stuff.”
“What about your furniture?” he asked.
“Well, the only things that weren’t scavenged at a garage sale were my bed and my dresser. I figured we could use them in the guest room once you emptied all the boxes out of it.”
“What boxes?”
“Well, right now, it’s full of boxes of my books.” She paused. “But they kinda need shelves.”
A grin started to spread across his face. “They do, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Everything she was saying started to sink in and Clay realized that Dylan was back to stay.
“What about those demons you were worried about?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I can sleep alone. But I don’t like it.”
“Thank God,” he groaned, throwing the frozen corn to the side. “I’ve slept like shit all week.”
“You’re not mad that I’ve basically come in and made a huge mess of your house?” she asked.
“Hell no.”
She leaned over and put a hand to his cheek. “I’m really sorry about your balls though.”
Clay laughed. “They’ll be okay in a couple of hours. Trolls heal quickly.” He shifted and felt the box in his pocket jam against his hip. “But there is something else I want to talk to you about.”
“Well, why don’t I help you up off the floor and you can sit on the bed while we discuss it and I clean up this clothing catastrophe.”
As though it were fate, Clay watched as she got to her feet and held out her left hand. He took it and moved onto one knee, reaching into his pocket with his other hand.
Dylan tugged at his hand, laughing. “What are you doing?” she asked. “I know I offered to help you up, but I’m not strong enough to do all the work. You have to use your legs.”
