Dex considered his pizza crust before popping it in his mouth. “I don’t know. I should have dealt with it years ago, and I’ve already committed to moving. That should have made being in the condo and dealing with it easier.”
“But it hasn’t?”
Dex shook his head, his eyes suddenly burning. He blinked rapidly to stave off his tears. Fuck. Why was he even talking about this?
Luc set the pizza box on an empty, upturned crate by the bed and handed Dex a napkin. “Have you talked to anyone about how you’re feeling?”
Dex wiped his face. “Sort of. Ollie knows most of it.”
“Not all of it?”
“I can’t whine to him about my sad life all the time. It’s been years. He doesn’t need to know every detail.” Dex was sick of himself at this point. Why would anyone else want to deal with his never-ending issues?
Luc scowled as if he didn’t like what he was hearing. “You know Ollie wouldn’t mind.”
Dex reached for more pizza. Talking about Ollie reminded him that he had questions for Luc, but he couldn’t talk and eat, and the pizza was his priority. Everything else was too complicated.
“Would you like me to help you pack your parents’ things?”
Dex jolted, almost dropping his slice.
He stared at Luc, whose head was cocked to the side, blackhair tumbling over his brow, his red lips in a serious line. Luc wanted to help him pack up his trauma? Or maybe unpack, depending on how you looked at it.
Unpack while packing up…?
Dex cleared his throat. “It’s not boxing up their stuff that’s the issue. I…I don’t want to keep it. I’m not taking my same old shit—metaphorical or physical—to my new place. But I don’t want to throw it all out either. I need to sort through things and figure out what to keep.”
It was a huge, emotionally loaded task. Dex was exhausted even thinking about it.
Luc seemed to mull this over for a minute. “What if you hired someone to pack the house for you and stored everything that isn’t yours until you were ready to go through it?”
“I guess. Too bad putting it off is why I’m here in the first place. More of the same can’t be good.”
Luc shrugged. “If you’re dreading it this much, maybe a little more time isn’t a bad thing. Some distance could be all you need.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea. If he didn’t feel like he had no choice but to go through everything, maybe he would, but it wasn’t practical. “Seems like a waste of money to store stuff I’m going to end up donating or throwing away.”
Luc’s nose wrinkled. “Cost shouldn’t stop you.”
Dex laughed. “Do you know anything about the world? Money or lack of it impacts everything.” Dex was well off compared to most people his age, but that didn’t mean he wasted money.
Luc’s look of annoyance turned to a full-on scowl. “I know how the world works. Luckily for you, I happen to have an excess of space and no need to exchange money to use it.”
Dex glanced around the loft. The bed sat on a mezzanine level, and the entire area below was empty. It was enormous.The bed was about the only thing in here. Luc might not have an evil lair, but this was closer to one than anything Dex had ever seen. It would be freezing in winter.
“You want me to store my parents’ stuff here?”
“Why not? You can’t argue that it’d be an imposition. And I promise I’ll look after it. Magic can keep everything perfectly preserved, so there’s no need to worry about moisture.” Luc tilted his head toward the ceiling. “I’m not sure if the roof leaks or not.”
Dex gaped at the demon sitting next to him, his head suddenly clear of beer-fog. “That’s very kind of you to offer.”
Luc shrugged, avoiding Dex’s stare. “I’d like to help.”
It really seemed like their date had picked up where it had left off. This was the same Luc that Dex had met in Dorthy’s, the same man who’d bought him ice cream. Could he trust it was the real Luc? Everything in him screamedyes.
“Thanks. I’ll take you up on the storage. I want to buy new furniture. Start completely fresh. If I can put everything here, that would be such a relief. And I promise I’ll deal with it eventually.”
Luc rested a hand on Dex’s knee. “No rush.”
