“I do, as funny a way as you like to show it sometimes,” he teased playfully again, a soft, gentle smile returning to his features.
“Because I damn sure wouldn’t put up with your punk ass otherwise.”
“You don’t have a choice in putting up with me and you know it,” she countered eyes rolling as she nudged him with her shoulder. They both knew she was too damn stubborn to let him out of her life.
“Sure,” he shrugged innocently, though he was a little puzzled at the look she’d had on her face when he’d said nobody had done it for him since he was a kid. “Whenever’s good for you, I guess?”
The smile returned, radiant and sweet as she gestured with her hand. “Shirt off. I have all the time in the world,” she stated, wanting to make sure he knew she would always have time for him.
“Maybe she should try a dating app. You could always put one on her phone for her,” he joked. “Sounds like it would make your life easier.”
“Wouldn’t really work for her.” It wasn’t really like they made dating apps for werewolves. “Her not picking fights with people would make my life easier.”
“Supplies, mostly. It’s owned by the biggest food supplier in the city and they like to keep the distribution chain locked down tight so that there’s no interruption in it. They set it up like that after there were a couple of heists on the place in the early days of the Project. Means food keeps flowing to those who need it, not a commodity for the highest bidder.”
“So that puts you on a decent trust list then? I mean, doesn’t sound like the sort of stuff they’d let just anyone keep watch over if people were doing literal heists to steal.”
He didn’t feel like he deserved Dev’s understanding. Just because he’d been through something traumatic didn’t mean it was right for him to treat anyone like shit, especially the person who’d been responsible for saving his ass in the first place, so it took a moment for him to physically override his automatic responses to how he was feeling.
A shuddered sigh fell from him as he chewed his lip, trying to stop it from trembling and setting him off crying again, but he was fighting a rapidly losing battle as he started to crumble, wrapping his arms around himself and rocking a little.
The scent of distress was overwhelming and he rolled off the bed, hesitant as he went to wrap his arms around Lex. He had no idea what he was doing in terms of comfort and he could only hope that it helped at all.
“It’s okay…You’re safe, okay? No one’s going to hurt you here.”
“You’re sweet,” Jayne smiled softly, letting out a faint sigh.
“You really don’t have to worry about me though. There’s never any trouble. You could even come with me and hang out? Keep me company so I don’t get bored babysitting a building full of boxes and crates?”
“So are you,” he murmured, leaning forward to nuzzle at him gently.
“Are you sure I wouldn’t just be a distraction? What’s so important about this building and it’s crates and boxes?”
