ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ʙᴜɴɴʏ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ| Jikook

15

“It’sbullshit he’s making you stick around.” I poured a cup of the coffee I just brewed for Jungkook.

We’d had a less-than-stellar lunch thanks to Sheriff Asshat. I wasn’t even sure what the deal was with any of the law enforcement I’d met so far. The deputy and sheriff were pretty much opposites, and Officer Jinyoung had managed to say zero words since I met him.

And thinking about it—Grams had said so many wonderful things about almost everyone in town but I couldn’t recall her specific comments. Maybe she thought Mark was an asshole too.

I smiled at that thought. She always saw the good in people, but in reality, some people have no good in them. I had a feeling that was the case with Jisung’s father as well.

“It is, but honestly, the job I was going to is crap anyway. If I lose it, I lose it.” He took the cup of hot coffee I offered him with a smile. “Thanks for this.”

I walked around the counter to join him. “If it’s such a crap job, why are you traveling to take it?” Of course, I had no business offering any job advice. My career wasn’t exactly soaring.

“Because it was that or nothing.” He sipped his coffee, and I was stupid jealous of the cup. What the fuck was up with that? Jealous of a cup because his lips were on it instead of me. Great, and now I was sporting a semi thinking about his lips on mine. “So I got rid of all my stuff, loaded the car with the few things I needed, and took off. I think it’s worked out okay so far.”

I raised an eyebrow in his direction. “Says the man who was attacked by a wild animal, caged in a box, lost a shit ton of money getting his car back—and is possibly under investigation for who knows what.”

“Says the man who was nursed back to health by one of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met, who got to hang out on the coolest farm on this planet, and who was very much not fox food.” He reached over and grabbed the cookie tin, taking off the lid and setting it between us. It was such a Grams thing to do. This place just did that to a person. It was like she was still rubbing off on people.

I just stared, not sure what to say to that.

“Wha...” Jungkook wiggled in his seat. “Daisy, what are you doing?”

“Licking your ankles?”

He nodded.

“Daisy, how many times do I have to tell you, you are not a dog?”

“I don’t mind.” He snagged a cookie. “How about you? Why are you doing real estate here for somewhere else?” At first, I was startled by the question. Then I remembered just how much of my life Jungkook had witnessed when I thought he was just a hurt animal.

“Well, here’s the thing about real estate work—it requires peopling.” And pushing people to buy things they may or may not want or need. “And that’s not really what I enjoy, so I worked myself into the job I have now. Kind of created it, actually, and it’s been good. It pays the bills, and I can do it from here. Not forever, but for now.”

“You like being here because of the animals?”

“No. I mean, yes, I do love the animals, but also it feels like home. And the more time I spend here, the less sure I am I want to leave, if that makes any sense at all.” I wasn’t sure it did.

“I get it. It sounds like your grandmother was an amazing person.”

Right at that moment, Hen started honking and hissing outside the window. I hollered to her to cut it out, and she gave one long hiss and strolled away, causing a belly laugh from Jungkook.

“She was. The best, even, and she treated me more like a son than my mom did.” That was the sad reality of it. “My mom wasn’t one to shower me with love or attention, and when I came here, I was Grams’s whole world, and she made sure I felt that deep down.”

“She sounds amazing.” He rubbed his chin. “I never had anyone like that. I was a disgrace because—bunny.”

He’d mentioned he was a recessive-gene shifter. I had no idea that meant he was a disgrace. Fuck that. He was stunning in his furry form, and they could fuck off with that bullshit. A little protective, aren’t we?

“I wish I could’ve met her.”

“I wish you could’ve too.” Not wanting to continue with the serious tone the conversation was taking, I got up and walked behind Jungkook, my hand grazing his shoulder along the way as I squeezed through the small space. “Let’s make a list of all the things in my house we think Sheriff Asshat was upset about and then see how many of them we could handle. I mean, if you don’t mind.” Was I overstepping?

“Yeah, that sounds great. I would love to.” He closed the cookie tin and downed the rest of his coffee before taking both empty mugs to the sink. “Did I ever tell you about the summer I worked for an electrician?”

“You know electrical mumbo jumbo?” There were quite a few things the sheriff pointed out when he wandered through the house that fit in that category.

“I know enough.” He smirked and shot me a wink.

Damn, even when he was being cocky, he was sexy as fuck. “Now let’s get this list cooking.”

It took us ten minutes to list out twenty things. Many we were sure were on the asshat’s list, but the rest we weren’t sure if he noticed. Thankfully, most were easy fixes, and by the time evening fell, we had half of them done and a list of supplies needed to complete the rest.

Jungkook and I were quite a team.

A team destined to split apart and live on opposite sides of the country—where neither of us would be doing what we wanted in life.

What a pair we were.

No. Not a pair. Two men just trying to find their way in life who happened to be at the same place for a short while.

That had to be enough.

Why didn’t it feel like enough......