Page 5 of Don’t Get Too Close

“Hey there. Theodore, right?” I slowed down before I barreled right into him. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

He startled a bit at my approach but shook his head. “No, I’m fine.”

The man looked younger than I’d guessed from a distance. He was probably in his early twenties, but he didn’t have the confidence that most guys his age had. I had a few inches on him, but being on the shorter side didn’t take anything away from his attractiveness.

The man was gorgeous.

I took a step closer to see where the branch was resting on the inside, and the man flinched and backed away. It took a second for me to register that his stare wasn’t from interest or appreciation but of panic.

He looked terrified.

“You sure? No cuts or anything from the glass?” I slipped my hands into the pockets of my jeans in an attempt to reassure him that I wasn’t going to hurt him.

“I said I’m fine.” His tone was a bit sharper this time, like even asking the question was insulting.

He didn’t look physically injured, but he didn’t seem fine. Not in the least.

I looked past him to the limb that was still wedged through his roof, and my stomach dropped at how precarious the whole thing looked. As the owner of the trailer, I was the responsible party for ensuring this guy was safe and had a home. “Uh, Theodore, that branch could still shift. Nothing looks stable, so we should back up a little.”

“It’s Ted.” He took one step to the side but didn’t move back. “And it’s fine. I’ll get a tarp and cover it up. Don’t worry about it.”

“A tarp?” I didn’t mean for that to come out so snarky, but that was ridiculous. “There’s a hole in your roof big enough for a bear to crawl through. A tarp’s not gonna cut it.”

He huffed and jutted out his chin. “It’ll hold until I figure something out.”

“Figure what out?” I gestured to the trailer as a squirrel ran across the branch and almost went into his kitchen before I shooed it away. “This isn’t just a broken window. It’s structural. These things are engineered to withstand weather, but once they’re compromised, you can’t just assume everything is fine.” I shook my head, getting more worked by the second. I wasn’t exactly an expert in trailer construction, but I knew enough about basic engineering to know it wasn’t safe. “You can’t sleep in there tonight.”

“What?” His jaw dropped, and he looked more pissed off than I expected. “I’ll be fine. I’ve slept through worse.”

I hoped that wasn’t true, but a single look at the vulnerability in his eyes made me want to pull him into my chest and hold him. “I’m sorry to hear that, but I can’t let you sleep in this death trap. I’ll need to get some kind of inspector in to find out if it can be repaired or if it needs to be replaced, but for—” I didn’t get to finish my thought before the whole trailer groaned and shifted slightly.

Something deep inside the broken frame was about to give.

Ted’s head snapped toward the sound, and every muscle in his body went rigid. “What’s that?”

“A warning.” I raised my hand toward his shoulder to move him away, but he flinched so violently that he almost lost his footing on the wet grass. I dropped my hand and took a step back. “Sorry, I just, uh, don’t want you standing so close when this might come down any second.”

He didn’t say anything, but he did put a few more feet between him and the trailer. My chest instantly unclenched once he wasn’t in imminent danger.

“Do you have anywhere to stay for a few days until I get someone out here?” I was fairly certain I’d need to replace the building, but I didn’t want to put any stressful ideas out into the universe. “There’s a bed-and-breakfast by the post office that looks decent.” I saw a wedding party there on Sunday and made a mental note in case any of my old friends came to visit and didn’t want to stay out in the sticks.

“No, but…I’ll figure it out.”

The drop of his shoulders screamed of dejection, and it broke my fucking heart. Broken enough for me to say something in the spur of the moment that maybe I shouldn’t have.

“Look, I know we just met, but you’re welcome to stay at the house with me until we find out what needs to happen with this place.” What was I saying? “I’ve got a few spare rooms, and it’s not fancy, but there aren’t any holes in it…that I know of.” I grinned, hoping he’d loosen up a bit.

He didn’t.

The look that flashed across his face wasn’t one of gratitude or thanks. It was much closer to how a cornered animal looked right before it decided to fight or flight. And in Ted’s case, I had a feeling he wasn’t gonna fight me.

As if reading my mind, he backed up a few more steps, putting some real distance between us like the offer itself was a threat. “No way. I’m not staying in your house.”

“Okay, fine.” I held my hands up again and kept my voice as level as possible. “Forget I even suggested it.”

The way he held his body made me think he was about to book it into the treeline that he kept glancing toward. Since he was obviously just waking up and being thrust into a traumatic situation, I didn’t want to make things worse. “Ted.” I used my calmest voice and tried to come off as harmless. “Nobody’s gonna make you do anything you don’t wanna do. I just don’t want you standing here if that thing decides to fully collapse.”

Ted’s arms were still locked around his chest, and he was shivering now that the adrenaline of his situation had started to wear off. “Whatever. I’ll figure something out, but I need to get some stuff first.”