Now he grins. “Aye, little lady. It’s one of my many talents. Sorry if the place isn’t lit very well. Bright light is hard on our eyes, and I wasn’t prepared for a roommate. Especially not a human one. That’s probably a first in troll history.” He shakes his head as if he still can’t believe it’s happening, then looks at me again. “I can make whatever adjustments you need. Just let me know. For now, let’s eat. I’m starving, and I can hear your stomach rumbling.”
He’s all smiles as he heads back toward the kitchen, but I can’t quite share his good mood. His normal need for complete privacy is disconcerting. I feel terrible for putting him out and don’t want to overstay my welcome. He’s like, the second friend I’ve ever had. I don’t want to ruin that by making him uncomfortable in his own home. “You don’t have to trouble yourself with changing anything. I won’t be here that long. I can manage in the mood lighting.”
Terrance points to a tall barstool on the far side of the kitchen island, frowning. I sit as instructed and try to keep the atmosphere light while he heads to the fridge. “I’ll just go topside when I need a little vitamin D boost. No biggie. As long as me being here really isn’t going to be hard for you.”
Terrance folds his arms across his wide chest, and I get another frown with a no-nonsense stare. “I told you, you’re welcome here as long as you want to stay. You don’t need to rush away on my account.”
It’s a kind offer, but I can’t help feeling self-conscious. “Are you sure? I know you value your privacy and…well…not that I’m worried about you attacking me or anything, but, don’t trolls sometimes…eat humans? I’m not going to be some kind of tasty temptation that tortures you day and night, am I?”
Terrance blinks at me a couple of times in a stupor and then throws his head back and laughs so loudly the walls shake. “A few of the savage ones may snack on a human every now and then, but it’s not the norm.” He pulls out a package of ground beef from the fridge and winks. “We prefer red meat. I hear you all taste like chicken. Nothing especially tempting about that. Burger?”
I blush despite myself. I feel stupid for asking, but I’m relieved by his answer at the same time. I give him a sheepish nod. “A burger would be great.”
He goes to work forming a couple of big meat patties. His enormous state-of-the-art stove has a built-in gas grill where he can cook the burgers over an open flame. As he cooks—and he looks very comfortable in the kitchen, which I find oddly fascinating—he continues his explanation of his kind. “Eating people would bring the humans into our business, and that’s the last thing any troll ever wants. For the most part, we’re not a threat; just a big, ugly, grumpy lot that stays away from humans and keeps to ourselves.”
I grin at him, thankful he’s able to put me at ease. “Well, you’ve got the big part right, T-Man, but I don’t know about ugly. You’re at least average-looking.”
He snorts a laugh at the playful taunt.
“And you laugh way too much to be considered a grump.”
He slides me a glance over his shoulder as he tends to our burgers. The smell is tantalizing and makes me realize it’s been well over a day since I’ve eaten anything. “That’s why I was chosen to come to the city. My clan is small and extremely standoffish. They don’t blend well in the human world. They live up north on Mackinac Island and stay out of the way of humans as much as possible. They needed a steady source of income and wanted a voice among the underworld. I was sent here to be our representative because I was the most sociable in the clan.” When I grin, he matches my smile and adds, “I’m also a bit of a runt. I fit in better among humans.”
Eyeing his seven-plus feet and mountainous pecs, I say, “I’ve got news for you, dude; if you didn’t work at Underworld, you would fail epically at the blending thing.”
Terrance pulls his shoulders back and stands tall, as if I’ve just complimented him. “Good.” I raise an eyebrow, and he shrugs before reaching for a couple of plates from a cupboard. “I’ve been here long enough, and I do well controlling my instincts, but all trolls have horrible tempers. I’m no exception. That’s my main reason for keeping to myself so much.”
I believe him. After seeing him almost lose it on Henry several times tonight, and seeing how seriously everyone responded to his lapse in control, I don’t think I ever want to see him lose his temper. I can understand his fear of hurting his friends if his rage is really that hard to control. It makes him offering me a place to stay that much more baffling, though.
“So I don’t annoy you?” I laugh, but I’m genuinely asking. “I’ve been known to piss off my fair share of people. Are you sure I’m not going to send you into a rampage?”
“I’m sure.” Terrance grabs a package of hamburger buns and, while avoiding eye contact, points to the fridge. “Would you gather all the fixings?”
I hop off my stool and start rummaging through the fridge without complaint, but I don’t let the conversation drop. I hand him a couple slices of cheese. “How are you sure?”
He places the cheese on the sizzling burgers and sighs. “I told you, you’re different. You have nothing to fear from me. Even if I were to become angry with you, I could never hurt you. My instincts would not allow it.”
“But why?”
Pressing the topic is making him uncomfortable, but I have to know. I hadn’t thought him to be under my whacked out spell, but if he is, I need to know. I can’t stay here if he’s infatuated with me.
Terrance slathers some mayo on his burger, and I drench mine in mustard. While we both add lettuce, tomato, and onion, he purposefully focuses on his burger and says, “Even after I refused to help you, you stood up to a master vampire on my behalf and offered to help me find Shandra, no questions asked. You went against your master’s wishes at a sacrifice to your own personal health and safety, and you didn’t even ask for compensation afterward.”
“A) that bastard was not my master, B) I told you—I understood why you couldn’t help me. And C) you were kind, and Shandra was innocent. You both deserved my help. I was more than happy to give it.”
As he grabs a couple cans of soda from the fridge, his quiet reply catches my attention. “Yes. And for that, you have earned my trust and my loyalty.” Handing me a drink, he finally meets my gaze and sits at one of the counter stools. “That is rare among my kind, especially outside one’s clan. It is unheard of outside our species. I don’t understand it, but tonight you invoked my protective instincts.”
He uses the phrase like protective instincts are some kind of official troll thing, and he’s staring at me as if he’s dumbfounded by the possibility that I invoked them. The attention makes me uncomfortable. “Is it really such a big deal to feel protective?” I ask. “I mean, I’d have your back in a fight, too.”
“I—” He pauses and seems to change his mind from whatever he was about to say. “You’re right. It’s not that big a deal. It’s just surprising. Like I said, it’s a rare thing for a troll to befriend someone outside his clan. You can trust me, though; you’re safe with me. I snore like a troll, and my feet smell like troll’s feet, but if you can handle it, I don’t mind the roommate.”
He brushed off my question, and I hate that I feel like he he’s hiding something, but I do. I want to trust him, but I’ve had too many bad experiences, especially with men. I need to clear the air in this department or I’ll never relax around him, so I drop onto the stool next to his and spit out what has me so bothered.
“Um, Terrance…?” His brows draw low over his eyes at my sudden nerves. “I just, um…I don’t date. Anyone. Like, at all. Ever. I mean, I doubt you were thinking that direction, but if I’m going to crash here, I figure it’s better to just lay the ground rules now, you know?”