Page 37 of Hellhounds Never Lie

I huffed and went to get a kitchen chair to use as a stool. Being shorter than the average man sucked. I brought it back to the closet beside my front door and dug out my meager selection of tools from the back of the top shelf. Calling it a toolkit was a bit of an exaggeration when it wasn’t much more than a canvas bag containing three random screwdrivers, a hammer, and a rusty set of pliers.

Luckily, Dillon managed to work with the few tools I had. When we finished, I eyed the locks skeptically. There was no way I was getting my full security deposit back with that many new holes in my door and door frame. But I couldn’t deny I did feel safer. Of course, that could have been because I was now locked inside my apartment with a big, sexy hellhound.

I was shoving my toolkit back onto the shelf in my front closet when my phone rang.

I knew by theBewitchedtheme song it was my mother. The song was old school, and I hadn’t even watched any of the episodes, but the ringtone made me smile whenever she called and that was a good thing. If I wasn’t smiling when I talked to her, she’d decide something was wrong and make a special trip to Willow Lake to check on me.

For the tiniest moment, I contemplated ignoring her call but that would make her panic. The last thing I needed was for her to call the police station to get them to do a wellness check. Ask me how I knew she’d do that.

I jumped down from the chair and swiped to answer.

“Hi, Mom,” I said, forcing an upbeat enthusiasm into my words.

I was greeted with silence for half a second, then, “What’s wrong?”

Spells and curses, now I’d fucked up. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“You don’t sound right, honey,” she said. “What happened?”

I could already hear the jingle of her keys and knew she’d grabbed them off the hook by her front door.

“Mom, seriously, I’m fine.”

“I can be there in a jiffy,” she said.

The sound of the front door closing punctuated her words. The last thing I needed was for her to drive two hours because she didn’t like the way I answered the phone.

“Stop,” I said forcefully.

Everything went silent on her end. Dillon, who wore a worried look on his face, froze too. He’d been returning the kitchen chair I’d been standing on to reach into the closet. His hands tightened on the back of the chair.

“I have plans,” I said. “I won’t be here if you come today.”

“What plans?”

“Mom, I’m an adult. I can make plans without needing to tell you about them. Do you ask Birch for details about his plans?”

“Birch doesn’t make plans, honey, he hooks up with people. Is that what you’re talking about? Sex?” I swear I heard her clap her hands. “Are you having sex again? Oh, honey, I’m so proud of you.”

“Please stop talking.” I groaned and flopped down on my sofa.

“Who is this guy, Ashton? What’s his name? Is he a supe? How long have you known him?”

Good grief. “Mom, please…”

She sighed. “You know you don’t have a good history, honey. I think we’d both feel better if you told me about him. And send me a picture of him at the start of your date. And text me whatever details he tells you about himself.”

I glanced at Dillon who’d joined me on the couch, expecting him to roll his eyes at her ridiculousness. I figured, with his shifter senses, he could hear everything she said. Instead of being exasperated like I was, he was nodding like he agreed with her.

“I’m okay with that, Ash,” he whispered, “if it’ll make her feel better. I’m glad you have someone looking out for you.”

“What was that?” my mom asked.

“That was Dillon—”

“He’s there? Right now?” My mom squealed—literally squealed—like the wonky wheel on the cart I always managed to grab at the grocery store. “You didn’t tell me he was in your apartment. It must be serious. I’m so proud of you, firebug. So proud of you for putting yourself out there again. I’m going to hang up and call you back real quick for a video call.”

Before I could stop her, she’d already disconnected. Sometimes I wished Birch and I had never shown her how to make a video call. Not even a second later, the request for a video call came in. Reluctantly, I accepted it.