Page 46 of Falling for the Orc All-Star
Don’t know how to play this, and I’m an idiot, because this is so clearly not a game.
You are such a fucking screw up, King.
“I’m sorry I didn’t send flowers,” I blurt.
“Huh?”
“I’ve never... There’s never been a next day for me. And I’m not sure, but I think if I don’t do what the team tells me, they can stop paying for my treatments. I had to go for my follow-up with the team medical staff, and then, since Bryce drove me, I just ended up staying most of the day at practice. I did text you. I know you got them because you wrote back...”
“King, I’m not huge on flowers.”
“I didn’t think you were, but I still didn’t know if I should send them or not. I didn’t know... I don’t know a lot.”
Ingrid smiles. Her face gets such a sweet, soft look sometimes, and it feels... like every goal and every trophy in the world are trash compared to just one of those smiles. “Tell me what you thought. You’ve been doing pretty good so far.”
That’s news to me, but I’ll go with it. “I thought we could go to the dog park or Hilltop with the dogs, and I could throw the ball for them, and I could tell Steve and Lester that there’s a surprise for them at tomorrow’s matinee game.”
“There is?” Ingrid puts her purse over her shoulder and closes the computer with a jiggle of her mouse. “What’s going on?”
“I got them all seats close to the ice and got them VIP Lumberjacks' jerseys.”
The soft smile is suddenly a high-voltage smile. I think she could restart a 757 with that grin. “You did, huh?”
“Uh-huh.” I risk running my hand up and down her arm. “The dogs like the seniors. They’re like spoiled grandkids.” My idea is prickling me. “Wouldn’t it be great if... Wouldn’t it be great if all of the seniors who wanted a pet could have one?”
“In a perfect world,” Ingrid sighs, and she rubs my arm. “When you’re off those crutches, I call dibs on holding your hand,” she whispers.
I call dibs on putting a ring on yours, I think, but keep my mouth mercifully shut. “So. I had an idea.”
“You said. Come on, I’ll give you a ride home—or to my place, and we can get the dogs and head to the dog park. I love going to visit Mrs. Y, but I happen to know Mr. Minegold invited a bunch of them over for Shabbat dinner.”
“Ah. You know, I’m still getting meals delivered. I have a fridge full of food—and a couch with no dog hair whatsoever,” I wheedle.
“Park, then your place?”
“Mmhmm.”
It’s while I’m throwing the ball for the dogs that I finally get to tell her what I’m pondering. Each giddy, goofy chase by my new four-legged besties leaves me laughing, and leaves Ingrid nestling under my arm against the cold fall breezes. The park is pretty empty in this corner. People are getting set up for the Halloween events now that Pumpkin Fest is done with. Halloween is a big deal in this town, a real family affair, a special night for celebrating, especially for couples.
Couples. Families.
I toss the bright yellow-green ball again, and Daisy and Chip zoom after it. “Getting older is different in the Orc community. Your clan is always around you. Even Orcs who live in human communities and who marry humans have a hybrid clan. I... I kind of distanced myself from my family, but finding you made me start thinking about family all over again.”
“Finding me, or getting hurt?” Ingrid asks, voice not as sharp as I expected, and I feel honored. The War Maiden lays down her shield and spear in my presence.
Trusting me. My hand rests on her arm, and now I pull her in tighter. “Both. One led to the other, and even though I don’t know what’s going to happen now with my game and my career,” I let out a long, shuddering breath, “ it brought me to you, and I’d do it all again.”
“King, you don’t have to sweet-talk me into—”
The dogs race back, and I throw like I mean it this time. The ball smacks into the fence at the end of the park, and the dogs scamper away, churning up the grass with their paws. “I wasn’t sweet-talking. Just telling you my thoughts. I thought... I thought that’s what it was like when you find your special person.”
Ingrid is quiet for a long moment, shoulders temporarily stiff under my arm, before she sighs and snuggles in deeper. “You’re right. I haven’t had this, though. I mean, yeah, I have a family, and growing up, I thought we were tight-knit and close, at least as close as you can be when your dad is gone for months at a time. When my parents got divorced and my brother got married and moved halfway across the country, it showed me I was going to be on my own at some point, or else pulled like taffy in all different directions. I tried the taffy thing for a while, and it sucked. I got put in the middle of a lot of arguments between my parents, even though we’re all supposed to be adults. My mom settled back near her family and got swallowed up into their lives like she’d never been away, but not so much for my brother and me. I barely knew them, and they... Yeah, I took my dad’s side on some things, and didn’t follow through on the nursing career, which was really important to my mom, so... When I think of aging, I think of me trying to divide time between my parents and begging my stepsiblings and brother for help to work out their long-term care.”
I wince. “Hopefully that’s not for a long time.”
“I hope not.”
I nudge her side with mine and take the ball from Daisy, who puts a muddy paw on my knee. “What about your life? Your family?”