Page 94 of Falling for the Orc All-Star

Ingrid deserves a millionaire. A man who won’t struggle to provide.

My mind fast forwards.

Little fenced-in yards turn into luxury homes, with my kids in the best schools, and pools and stables in the yard, and all of our loved ones being flown out, round-trip, first class, whenever we want.

My father and mother beaming on me.

This silly hockey lark paid off, I can hear my father saying, the begrudging tone evaporating..

“King?”

“Ingrid? Ingy! I thought you went to work.” I look up and slowly shift in my chair, ice pack moving from my knee to the edge of the table.

“No. I came back. Forgot my lunch.” Ingrid stands in the doorway, but doesn’t enter it.

“Oh. I’ll get it.” I guess I should. I’m in the kitchen. I hobble to the fridge and find her pretty purple padded lunch tote and present it to her. “Here you go, babe. Have a good one.”

“I’ll try. Good call?”

I blink. “You heard?”

She nods. Lips thin.

“The San José Sharks just called. They want me to come out for a couple of weeks and see if I gel with the team. Now, not going to lie, they’re doing pretty poorly at the moment, which is probably why they’re considering me. They saw the game last night—probably some scout did, not the coach who called. Nice guy. Ingrid, do you know what the starting salary for the majors is?”

More silence. Head shaking.

“Three-quarters of a million. I could buy you a gorgeous house. A big house! Our kids could go to the best schools in the country. We could—”

“We?”

I swallow. I don’t know if I want the job. But Ingrid would probably think I’m a loser if I picked relative poverty over the chance to be a good provider. A real Orc would make any sacrifice for his mate—even leaving the life he finally realized he prefers.

“Of course, we. You’ll go with me if I get it, right?” My voice is so heavy, and my shoulders feel like lead bars are resting on them, despite the fact that I’m finally getting what I’ve always dreamed of.

Ingrid’s face is a mystery to me, just when I thought I was learning to read her so well. “No. Not out of like...obligation. Not when you sound like that.”

Well, that made my choice easier. No Ingrid in California equals no King in California. But now she looks angry and upset, that much I can tell, so I have to ask, “But isn’t this a good thing? Isn’t this what you’d want from me? A guy with a real career, a real chance at the spotlight? I know we’ve talked money, but in case you need a reminder, I’m making like sixty grand, a fraction of what major leaguers make.”

“I wasn’t with you for money!”

“I... I know that! But this is better. Isn’t it? Being a major league star is better for our family, right?”

Ingrid lets out a noise that breaks my heart. A weak, muffled sound that’s too small to be a sob. When her voice comes out, all I can think is that I broke my beautiful War Maiden. My fierce Ingrid. My knee is swollen, but I run to her and pull her against my chest.

“Don’t cry. Please, baby.” I smother her face with little kisses, horrified when I come away with tear-stained lips. “Ingrid, what is it?”

“I like you like this. I love you like this. I w-want you to want me and our little life in Pine Ridge more than the shiny trophies and the shiny things.”

“I do! Oh, God, I do!”

“I don’t want to stand in the way of your big chance, but I don’t want it to change you. I don’t want it to changeus.I... I don’t... Think about how much you do for people around here, how lucky I am that you’d only go a few hours away for most of the season. The money is plenty to live on in Pine Ridge. To the Sharks, you’d just be another player. But here... How are you going to meet Lester and Steve at the dog park and watch their puppies grow up? How are you going to meet with the music students and football team members from the high school who want to take over the day-to-day scheduling for Team Paws?”

Why does she think I didn’t say yes immediately? “Ihavethought about all that. About how I’m being selfish. I’m thinking about how I like being the big fish in a little pond now, when I should be thinking about how to make your life the best. I could give you luxuries that you deserve, all the things you want.”

Ingrid shakes her head vigorously and grabs my shoulders. Her lower lip trembles, but the fierceness in her face makes my heart start beating normally again. The warrior rises.

“I only want you. Like you are. I don’t care where that is, as long as you’re happy and you’re still the man I love—not the person I first met, the arrogant jerk.” She lets out a shaking sigh. “I’ll go withyou, with the King I love, anywhere.”