Page 8 of One Night with Her Grumpy Orc (Toothsome Monster Romance #3)

Betty

W hat a disaster this week has been. First, my favorite place on Earth is destroyed in a snowstorm. Then I sleep with my secret crush. Not entirely a bad thing, but Awkward, with a capital A. Thanks to Jake, my meddlesome bigoted parents are here to ‘help’ me.

And now? Now they’ve completely embarrassed me in front of the very nice townsfolk who are volunteering to fix my favorite place. They insulted my secret crush. And they’re preparing dinner in my kitchen for Jake and me, making the loudest racket and biggest mess while they do it.

I need a nap.

“Betty! Where’s the aluminum foil?” Mom shouts down the hallway to my room where I’m hiding, trying to finish my book. I try to read the endings of my books when I won’t be interrupted. There’s nothing worse than being interrupted in the middle of the couple declaring their forever love for each other, and kissing madly, deeply. Talk about a total dopamine killer.

Sighing, I get up and pad down the cold hallway to the kitchen. I can’t stand the way my parents have always yelled at each other and me. Nothing is ever said in a normal tone of voice. Jake sits at the table, surprising me. “Hi, I didn’t hear you arrive.” I wipe my eyes, then clean my lenses on the edge of my shirt. It’s later than I thought.

“I was trying to be quiet. I thought you were napping.” He smiles that goofy grin. Sighing, I find the foil in the cabinet, hand Mom the foil, grab a cup of water and sit across from Jake. Dad is trying to mash potatoes, and Mom is telling him he’s doing it wrong. Distracted, good.

“I cannot believe you called them!” I lean in, whisper-shouting at Jake. He just rolls his eyes at me.

“What was I supposed to do? Debby still hasn’t forgiven me for not calling when you locked yourself out of your own home at ten at night and you slept in the library.”

“And whose fault is that? They would have never known if you hadn’t told them.” I sigh and sip my water, wishing it were something stronger as my dad sends mashed potatoes flying through the kitchen. “Jake, you have to stop informing them about my life. I moved here to have some freedom from them. And I have plans that I would not like them involved in.”

“Grev?” he wags his eyebrows up and down at me, smirking. But it isn’t the playful smile I’m used to him wearing. There’s a glint of jealousy behind his eyes. It takes me by surprise, and I sit up straight, away from him as if I’ve been stung.

“What are you talking about?” I aim for nonchalance, but I know I’ve failed.

“Dinner’s ready!” Mom announces as she marches a tray of food to the table.

“I saw you two the morning after the storm. There’s no way your night together was catalogued under children’s stories.” I gasp, but quickly wipe the shock from my face as Mom sets the food down in front of us and smiles. She sits next to Jake as Dad walks over with half as many mashed potatoes as should be in the bowl.

Do not say anything, I mouth to Jake, my heel digging into his socked feet under the table to emphasize my point. He gives me a curt nod. We turn our attention to the parents and pretend that I do not have an apparently obvious-like-a-neon-sign crush on the orc who kept me warm the other night.

It isn’t until later, once the dishes have been washed and put away, Jake has left, and I’m scrubbing half-dried mashed potatoes off the cabinets and ceilings, that the doorbell rings. Mom, who is organizing the books on my shelf by color like a photo she saw in a magazine, gets the door. Not knowing who could be there, I stay put on my stepstool and try to ignore my mom’s fluttery fake laugh.

When I hear his grumbly voice, my heart stops, just as a smashed potato chunk falls on my face from the ceiling. Scrambling to get off of the stepstool with my sponge, I trip over my own feet and fall. Luckily for me, it’s all of two feet. I’m not hurt, but I am embarrassed as I sit up to see my mom and Grev in the doorway to the kitchen.

Mom’s face is flushed; I file that fact away for later. But before I can even attempt to say hello to Grev, he is next to me, holding my hand, asking if I’m okay.

“Just klutzy.” I shrug, trying to get up without giving away that my ass hurts from landing on it.

One heavy hand stays on me, my arm, my back, as I walk to the sink to wash the potato gunk off my hands and face. “You’ve got something—” Grev says as one finger swipes across my forehead. I have never hated mashed potatoes; they are one of my favorite staples from childhood. But right now, I hate them.

“There was a bit of an explosion while making dinner,” I smile and try to will the blood out of my face. “Can I do something for you?” I ask once I’ve dried my hands.

Mom is still standing, now in the middle of the kitchen, hands twisting together as she stares at us. Or at him. Grev looks at her with the same straight face he uses for everybody at the library. It’s a studious vibe—I’m never quite sure if he’s looking for the best way to kill someone or just figuring out why they are standing in the same vicinity as him. Either way, it’s really hard not to burst out laughing at Grev and my mom staring at each other.

“I wanted to let you know that we got a lot of work done today, and the library looks really good. Estimates are we can open back up before next weekend.”

I squeal and clap my hands. It’s childish, but I don’t care. The library is my home and my happy place. Arms out, I step toward him to hug him. There’s a light in his eyes. Yes, he wants this too. The giddiness inside me is effervescent.

Just as I get close enough to soak in the heat rippling off his swarthy body, Mom coughs loudly behind me. A hyperventilating, panicky kind of sound. She stands up, tapping her chest and fake hacking. Oh yes, I can tell she’s faking.

Grev is at her side, his hand on her back, his face close to hers to inspect her for...something, she turns beet red. It’s a shade I’ve never seen Mom wear. “All better, dears. I’d better go find your dad. It’s getting late.” At that last sentence, she gives me a pointed look. I nod in return.

“I’ll just finish up with Grev. Goodnight, Mom.” I kiss her still red cheek and she scurries away, no doubt to tell my father that an orc touched her. Sigh.

“So you want to get dinner tomorrow? We can go to my brother’s brewery, or we can go to the new Pixie place.”

“I—I would love to. I’ve heard good things about the Pixie Pi.” The effervescence is back, and I want to bounce up and down on my toes with excitement, but I don’t want to appear too eager.

There’s a noise from Mom. She’s back, rifling through a stack of papers on the side table next to my reading chair. I can’t tell if it’s a moan from indigestion, or disapproval at me going out to dinner with Grev. But I’m determined to ignore her. “How are the books you checked out last week? What were they on...poisonous mosses?”

Grev laughs and leans back against the kitchen counter, ankles crossed, the most natural action in the world. He looks perfect here. Right at home. He’d be able to reach my ceiling without a stepstool. And the top cabinet above the stove where I keep my holiday dishes. My heart tries to burst with happiness at the potential, but I try to keep it toned down.

“Just mosses. The poisonous plants were several weeks ago. Mosses are really fascinating. Did you know that they can reproduce asexually and sexually?” His eyes are dark and intense, the slight rise of his lip into a barely there smile tugs at something low in my belly. Grev, an orc of few words and fewer smiles, is seriously messing with all my feelings and emotions right now.

“Is that so?” The squeak that erupts out of me is a dead giveaway that he is having his desired effect on me.

“Would you like to sit and have a cup of tea?” I gesture, trying to smoothly ignore the squeak that came out of me.

“I’d love to,” he says, with a little too much emphasis on love .

“Mom, you or Dad want some?” I ask as I fill my yellow tea kettle at the sink.

“Oh, no. I was just looking for something to read. The romance novel you left for me is not working. I’m looking for a mystery. Also, I still can’t find your father.” Mom wanders around the kitchen and living room, rambling, looking out the windows, then under the pillows on the sofa, as if Dad might have shrunk himself and be playing hide and seek under the cushions.

“I think he went to hide so he didn’t have to wash up.” I say pointedly as I set up our mugs. She wanders away down the hall, book in hand. Finally. “Mint okay with you? Or I have this orange spice?”

“I’ll have whatever you’re having.” Again, with that growly voice of his that makes me weak in the knees. And unfortunately, now, I don’t have a desk to hide my wobbly knees behind.

Seated at the kitchen table, Grev’s chair creaks under his weight, but it holds. The blue mug looks petite in his massive green hands, as if I served him tea in an espresso cup. “Thank you. Do your parents visit often?” He is surprisingly polite considering their actions of earlier.

“Not if I can help it. It’s normally up to me to go to them. But Jake was an idiot and called them to tell them about the library and me. So now they’re here.”

“It’s good of them to check on you.” It’s a simple statement, but it means a lot to me. That he cares that I’m taken care of, loved.

“I guess you’re right. We just don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. I like being on an island with the sea between us,” I say as I blow gently on my tea. When I gaze up at him, he’s staring intently at my lips. My cheeks flush against my will. Tea drinking has never been this sensual before.

“Are you and Jake in a relationship?” His words are even and slow, but they bowl me over like a tornado whipping through the room.

“Jake? Gods, no. We were neighbors and friends growing up. He’s the one who told me about Moonfang Haven. But no, I could never be anything with him. My interests lie elsewhere.” I keep him pinned with my eyes, chin pointed up, making sure he gets what I’m saying. His curt nod tells me he understands.

“Well, I mostly wanted to check on you and settle on tomorrow’s plan. I didn’t mean to scare your mom. Well, not entirely.” Grev doesn’t smile, but he winks. His dark eyelashes brush against his cheek as he does so, and I’m struck by his beauty and regalness. It’s not a word I typically think of when I think of the residents of Moonfang Haven, whom I love dearly, but it matches Grev’s stature and demeanor perfectly. I’m glad I’m sitting down as I clench my thighs.

I reach my hand across the table toward Grev, hoping he’ll take it. Hoping that this thing between us is as real for him as it is for me. His eyes never leave mine as he reaches out and grasps my hand in his. Calloused and thick, his hands feel like home.

We sit like that, sipping mint tea and holding hands, and it’s the best thing ever. Or, the second best thing, after the night at the library.

There’s a loud thump behind me. Twisting to look, both my parents are in the doorway. Dad with his arms crossed across his chest. Mom clutches at his shoulders, like she’s holding him back. The ugly scowl on Dad’s face chills me. All the hatred in his eyes is directed at Grev.

“Dad,” I say, standing, trying to block Grev from my parents so he can’t see the hate in my father’s eyes. Of course, Grev stands up, towering behind me. So much for me thinking I could protect him. “You need to calm down—”

“I will not. I refuse to stand by while monsters invade my daughter’s home.”

“He was invited inside. By Mom .” It’s hard to keep my voice level. “I’m a grown woman. This is my choice to make.”

“It may be. But it doesn’t mean it’s smart. Or that I can support it. Or you.”

“The last ferry has run for the night. But the first one leaves at seven a.m. I suggest you and mom are on it.” The tremor in my voice embarrasses me, but not as much as my Dad’s hatred of anyone who doesn’t look like him or like the same things as him.

Dad opens his mouth, finger pointing at me, but nothing comes out of his mouth because Grev makes a noise behind me. I think it’s an actual growl. Menacing enough that Dad just nods and turns to go down the hall to the guest room they are staying in, hollering for Mom to come along.

It takes a minute, or ten, for my breath to return to normal enough for me to turn around and face Grev. The apology is on the tip of my tongue, but the words don’t come out before his. “Betty, I don’t want to come between you and your parents. I’ll leave now. I’ll be working at the library tomorrow.”

He takes one step around me, but I leap at him, wrapping my arms around his middle. My hands can’t reach each other, so they grip his shirt hard, not caring if I rip his shirt. “Grev, I’m so sorry. I will absolutely see you tomorrow.”

Carefully but firmly, he unwraps my clinging arms from himself. Looking deep into my eyes, there’s a resignation in his that puts a pit in my stomach. With a grunted goodbye, he leaves.