Page 13 of The Orc Who Hated Christmas

“Oh! Yes!” Cas could easily find nicer loaves than brick bread. “We have so many different types. Some of which are so delicious, unlike the brick bread. We have this nut-and-seed loaf, very filling and hearty.” Cas pointed to a dark loaf. “And it tastes quite yummy.

“This onion and basil is nice. I don’t make any of these. Bread isn’t my speciality. Not sweet enough for me.” Cas laughed. “But I enjoy them sometimes. And this cranberry-and-walnut bread is yummy. It’s a little sweet.”

“I’ll take two of each,” Graal said.

Smiling, Cas took the loaves and wrapped them. “I’m so excited you’re trying these. I don’t like brick bread a lot.”

“It’s not the tastiest.” Graal smiled. “Not like your cookies.”

Cas laughed, pleased to see Graal smile again. “That’s an…” Movement by the large glass window at the front of the bakery caught Cas’s eye.

A trim figure walked past. He had horns, hair of jet black with streaks of gold, dark wings tucked back, and a tail that swayed casually behind him. Cas would recognise the incubus anywhere.

Xavier.

Hope flared inside his chest. Xavi had returned. He’d returned to Cas!

His mind started to spin. Would Xavi come into the shop? Apologise to Cas for everything? Would he say he’d made a terrible mistake, beg Cas’s forgiveness, tell Cas he still loved him, and ask him back?

Cas’s stomach fluttered along with his wings.

Then Cas saw who was walking beside Xavi. The dryad. The dryad who’d had his legs spread as Xavi shoved his cock into him. The dryad’s cries of pleasure in between calling out “Xavi” still rang in Cas’s ears.

No one else called Xavier “Xavi.” It had been Cas’s thing. Xavier had specifically asked Cas to call him that. It had made Cas feel special, loved. Had Xavier asked the dryad to call him that too?

Hope darkened and crumbled into nothingness inside Cas.

Xavi would not come back to Cas. He would not tell Cas he still loved him. Because Xavi clearly didn’t.

And in that wretched moment, Cas could not deny the truth. If Xavi had apologised and asked him back, even after all he’d done, Cas would have taken him back.

It was pathetic. It was beyond pitiful. Cas should be done with Xavi. And until that moment, Cas could have lied to himself and believed he didn’t want the cheating incubus back. But for that split second, when he’d thought Xavi still wanted him, he knew he would have forgiven Xavi everything.

Fuck. I still love him.

“Are you all right?”

Graal’s words pulled Cas back.

Cas tore his gaze from the window. He couldn’t even see the two anymore. How long had he been staring at the empty window?

Cas shook his head. “I’m all right. Never better.” He let out a weak laugh. “It’s just…the incubus is my partner. I mean, was my partner,” he corrected. He blinked rapidly, eyes stinging. “The dryad and he are together now, I guess.”

Cas licked his dry lips. “It was mutual,” Cas lied, not meeting Graal’s eyes. “Together for three years, and then our relationship just ran its natural course. You know how it is.” Cas shrugged, trying to pretend his heart wasn’t convulsing with pain in his chest.

He glanced at Graal. Graal frowned at him, clearly not fooled.

“Sorry. It’s just seeing him again.” Cas lifted his chin, trying to appear composed. “But I’m not going to let it ruin my Christmas. I’m the Christmas pixie, after all!” His lips spasmed as he tried to smile.

“At least I’m working at the Christmas markets tonight. It’ll be a good distraction. We run a stall there. We have an oven, and we bake our bread fresh at the markets. But we bring cookies, tarts, truffles, and other goods from here. I love the Christmas markets so much that it doesn’t even feel like work.” Thankfully, Cas’s voice sounded cheery and not like he wanted to cry.

“My favourite things are all the giant decorated Christmas trees. Also, the magicked globes that glow. And the food. And the drink. Actually, everything is my favourite.” If Cas could just focus on the Christmas markets, then maybe he could get through the next few minutes without breaking down into sobs. “What’s your favourite thing about the markets?”

“Umm.” Graal scratched his beard. “I’ve never been to the markets.”

“What? Never! You’ve never been to the Christmas markets?”

Graal shook his head. “Never.”