Page 8 of Bossed By the Orc

His grunt of satisfaction sent a shiver straight to my clit and I knew that my panties would once again be soaked. I didn’t need the hassle of having to change them every night, damn it. Yet without fail, in this male’s presence, I walked out of his office needing to rush to the changing room.

Life is unfair.

As I pushed the cart into the elevator, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, looking down at the picture that popped up and answered immediately. “Hey,” I chirped, trying to sound as upbeat and positive as possible. “I didn’t know you small town folks were up at this time.”

My mother coughed as she laughed, the sound still as cheerful as ever, but I winced. The cough was a reminder of everything she’d been through and would continue to deal with.

“I knew that I had to wake up early to call my city slicker daughter,” she told me, her voice hoarser than I was used to. “Your father’s here.”

“Hi, Daddy,” I squealed in a loud voice, knowing he was a little hard of hearing. “I miss you both.”

“You miss him more,” my mom complained, a pout in her voice while my dad’s laugh boomed in the background.

“That’s my girl,” he crowed and I grinned.

“Always the same,” I corrected. The elevator doors opened and I pushed the cart through, aiming for the changing rooms. “But how’ve you been? Tell me everything.”

“That best friend of yours comes around every damn day,” my dad called—almost screaming, as he always did when the speaker phone was active—and as much as he wanted to sound put-out about it, I heard the affection lacing his voice. “She needs to move to the city with you. Meet a nice young man and have those children she’s always wanted.”

My smile was so broad it almost hurt my face. I was the luckiest woman alive to have the people that I did in my life. In my absence, Becca had taken the initiative to take care of my parents without me even asking.

Tears came before I was ready and I had to mute the phone to suck in a harsh breath before blowing it out. Unmuting the call, I laughed. “You know she loves you like her own.”

“And we love her, too,” my mom agreed. When Becca lost her parents, she’d been adrift for a bit but had clung to my family for comfort and I was so glad we’d been there. A loss like that could break some people. But not Becca. She was stronger than anyone I knew.

“I was thinking of setting her up with Beau Brady,” my mom admitted. “But I know she wasn’t very fond of him growing up.’

I snorted. Wasn’t very fond was an understatement of epic proportions. She loathed the man more than anyone. “He isn’t exactly her type, Mom,” I let her down gently, not wanting to go into detail about Becca’s preferences.

“Well, he’s changed since you two were kids, but fine,” she sighed. “I just want to see you both settled.”

“Who says we aren’t?” The smile I forced onto my face was meant to be conveyed in my voice. I couldn’t have my parents knowing that I cried myself to sleep every night for the first week after I moved because I was lonely.

“Yes, you’re both independent and all of that,” my father agreed, “but I wish you could find what I have with your mother.”

The smacking kiss across the line made my smile turn genuine. Their love hadn’t always been easy, even now, but they’d fought for each other in the good times and bad, always having the other’s back.

“If I find what you guys have,” I told them, setting my phone on the counter to step out of my clothes, “I’m keeping him.”

“Good,” my mom said with a smug tone. “Because I just know you’ll find someone there. Much more pickings than here.”

I hummed my agreement while they chattered on about the rest of the gossip from back home.

I scanned the room idly, and my eyes landed on a calendar someone had hung up on their locker. The cover was of a demon, shirtless in a fireman’s uniform, holding a Dalmatian puppy and at any other time, I would fan myself, but the date jogged a memory and I had good news to deliver.

“Oh!” I exclaimed, “My supervisor got all the banking information entered, so my next paycheck’s all ready to go! You’ll get a notification on the app I set up on your phone.”

The aching silence that filled the room made me lose some of my previous excitement, but I tried to stay upbeat. “I’ll double-check with you on Friday to make sure.”

“Sweetheart,” my mom whispered, sadness coating her words. “It’s so expensive there. Please, keep it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed, aiming for nonchalant. “I make good money here, Mom. And the place I’m renting is really nice but not too expensive. Work’s close, too, so I just walk. Of course I’ll send money home when I can.”

The silence on the other end told me that my parents were having a full-fledged wordless conversation—as they often did.

“We got a call from the bank this morning,” Mom said in a quiet voice that was so unlike her. “And they might not grant us that extra time to come up with the payments.”

Shock filled my chest. “Why not?” I asked, struggling to not let the desperation that I was feeling fill my tone. We needed that extension if we had any hope to pay for Mom’s hospital bills.

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