Page 30 of My Orc in Uniform

Nikki was rolling her eyes, but Sakkara was beaming. “I’m glad to see you’ve found someone who puts up with you, Simbel.”

“Yeah,” came a new voice. “I could’ve told you he has the sense of humor—and the intelligence—of a teenaged boy.”

The new orc looked remarkably like Simbel but wore his hair long. He was scowling as he limped toward us, a cane in one hand.

“Bro, was that an insult for you or me?” Patrick stage-whispered, but Simbel merely snorted.

“Memnon!” Simbel squeezed me against him, and I could hear the joy in his voice. “Youdidcome! Did your new boss make you?”

If anything, the new male’s scowl deepened. “Maybe I wanted to meet your Rissa.” He nodded to me curtly, but stopped outside our little circle and made no effort to offer his hand. “Good to meet you, finally.” He nodded to my son on Simbel’s other side. “Trick. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You have?” Patrick blurted, at the same time Simbel announced, “Rissa, Trick, meet my twin brother, Memnon.”

“Oh yeah,” Patrick mugged, “I can definitely see the resemblance.”

“Not sure if he’s insulting you or me,” Memnon grumbled, repeating Patrick’s words from earlier, and I offered an awkward little wave.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Memnon. Simbel told me a lot about you. All good things.”

The other male snorted. “And that’s how I know it was all bullshit.”

But I was still thinking about what Memnon had said originally.Good to meet you finally. He’d called meSimbel’s Rissa. Had…Simbel talked about me to his brother? He’d told Memnon about Patrick?

A warm feeling grew in my stomach.

Somehow, knowing he’d talked about—bragged about?—us to his twin brother made this…this…whatever this wasfeel more real.

My emotions were a big jumble in my chest. I loved the way Simbel made me feel, loved the way he fit so perfectly with our family, lovedhim. But I was terrified of the future, and what my crazy, impulsive behaviors might lead to.

Simbel’s arm tightened around me, and when I glanced up, he was looking at me with concern. I tried to smile, and his eyes softened. “Want to go check out the fried food truck?” he offered.

Patrick leapt at the opportunity. “Fried Oreos!” he yelled, which sounded horrible. But yeah, I was glad for the chance to get Simbel to myself once more. I needed to come to terms with the way my heart was leaping at the thought of convincing Simbel to stay.

Forever.

I looped my arm around Simbel’s waist, or as much as I could manage. “Fried Oreos, huzzah.”

“That used to be my nickname—” Simbel began, but I cut him off with a laugh.

“It was good to see you again, Nikki, Sakkara.” My smile turned shy. “Nice meeting you, Memnon.”

As Simbel led us away, I heard Sakkara say, “So…how’s your new job going?”

And Memnon replied in a grumble, “I hate you.”

“Maybe,” Sakkara chuckled, “but it was necessary.”

“Still hate you.”

“How’s the leg? Still stiff? The high school has a track lots of Eastshore uses to exercise.”

Then we were too far away to hear Memnon’s reply, because I’d suddenly been hit with an idea. An idea that might help alleviate some of Simbel’s worry about his brother, and something that would remind me thatyou know what? I am pretty awesome, thank you very much.

“Hey, Fried Oreos?” I began, my brain whizzing through all the possibilities of the plan as we strolled away from the group.

“Aww!” Simbel smiled down at me. “You remembered my name. Or are you asking for some?”

I squeezed him. “No, I’m coming up with cutesy sobriquets. Studmuffin, fried-Oreos, strawberry cheesecake…”

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