Page 45 of The Orc That Got Away

“What? I’m just kissing my boyfriend,” he protests. I still get flustered at the word. ‘Boyfriend’. There’s so much weight in that title, and I can’t believe we’re using it so easily again. And I have to admit, the fact that he’s so quick to show affection where others might see is encouraging. I’m not some dirty little secret to him. I’m his boyfriend, his lover, his equal.

I put my camera down and take him in for one long, deep kiss. When I finally break it off, he whines like a puppy and it makes me giggle.

“Hush dear, I want to get a shot of the flower garden over there,” I say, pointing to a short walk away. “Then we need to swing by the diner to meet Glenda, remember?”

Ragnar sighs and dramatically drops his face into the tablecloth. “Yes. Volunteer opportunities.”

“And then…we can go back to my room and pick this back up,” I say, trying not to sound too condescending. Ragnar perks up at the promise and immediately gets to work packing our trash back up. He shoos me away to get my photos while he promises to get every bit of trash in the proper receptacle.

I find the flowers a bit wilted in this sun, and only take a couple of shots. What really catches me, just for a moment, is a small family not too far away. The father and son are running around the jungle gym, making a great deal of noise and jumping around without a single care. The mother has a video camera in hand, and is capturing every moment of their games. Until he passes her and, for a moment, she gives him an impromptu kiss.

It’s a small moment of private affection between two people who’ve obviously been together a long time. My heart aches for it, for that easy familiarity. I turn back to Ragnar who’s finished his chore and is waiting patiently for me. I meet him with a big smile and give him one of those small, easy kisses.

“Ready?” he asks.

“Absolutely.”

It’s a short walk to the diner, and really I’m going to miss how walkable this place is once we’re done here. Glenda hasn’t arrived yet, but Gorlag is there. And he motions for us to sit at his table.

“Working remotely today?” Ragnar asks.

“Hm, personal day. Anyway, congrats on the announcement,” Gorlag says casually.

Ragnar quirks an eyebrow and frowns. “What announcement?”

Gorlag looks up from his laptop and eyes us with confusion. “Going public with your relationship?”

I gasp, shocked about what would make him think we did that. But Ragnar’s eyes go wide in terror.

“What are you talking about? We didn’t make any public announcement!” Ragnar snaps. His tone fills my stomach with dread, though I can’t tell why just yet.

“Woah woah, don’t shoot the messenger, look.” Gorlag types on his laptop for a bit before turning it around to show us. It’s a celebrity gossip blog, and the headline reads: ‘Billionaire CEO and Super Model Confirmed an Item!’

I burst out laughing. This is far from my first interaction with tabloid media. Hell, it’s not even the first time I’ve been centered on this very blog. It’s a three sentence article at best, with a photo of us walking hand in hand down this very street. This isn’t even enough to get a real hashtag going on social media. Why even bother with us?

But Ragnar doesn’t seem to be taking this as easily.

“Who wrote this? How the hell did they get our photo like that?” he demands.

Gorlag chuckles darkly. “You tell me, you have more experience leading the media on than I do.”

They’re prodding each other over something that I can guess occurred recently. But the exchange is white noise buzzing in my ears. All I can hear is Ragnar’s fear, frustration. His anger. At what? Being seen with me? By tomorrow morning, no one will even remember this. Our photo on a gossip blog means nothing.

But it sure seems to mean something to him. The acid in my stomach begins to burn, churning and making me feel sick with grief. He’s still ashamed of me.

Even after all of this, he wants me to stay a secret.

24

RAGNAR

Iwatch Bradford drink his coffee at breakfast, my stomach twisted into a knot of nerves. Mildred passes our table and catches my eye.

“Is something wrong with your food?” she asks, noticing that I haven’t touched my breakfast.

I shake my head and do my best to smile reassuringly at her. “No, it’s all delicious, Millie. I just don’t have much of an appetite this morning.”

She nods and moves on, but Bradford looks at me, his eyes narrowing. “What’s going on, Ragnar?”

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