One of the guys Garrak now watched over.
But surprisingly, his tone turned a little wistful as he spoke about Abydos finding his wife—no, hisMate. Apparently, to orcs, Mating was like…a biological thing? I couldn’t quite tell, but it sounded like it was more than just falling in love; it was a compulsion?
I made a mental note to look it up later. I found that sort of stuff fascinating. If Dad had let me go to grad school like I wanted, my plan had been to be a marriage counselor, but those dreams were way in the past.
Garrak was talking about his younger brother, who’d recently found his Mate, when the server came back over with my fries and both of his burgers. We both thanked her, and as I reached for the ketchup for my fries, he began to saw one of his burgers in half. Garrak continued to talk about his brother as he nonchalantly slid the half-burger onto my plate beside my fries.
His words slowly faded into the background as I stared down at that burger.
When had…when had someone done something so nice for me so nonchalantly? My world was filled with people who only looked after themselves. Who only did something nice for a price.
But Garrak had seen through my lie about being full. He hadn’t made a big deal out of it; he’d just taken steps to fix the problem. He’d takencareof me, just like he’d taken care of his guys.
Who took care of him?
Blinking back tears, I glanced up to find him watching me with a serious expression.
“You need to eat,” was all he said.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, willing away the tears, and picked up the burger.
He nodded once, gravely. “Good girl.”
And his praise filled me as surely as the food did. My stomach went all fluttery, and I felt myself blushing as I bit into the burger, suddenly determined to make him proud of me again.
Chapter Five
Garrak
Today had been…fun.
I hadn’t expected that. I hadn’texperiencedthat before.
Don’t get me wrong; I have friends, and I cherish the time I get to spend with them. My younger brother Sylvik—my mother adopted him when I was nearly grown, so while I didn’t grow up with him, I still consider himmine—was here on Eastshore, which was nice…
But he’d recently found his Mate. He and Brooke were settling into married life, the same way Abydos and Riven were. So much had changed when we moved here, and while it was all for the better, I’d also occasionally felt myself…adrift?
But today, with Stevie, I’d felt anchored. Anchored to the here and now, showing her my plans for the future. When I’d explained why I needed Hendricks’ money, shehadn’t laughed, hadn’t tried to talk me out of it, the way I would have expectedhimto; the bastard had been avoiding paying his debt for months now.
Stevie, on the other hand, had understood why it was important. I’dseenthat.
And I’d appreciated her insights.
How in all the hells did she know so much about…about…people? She was insightful and understanding, and I’d really enjoyed hearing her thoughts and opinions on my plans for the community center.
Hendricks’ letter had called her a whore, threatened her unless she let me fuck her to repay his debt.
And maybe, if I’d shut the door in her face, maybe I would have spent the rest of my life thinking of her in that context…as if she were worth nothing more than her body. But I’d seen those bruises, smelled her fear—not of me, but ofhim—and known I wouldn’t be shutting her out.
MyKteeralready thought of her as mine.
Stevie was mine, the same way Sylvik and Abydos and Brakkor and his brother andallmy guys were. Mine to watch over, mine to protect.
And she’d be leaving tomorrow.
When we returned to my condo after lunch, she’d been the one to suggest a few rounds of poker, a teasing smile on her lips. I think I would’ve agreed to anything to see her keep smiling, but it turned out that playing against her had beenfun.
And yeah, she’d been right; shewasn’ta particularly good player. She folded at any opportunity, played too conservatively, and refused to show me her hand, even after I’d won. She would just smile mysteriously and scoop up the cards to shuffle. Seeing how deftly she handled the cards made me wonder about her past.
