“C’mon, boy,” she whispered to Ordo. “We can do this.”
If he’d not noticed, she intended to walk on by, not saying a thing. She never needed to say a thing to him ever again. Unfortunately, she was not going to be that lucky.
"Lurielle?"
She paused upon her approach, making a show of cocking her head, looking surprised.
"Oh . . . wow. Hi. What are you doing in Bridgeton?"
No sense in beating around the bush, she told herself. Just get it over with.Set the fucking bush on fire and trip him as you walk past.
"Work. Just a few months. My company is opening an office here and I'm on the team doing the setup. They've got us set upover in the Bridgeman,verynice accommodations. How about you? You’re doing dog walking now?"
She had never beenthatgirl, but Lurielle was fast learning that she could be.
It was incredibly typical for him to take a swing within the first few minutes of the conversation, and she looked back at the shrinking mouse she had been for years, taking it. She would never be that girl again, but Lurielle wanted to protect her, to hit backforher. Everyone placed in her path was put there for a reason, and Tev was there to remind her of how far she had come. To challenge her to rise to the occasion.Challenge fucking accepted.She smiled broadly.
"I’m an engineer, Tev. But I’m pretty sure you know that. The Bridgman, that’s what, business class? Like, long-term corporate, right? We’re in the Templeton. Over on the water."
She smiled angelically, showing off the at-home whitening treatments she had been doing religiously every week for the past several months.Shedidn't care about snooty addresses, but she knew Tev and his ilk certainly did.And there's not a building in the city more swanky. And if he's been here for five minutes, he knows it.
"Nothing but the best for Ordo. Isn't that right, baby boy," she asked the big mastiff, giving him a scratch behind the ears. Ordo, the most relaxed, chilled-out canine she had ever encountered, growled, low in his throat.That's my good boy.
Lurielle could see his mind parsing through her words. A slow blink. "We?"
"Mhm. Me. And my fiancé."
She could see the confusion in his eyes, trying to work out who this confident stranger was before him, smiling as if she didn't have a care in the world.And she doesn't. Because you're just an asshole with bad opinions, and you don't matter at all.Sheknew Tev well enough, and saw his recovery, his pivot. He wasn’t as good at this as she’d always thought, Lurielle realized.
"You know, I saw your parents not too long ago. I was at a club fundraiser they attended. Your mom didn't say anything about you getting married."
Lurielle paused. Of course he brought up her mother, always knowing where her weaknesses were.Do not stutter and stammer and come up with something snappy to say in four days. You can do this!
Fortunately, she didn't have to.
"Darlin', now Iknowyou didn't go hoofin' off in front of BelCastro's without even slowing down enough for me to think about take-out intentionally, right?"
Khash and Junie had caught up to her last. Her stomach lurched, wondering how to make this introduction.
"Khash, this is —"
"Oh, bless yourheartwith those short pants in this weather, boy. Look at what you like!"
His rich, syrupy voice was cranked up to eleven. Lurielle didn't know it was her imagination or if he had somehow made himself sound even more resonant, deep rich baritone like a pool of dark chocolate with his thick accent a river of honey cutting through it, sticky sweet and slow.
Tev stiffened. He was dressed for work, she could tell, but he'd always favored whatever the most current fad of the day was. His suit pants were of a skinny cut with a hemline that stopped at his ankle, showing an inch of sock before they disappeared into his oxfords.
Khash, by contrast, looked like his typical peacock self. An immaculately cut bespoke suit, tailored to his exact measurements, fitting his broad back and long, heavily muscled arms perfectly. He wasn't wearing a tie, but his contrasting pocket square made him look like a modern dandy, and he waslooking her ex-boyfriend up and down as if he were a rodeo clown.
Tev had been obliged to tip his head back at a comical angle just to see the orc making fun of his clothes. She’d not fully appreciated just howbigthe love of her life was compared to the piece of trash who had broken her down for years. Tev's eyes were nearly popping out of the socket, his mouth dropping open a bit, and she knew exactly what it was he was seeing.
The thick tusks, ringed in silver and copper, the heavy jaw and strong chin, that glorious hair, twisted and braided back away from his face, swinging behind his back like a glossy black waterfall. The breadth of his shoulders like a mountain, to say nothing about his towering height. Oh yes, she knew exactly what her ex was seeing. The 7'2" of glorious Orcish prime beef she was going to spend half of her life with, who could use him as a toothpick if he were so inclined.
"Lurielle, I apologize, darlin'. I didn't mean to cut you off. I was just tickled pink as a pixie, seein' bare ankle in workwear. Son, that is achoice.Good for youbeing brave. Now, what were you sayin', darlin'?"
She didn't know how he knew, but he knew. He knew, and he was letting her know that he fucking knew. Her face hurt, she was smiling so hard.
"Khash, this is Tev. We went to school together."
