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Unexpected, and strangely a huge turn-on.

“Bwat, that’s…that’s sweet.” The warmth in my heart suddenly was overruled by my career-brain, and I found myself once more shaking an index finger at the orc. “Not that it totally excuses fighting in a bar. But I guess I could spin it if I needed to. Although paining Eng as a villain might not be the best approach. Or it could. People love a good villain. I mean, look at Loki and Dexter. Although I probably shouldn’t compare Eng to a Norse god of chaos or a serial killer. Still, Bwat, Defender of Women, is a good take. I should go with that.”

He smiled and nodded, looking oddly uncomfortable at the idea of me portraying him as a knight in shining armor. If the last few weeks were any indication, Bwat loved talking to humans, giving interviews, posting and commenting on social media. I thought he’d be thrilled at this take, but underneath it all, he was humble.

Unlike Eng, who was an asshole.

“Who was Eng insulting?” I asked, looked around the bar and wondering if Bwat and I were going to need to conduct a rescue.

“Umm, he told me he was going to marry a human female, as if her say in the situation didn’t matter at all.”

I sucked in a breath and turned to glare at Eng. What a total dick. Forced marriage? It was one thing being bad boy royalty, but treating women like a commodity was way over the line.

“Asshole. He might be some kind of prince, but that doesn’t give him the right to select a bride like he’s picking out a steak at the butcher shop.”

“Females are not like steaks,” Bwat said. “Eng said her consent didn’t matter, and when I told him I would not allow such a thing, he taunted me. So I hit him.”

“I might just go hit him myself.” I was getting more pissed off by the second, and Bwat was staring at me like he was ready to back me up. “Who was this woman Eng was disrespecting?” I demanded. “Who? She deserves to know so she can avoid him, and maybe even take out a restraining order. It would be terrible PR for the team, but I’m not going to let someone be a victim if I can prevent it.”

It would be terrible PR, but it was the thought of someone being forced into marriage against their will that infuriated me.

Bwat squirmed. “It was you. He had asked your name, and I told him. Then he announced that he was going to marry you whether you wanted to or not.”

Wait…what? Me? None of the orcs had ever given me a second glance, in spite of them supposedly being desperate to find wives and go home. Bwat was the only one who’d approached me, and our conversations so far hadn’t been even mildly flirtatious. What in the hell had Eng suddenly seen in me aside from just being a random unmarried human female?

Suddenly my mind did that record-scratch thing. Bwat. My friend Bwat. He’d defended me. He’d defended me in a manner that was very uncharacteristic of his personality. Suddenly I was blinking back tears with a strange tightness in my chest.

“You punched Eng over me?”

Bwat straightened, making him look less like a Golden Retriever and more like a Malinois. “He should not speak of any female that way, but especially not you. You are the smartest being I have ever met. You are strong and loyal, kind and thoughtful. Your dedication and persistence ensure your success in whatever you choose to do. Your beauty, your humor, and your competence amaze me. Anyone, male or female would be lucky to be your friend. And anyone you choose to love should thank the mountain gods for the privilege. Prince or not, Eng is not worthy to kiss the hem of your pants. I would die rather than allow his disrespect of you to occur without comment.”

Damn it. I was going to start bawling my eyes out in the middle of McHenry’s pub.

“Bwat…that’s….thank you. No one has ever said those things to me.”

I mean, my mother had said some of those things to me growing up when I was feeling like every step I took forward was followed by two backward, when I was aching that I didn’t have that home life that most of my friends had.

When I was hating what my father had done to my mother and our little family.

“More beings should say those things to you. Because they are true,” Bwat said.

I could tell he meant it, and a strange fluttering feeling happened in my stomach. He was such a good friend. Earnest. Loyal. Someone I could count on, just like I could count on Willa, and Jordan, and Stephanie.

He smiled at me, and the fluttering increased–no doubt because I hadn’t eaten properly in weeks.

“Let me apologize by buying you a beverage. And food,” he said.

“You don’t have to do that. It’s okay.” My stomach growled, contradicting my words.

“I do have to. And I want to. You helped me with my social media posts, and I believe you are celebrating a big success tonight?” Bwat smiled, his dark eyes shining. “The Tusks may have lost, but there were lots of humans in the seats and I heard Marcus tell George that the attendees had more than doubled since our last home game.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise that he knew about the contingencies of my contract with the Tusks. “How did you find out that I needed to double the ticket sales?”

“I…uh…I heard someone talking about it.”

Orcs didn’t blush pink or red like we humans, but Bwat’s cheeks were absolutely a darker shade of green than his usual light olive tone.

“You were listening outside of Escallates Johnson’s office when I was pitching my deal,” I guessed.