Page 32 of Orc's Pride

It’s very clear that he goes to the gym every morning.

“Yes, well.”

I take a small step to the side. This is always the most awkward part of the day, when dinner is done and the time for sleeping hasn’t arrived yet. It always comes with this dance that I’m not sure I know the steps to, and we both stumble around the fact that we’d actually like to spend more time together, but we don’t have an acceptable reason for it.

“I guess I’ll head off and start reading—”

“Would you like to go out tomorrow?” he blurts.

15

Pitha

Dana’s face brightens, and something about the way her blue eyes brighten makes my breath catch in my throat for a moment.

“I’d love that.”

I try not to take her words or expression too personally—she’s been locked up in my house for so long, she’d probably think mucking out a hoqin stall is exciting at this point. Still, I can’t quite hold back a smile.

She smiles back.

For a moment, I hold my breath as she walks up to me. But then she walks past, like always, to her room.

My breath leaves me in a rush, and she turns to look over her shoulder. “It’s not time for bed yet. Would you…”

Yes.

“...mind finding another book for me to read? I finished the one you gave me last night.”

I don’t know why I’m disappointed. What else did I expect? She’s my prisoner, of a sort, and I can’t take advantage of her.

I’m not looking for a relationship or anything else, anyway.

“Of course.”

Morning comes earlier than usual, or at least it feels like it does. As always, I wake before the sun, but this time it’s difficult to blink my eyes open.

I might have spent too much time last night thinking about where to take Dana. Which is ridiculous. She’d be satisfied just to stretch her legs outside at this point. But for some reason, I want to impress her.

Making a rash decision, I walk to my training center to let my second-in-command know I’m taking the day off.

“Are you sick?” Gor demands.

“No.”

“But—”

I cross my arms over my chest and wait for him to finish. “Are you incapable of handling things in my absence?”

“No, it’s just…You’ve never missed training. Or meetings. Or…Even when you had a fever so high the shamans were trying to push you back in bed. Is something wrong?”

At this moment, it feels as though nothing’s been wrong in my entire life.

“I’ll be interrogating our human today.”

Gor huffs a laugh. “Is that what you call it?”

“Watch your tongue, or I’ll pull it out.”