Page 127 of That’s My Orc, Tusk Off

My chest locked tight.

He turned me toward him, his wet hands framing my face.

“Tell me,” he said.

“We don’t have much time left.” I could barely speak. “I keep telling myself not to worry, but I can’t stop. The Council will decide soon, and I’m scared. I’m standing in the middle of everything I’ve ever wanted, and I can’t look directly at it because it could soon disappear.”

His forehead dropped to mine.

“It’s not disappearing,” he said.

“It could.”

“It won’t.” His hands tightened on my face. “Whatever the Council says or my parents decide, I’m yours. The mark says so. I say so. That doesn’t change.”

“But what if they take you?”

“Then I’ll find my way back to you.”

I pulled back enough to see his face. “When did you last do something for me without me having to earn it?”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I’m really good at all this.” I gestured vaguely at the kitchen. “But when did you last do something for me, and I didn’t think I had to deserve it? I don’t have a decent answer, and that’s the problem. I’m so used to making myself useful that I don’t know how to sit back and let someone care for me.”

His hands slid from my face to my shoulders, then down my arms.

“You bake because you want to,” he said. “Not because you have to. Right?”

I nodded.

“And you reorganized my life because it makes more sense your way.”

“Yes.”

“That’s not earning anything.”

“Isn’t it though?” I could barely get the words out. “I bake cookies so you and your brothers will keep wanting me around. I reorganize things so I’m useful. That’s what I do. That’s what I’ve always done.”

His hands tightened on my arms. “Do you truly think I only want you here because you make cookies?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t know. What happens when the cookies aren’t enough or I stop being useful?”

“I see more than what you do for me. You, Willa. All your quirks and kindness. The gentleness you show Amanda and Fred. Nix. Even me.” His gaze held mine. “This is all part of living a life together.”

The words settled in my chest.

“I do things for you because you’re all I can think about,” he said. “I believe you do the same for me.”

I nodded, my eyes stinging.

“I want you to have everything good because I care, not because you’ve earned it with cookies or organizing my spices. My feelings are not conditional.”

My vision blurred.

“You don’t have to earn being loved, Willa. You just have to let me and our friends show you we care.”

The tears spilled over.