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As we carried the last few boxes labeled for storage down to the rental truck, I walked behind Ansel in the hallway of my complex, admiring his ass. Apparently, the orcs from the homeland dressed more traditionally; pelts, leather skirts, and the like. Though I was excited to see Ansel’s thick muscular thighs on display, I would miss the way his round but firm ass moved in those jeans.
As we rounded the corner, Ms. William’s door creaked open, blocking my perfect view of Ansel’s ass as he exited down the stairs. My elderly neighbor stepped out in front of me.
“Skye,” she said cooly, looking down at the box in my arms. Up until now, Ansel and I hadn’t seen her, surprising considering the way she liked to loiter and stick her nose in other people’s business. But after our last conversation, she’d been avoiding me. When I saw her curtains swaying, I knew it was only a matter of time before she cornered me. “I heard you resigned from the HOA committee,” she smiled smugly.
I set down the box I was holding to give my arms a break. “Only because I’m moving out. To Scotland, actually.” I bit my lip to hide my smile. I was beyond excited to be going. “And I didn’t resign,” I said slowly, my smile widening. “I gave my spot to someone else.”
Ms. Williams blinked.
“To the young man who will be staying in my apartment while I’m away. He’s very clever and if you’re nice to him, he can help you with all sorts of things, like setting up the computer I never got around to. His name is Demie and he’s an orc.”
Ms. Williams gasped, taking a step back. “But you can’t—he can’t live here, or be on the committee. It’s against therules,”she sputtered.
I nodded. “You’re right,” I said. “It is against theownershiprules. But I’ve had a lot of free time, and I’ve used it to become very familiar with the HOA rules and regulations, and it turns out that the ownership rules don’t apply here. Because I own the apartment, I get to say who I rent it to. As for the committee position, that was an easy work around too. All I had to do was file twenty different forms and stand in line for two hours to process some paperwork at the state office to give Demie authority to handle my business affairs here in the states”—which I triple-checked was limited to the HOA committee, but she didn’t need to know that—“he’ll be representing me in my absence. I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
A sudden pang of guilt washed over me as I imagined their first encounter. This seemed like such a good idea a few days ago, but now I was less certain. I'd been worrying that without someone to fill my seat, the HOA might make more awful decisions. I’d made sure to tell Demie he had no obligation to attend the meetings if he hated them, but he seemed excited by the idea when I told him over the phone. He was an agent of chaos after all, and nothing seemed to excite him more than getting a bunch of old fae biddies’s panties in a bunch, but even that might get old after a while. And who wanted to be constantly fighting their neighbors?
“Be nice to him,” I told her with an edge in my voice. “If you can’t make him feel welcome, then just stay away. This is his home for now, whether you like it or not.”
Ansel rounded the corner and Ms. Williams’ eyes went so wide I worried she might have a heart attack. I was already pushing her close to the edge with the news I’d just given her, and my big, burly orc boyfriend might be more than she could take.
“You must be Ms. Williams,” Ansel said, stopping at my side. He met my eye and gave me a wink. Maybe I should pull up 911 on my phone just to be safe.
“Is this Demie?” she squeaked.
“I’m Ansel,” he said, extending his hand to the gape-mouthed Ms. Williams.
I wrapped my hand around his arm. “This is my boyfriend,” I said proudly. “He’s the reason I’m moving to Scotland.”
“Aye,” Ansel said. “I’m stealing her away to the orcish colony over there.”
Ms. Williams was as white as a sheet. I thought I had been looking forward to this, but now I was worried. I didn’t actually want to hurt my neighbor. I just wasn’t sure how much she could take before she passed out. Maybe I should ask Ansel to leave?
Ansel seemed to have the same thought. He crouched down, swiping my box off the ground. He gave me another wink before heading to the truck. “Nice to meet you, ma’am!” he called out on his way to the stairs.
Once Ansel was out of earshot, she jerked towards me, her blue-tinted eyes wild. “What has gotten into you, Skye? An orc? Has he . . . has he brainwashed you? What does your poor mother think of all this?”
I suppressed the urge to laugh. It surprised me she hadn’t figured it out sooner. The walls were thin, but no fae had the power to make my bed rock that much. Then I noticed the hearing aids in her ears.
I shrugged, taking a step backwards towards Ansel’s direction. Surprisingly, Ms.Williams never called my mother after our last conversation. “My mother hasn’t met Ansel yet, but she will soon,” I said. “And when I come back, you’ll be seeing more of him, too.” It was a fair warning with the added benefit of giving her some time to get used to the idea. “See you later!” I said over my shoulder with one last wave.
“That went as expected,” Ansel said once I caught up with him. His sleeve rolled up as he lifted the boxes into the back of the truck, a small clear patch appearing on his arm. He had been slowly weaning off cigarettes with those nicotine patches. No more smoking; he wanted to live a long, healthy life with me.
Ansel pulled me into a hug, his white shirt sticking to his muscles from the sweat. But I didn’t mind; I inhaled deeply, enjoying his natural musk. His phone buzzed in his back pocket, and he groaned. “It’s probably my sister. One sec.”
He took a step back and answered the phone. “Hey. Yeah,” he added after a pause. Ever since Gregor died, Briar has been calling Ansel nonstop, begging him to let her return to America. Ansel, being the stubborn ass that he was, was adamant about her staying in the homeland, where it was safe. “We talked about this. I know it’s important to you, but you can always take online classes.”
As much as I wanted to meet Briar, I didn’t want her to stay there if she didn’t want to. I was struggling to get Ansel on the same page; apparently, I was the boss of him, but he was still the boss of Briar. I knew from experience how protective he was of the women in his life. But I had a feeling Briar could handle herself. She was a Walsh, after all.
“I said no.” He started pacing on the sidewalk. There was a low whine from the other side of the call. “It’s too dangerous. Doesn’t matter if he’s dead. I don’t want you roaming the streets at night by yourself.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “We can talk about it when we get there, okay?” Ansel ended the call before she could argue.
“Ansel,” I said, giving him a pointed look. I understood Ansel was stubborn and came from a different world than me, but the over-protectiveness was beginning to wear my nerves a little thin. “She just wants to go back to college. School is starting soon, and she’s already missed a year. You really think she’s going to be ‘roaming the streets at night’?” I said, using my fingers for air quotes.
“You did,” he reminded me with a smirk. “There are online classes,” he added.
I arched an eyebrow at him. “It’s not the same. And she can’t do online classes because your village doesn’t have electricity, and the nearest internet cafe is over seven miles away.” Though I planned to take a break from work, I still intended to keep up with my new side hustle. I didn’t want my new hacking skills to get rusty. When I found out the nearest town with an internet connection—if you could even call the small farming community that—was that far away, I almost canceled our flight plans.
“I don’t see why she can’t bike to the cafe for classes. Exercise is good for the body and mind, plus she’d be too tired to get into trouble.” He shrugged. “And even if she doesn’t want to travel that far, I’m sure she could figure something out. Just like how she figured out how to hide a phone without a charger and without the elders noticing.”
