AllFreeNovel
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I nod and try not to stare at his chest. “That’s how these things always go.”
“You share rooms with ogres a lot?” His lips twitch with amusement but there’s a soft lash of jealousy.
“You’re the only ogre I know.” I lick my lips. “Rule one: No touching.”
He narrows his eyes. “The bed isn’t that big.”
“No touching,” I say again and take another step. “And no sex.”
“I’m not really in the mood for sex,” he confesses, but I already knew that. Hence the ground rules. That run in with the snake changed the entire mood of our dinner. While the food was delicious, it wasn’t fun sitting in an angry ogre’s lap all night. He huffed and he puffed, and I dare say he almost blew the whole place down with his frustration.
I stop at the edge of the bed and climb on, adjusting my pillow just so before tucking my legs under the blanket. I lie on my side facing him. Orcus is looking at me with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity.
A smile tugs at my lips. “So. How was your day?”
He scoots his body down and rolls on his side, glaring at me. “Why are you acting so strange?”
“I’m not acting strange. I’m making conversation.”
“You know how my day went.”
I hum. “Do you want to talk about why the snake made you so mad?”
“No,” he grunts.
Typical.
“All right. What if I tell you a story?”
His face softens. He’s read to me so much over the past week. The least I could do is return the favor. “Fine.” His tone is clipped, but there’s a spark of interest in his navy eyes.
“Once upon a time, there was a grumpy knight—”
“I thought you said you were going to tell me a story, not tell me about my own self.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, I can’t do anything if you keep interrupting me.”
He presses his lips together.
“Right. Like I was saying, there once was a grumpy knight. He had spent his entire life being angry, but he never really knew why. One day he met a beautiful maiden whose name was—”
“Daisy?”
I shove his shoulder. “Oh my god, will you let me tell the story or not?”
“No touching.” He smirks when I growl. “Go ahead.”
I squint at him. “The beautiful maiden’s name was… Sunshine.” I pause, waiting for him to make some snarky comment, but he doesn’t say a thing. “Grumpy never knew how much he’d love Sunshine’s smile. He never knew how he’d do everything he could to make her happy, including bringing her cake and scratching her back before she fell asleep. Grumpy tried to fight his feelings, pretty stupid of him if you ask me, but he was stubborn. Anyway, Grumpy eventually fell head over heels for Sunshine and they lived happily ever after.”
“Does that even count as a story? It was so short,” he says with a laugh.
“Please, it’s a classic. It’s literally how all my favorite books go.”
“Is that so?” He studies my face. “In our case, I think I’m Sunshine.”
“Be fucking for real. There’s nothing sunshiney about you.” His face scrunches, and I point at it. “See? Sunshine would never make that face.”
His features instantly smooth. “Perhaps you have a point. I can be a little—”
