Page 24 of All Orc Nothing

Fucking hell, I wasn’t supposed to get a crush while at college! This was about being on my own. It was about me getting an education so that I could get a stable job and better take care of Bax and Blaire. This was about me being a good example for my siblings.

But here I am, with a crush on the hot doctor who’s almost two decades older than me.

Fuck my life.

I walk through WraithMart, nodding to a few of the workers I know. I hang up my coat in the backroom and punch in before heading back out to the front. I slide my hands down the front of my plain black zip up sweater, making sure it’s sitting right on my frame. The uniform is pretty basic, just black slacks, a white polo, and a black zip up I’m allowed to wear for when it’s cold. The polo and zip up have the WraithMart logo on them. My hair is tied up into a messy bun instead of the usual braid. I don’t like it flopping around when I’m working.

“Hi, Brandi,” I say with a smile as I step over to the lane she’s currently working at. Each checkout lane has a conveyor belt up by the cashier and another down by the bagging area. Whenever someone comes to check out, Brandi will scan everything and handle collecting money while I focus on getting everything bagged and placed back into the customer’s cart.

It’s easy work. I get to sit and chat with the cashiers and make small talk with customers. It never gets so busy I’m overwhelmed but never too slow I want to die of boredom. I’ve only been working for a few days but I already really love this job.

“Hi, Thane! I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been so bored all afternoon.”

I can’t help but grin. We fall into a pattern that feels familiar despite the fact that I’ve only been working here a short time. We chat between customers, talking about the most random stuff. It’s not hard to think of Brandi as a friend.

When I was younger, my mom used to talk about her orcish instincts. There were many things I just simply chose not to think about but there are others that have stuck with me. Mainly, the orcish desire to have a tribe.

For everyone, their tribe is different, but now I can slowly see mine forming. For a long time, it was just me, Tess, Bax, and Blaire. Now my little tribe is expanding, growing, widening so there’s room for more people. Now Simon is part of my tribe. Wendy and Percy as well. I could even see Brandi being included.

And that’s without thinking about Maverick.

I have this desire to keep them all close to my chest. To guard them and cherish them and keep them safe. I want to see them all grow and flourish.

I guess that’s what having your own little tribe entails. By the monster gods, I really wish my mom would have talked to us about this sort of thing in a better way. Instead, I’m left floundering, trying to put the pieces together on my own.

My shift goes by slowly but surely. Because it’s later at night, it’s not terribly busy but the night crew all find ways to keep themselves amused. Part of my job is to bring all the carts left outside into the building so I head out to work on that.

“Thane!” I pause in the parking lot, looking over and finding my sister running towards me. She waves at me, her face split into a giant grin. “Hey! I’m so glad you’re doing cart duty. Now we can talk without your coworkers listening.”

“You don’t mind walking back and forth with me?”

“Nah, the fresh air is nice. I spent all day in bed with a hangover.”

I can’t help but snort. “I’m glad you had a good time last night.”

There’s a long pause before my sister sighs, the noise fond. “I really did,” she confesses softly. “I ended up walking Savannah home.”

“Savannah? That’s the harpy girl, right?”

“Yeah, that’s her. She works at the liquor store, Brainz Liquor.”

“Huh,” I say softly. “That’s cool.”

“Yeah,” she says again and I look at her, finding her softly smiling to herself.

Okay, I guess it’s good to know I’m not the only one developing a college crush. By the looks of things, Tess has got it bad for this girl.

“We should hang out sometime so I can meet her.”

“I think I’d like that,” Tess tells me. “I really like her, Thane. I ended up walking her home last night and we maybe, kinda, sorta kissed?”

I push the carts into the building, shoving them into their place before turning and looking at my sister. “Why is that sentence ending in a question mark?”

She waves her hands at me. “Okay, fuck you. I kissed her. Statement not question.”

“Good for you,” I tell her, walking back outside. “I’m really happy for you, Tess. You deserve this and if she makes you happy, I’m all for it.”

“You don’t think it’s a bit strange?”