Page 9 of Cheap Heat

I sighed and scooted closer to the desk, settling in for the day. When I opened my files, I could see that I’d been given access to all the shared folders. They were a total mess. Nothing was filed properly. It was probably Larkin who did all this stuff.

I spotted a folder called Promo Pics and found myself clicking on it. At least this folder was somewhat organised—I could see that it had been created by Taylor, the marketing guy. There were sub-folders named after each of the wrestlers. My lip curling, I clicked on the one labelled Dullahan Dan.

My screen filled with headshots and full-body photos of my asshole neighbour. In his stupid tiny cowboy outfit. Holding his stupid, grinning severed head up. Flexing his stupid oversized muscles. Brandishing a whip and making stupid bedroom eyes at the camera. At least, I assumed that was what he was trying to do. I’d seen him make that ridiculous expression at several of his ‘guests’ when he was saying goodbye to them in the mornings.

I clicked back and opened the folder for Val Kyl-More. Shit, she was hot. I could imagine her pinning me down on a bed and riding my dick until I was begging for mercy, my fingers digging into her thick waist. Her long, dirty blond hair falling around me as she leaned down to—

No, wait, her hair was red. Her red hair falling around me.

My dick had chubbed up, and I realised I was being a complete creep, so I quickly closed the folder and reopened my browser.

No more thinking about the wrestlers. Any of them. The annoying neighbour ones or the hot ones. I was here to work.

Chapter Three

Classic Teabag, Bro

Rafe

When I got home from work that evening, Ewen’s car wasn’t in his driveway, which meant he was probably still at the office doing whatever it was the wrestlers did on the days they didn’t have shows. Rehearsing, I guessed, or working out.

Whatever. I hadn’t cared what he did as a job before, and I wasn’t going to start now. Luckily, I hadn’t seen him at all for the rest of the day. My office wasn’t particularly close to the backstage area, and I’d stayed in there during my lunch break, getting absorbed in my work.

I made some dinner and texted my friends while I ate. We’d already arranged to move our game night from Saturdays to Mondays because of my new work schedule, which I appreciated. I was pretty sure I’d lose my mind if I didn’t have that. Especially now that I was working in the same building as Dan fucking Ewen.

Because I’d started a new job today and was, as expected, exhausted, we’d decided to just game online for a while tonight. After dinner, I took a quick shower and pulled on my PJs—pants with UFOs abducting cows on them, and a baggy Humandatory tee. Then I grabbed a soda and got comfortable at my desk, settling my headset over my ears and joining the voice call I could see already underway in the app we used to talk while gaming.

“Hey,” I said once Reece had stopped describing the burger he was eating.

“Hey, ghoulfriend!” Teresa piped up. “So work wasn’t too bad in the end, huh?”

“Nah, it was fine.”

“Are any of the wrestlers we saw when we went that time still there?” Abed asked with interest. “Your neighbour wasn’t working there then, was he?”

My lip curled. “No. He moved in next door a couple years after that, so I guess he started then. And I think I recognised a few of them. I didn’t see the orc, though.”

“Oh man, he was fucking amazing,” Teresa chimed in. “I know we all felt hella awkward there, but you gotta admit, that orc was entertaining as fuck.”

“I think he’s still there. I saw a poster of him.” I recalled seeing the poster of the Tasselled Tussler in his little pink cape and panties staring down at me from the wall.

“He was hot.” It sounded like Teresa was eating something, her voice muffled. “Wish he’d been the orc I found passed out naked on my back deck that time.”

“I still think you’re bullshitting us about that,” Abed said doubtfully.

“I’m not a liar, bro,” she drawled. “I saw his balls and everything. They were enormous.”

Neville chuckled and joined in. “I saw those texts on my lunch break. I think if any of us were fortunate enough to find a naked orc by our backdoor, it would be Tee.” He paused. “Well, and Rafe, but Rafe wouldn’t be interested. Such a waste.”

“A waste?” I snorted. “Are you telling me you’d fuck the naked orc you found on your back deck, Neville?”

“Uh, yeah, dude. Once he was awake, obv. And if he was down. Which he would be. Look at me.”

“Did Teresa fuck the naked orc?” Suki asked hesitantly.

“Um, obviously not then,” Teresa said. “I covered him with a blanket, then brought him inside and gave him coffee when he woke up. He said he’d gotten hammered the night before and thought he was in his own yard. He offered to take me out to dinner to make up for it.” There was a pause as she crunched on something, then slyly added, “Then we fucked.”

She and Neville cackled as Abed chuckled. I rolled my eyes with a fond smile, reaching for my soda and cracking open the can.