Page 61 of Grumpy Pucking Orc
“Me too,” Abby added with a sigh of longing.
Chapter 25
Ozar
“Ozar! Get your head out of your fucking ass and pay attention,” Ugwyll shouted after a hockey puck nearly caved in my forehead.
“The stick is down here on the ice, not between my eyes,” I yelled back.
None of us were proficient at pushing the puck around the ice with the curved sticks, Ugwyll included. He had a habit of launching it through the air each time he attempted to pass the turd-like object. But he was right, Iwasdistracted.
Thinking of Jordan.
Last night had been amazing. This morning had been amazing. I liked her spacious home, and her decor, although I didn’t understand the complete lack of furs. Her bed didn’t have evenonefur. It was quite comfortable otherwise, and I was more than happy to make love to her wherever I could, but I was absolutely going to get her some furs—the best furs I could buy, since skinning a kill and tanning its hide seemed a nearly impossible task in the modern human world.
But none of that would matter because we would soon be returning home, and I had a lovely house with plenty of furs prepared for her there. My mind wandered, envisioning me and Jordan in the home I’d built before I’d left to find a bride. There was a beautiful view of the Swael Mountain Range from the back porch, but it was close enough to my clan’s town that she could easily visit others each day. Our orclets would lack for nothing. I was hoping that I could change Jordan’s mind about the number of our offspring once we were wed. If not, then I would try to be satisfied with one or two. I hoped others from our clan came here to find human brides, so our children would never want for playmates. And of course we’d bring Judy with us. Jordan loved her cat, and I would make sure the little furry animal was safe in my homeland.
“Ozar!” Another puck almost cleaved my left ear off.
“You are very bad at this hockey,” I growled at Ugwyll.
“We areallbad at this hockey,” he snapped back. “At least I’m trying. Your mind and hand-axe are with your mate right now, rolling in her furs in your imagination.”
He wasn’t wrong. None of this seemed to matter anymore. I knew Jordan returned my feelings. She’d let me spend the night in her furless bed. She’d introduced me to her beloved Judy. Why should I bother to care about hockey or this team when we would soon be home, wed, and making orclets? Orclet. Surely, she would want more thanonechild?
But I couldn’t let Ugwyll down. The others on the team might not care about hockey or winning, but he did, and I’d be leaving him behind. Who knew how long that idiot would need to wait until he found a human female willing to put up with him and agree to be his bride. It was my responsibility as the leader here to help him. Since I couldhardly help him find a bride, then I might as well help him win at the hockey.
From what I’d learned of Ugwyll, winning our game was probably more important than finding a bride.
Another puck whizzed a few inches over my head and cracked the clear plastic that topped the wall around our ice arena. I didn’t know much about this hockey game, but I didn’t think concussing the other team with the puck would be considered winning.
“We should practice skating and disabling our opponents.” Hopefully that would help us tomorrow night, because there was little chance we were going to get the puck into the net of our enemy.
Ugwyll thankfully agreed, and we spent the next three hours trying to skate as fast as we could without falling. We moved side by side and occasionally tried to knock the other down by elbowing and trying to trip each other with our sticks. Plowing into Ugwyll resulted in us both falling to the ice in a heap, so we both decided our strategy should only involve elbows and sticks.
We both showered and changed in the locker room, then I went home for lunch, feeling that my apartment was small and lonely compared to Jordan’s home. At least I had plenty of furs, though.
Maybe I should get a cat of my own. It could keep Judy company when Jordan and I returned home. She’d said the cat didn’t like change, and relocating to my homeland would be a huge change. A friend might assist Judy in making the transition with minimal stress.
I ate some meat and drank a large glass of cold milk, then headed out for my afternoon run. Checking my phone, I adjusted my route and let it guide me to the place where pets were waiting for homes.
My phone guided me to a location off Giles Road with huge paw prints painted on the side of the building and two stories of glass windows framing the entrance.
Two human women and a human man were working behind the front desk. The man was helping a human couple with some paperwork, presumably about the tiny dog hopping excitedly around their feet at the end of a colorful rope. One woman with bright red hair was talking on a phone. The other woman had wrinkled pale skin and short silvery hair that was curled in neat rows across the top of her head.
“Are you here to meet your friend?” The silver-haired woman beamed at me with a broad, toothy smile.
“Yes?” I assumed that was what the humans called their pets? Friends? Jordan certainly seemed to treat Judy as if she were an honored close relative, and I would like to have a friendly relationship with my own cat.
“He’s through that door and down the second aisle to your left.” The silver-haired woman pointed to a door, still smiling.
It seemed fitting that my cat would be male, so I didn’t question the human woman’s assumptions.
Going through the door, I was hit with a wall of sound. Shrill yaps, deep bays, loud barks, and through it all, the occasional plaintive meow. Following the human woman’s directions, I went down the second aisle to my left but didn’t see any cats. Instead, I saw Bwat.
I knew the other orc had been tasked with assisting homeless animals, but I hadn’t realized he would be doing it here, or at this time. And I hadn’t expected him to actuallydoit. Eng and Ugwyll had both ranted about their assignments, vowing to defy the demon who owned the team. I didn’t mind since I actually enjoyed playing with thechildren at the parks and was excited at the prospect of visiting schools and spending time with the little humans who attended our games.
I should have realized Bwat would follow through. It wasn’t that he was the kind to obey orders from a demon—no orcs were really the kind to obey orders unless they truly respected and felt a sense of loyalty toward their leader, and none of us respected or felt loyal to the idiot demon who owned our team. No, Bwat was an orc filled with endless curiosity. He would see this as an opportunity to learn about the various animals humans kept as pets. He’d dive into this assignment with gusto.
