The Luna Choosing Game

It had been three days since Boss made his proposition: either I sleep with him or I get fired.

I needed one more day’s pay to cover Elva’s most recent bill. Once I had that, I could resign and hopefully find something else.

Boss trailed his eyes down the length of my body. Staring openly at my breasts, he licked his lips. “Don’t think I won’t, Piper. I’ll be waiting for you.”

In the restaurant, all of the female patrons talked excitedly about the selection. To cater to them, Boss turned all of the televisions on the walls to the royal consort ceremony broadcast.

“Which one do you think is the most handsome?” asked one patron to her friends.

They’d ordered a plate of loaded nachos to share. I carefully placed it in the center of their table.

Another girl spoke quickly. “Are you kidding? The others are cute, sure, but Nicholas is obviously the hottest.”

The other girls quickly agreed.

Startled, I hovered at their table. They were right, of course. Nicholas was the most objectively attractive, but to hear people talk about him so casually still surprised me.

For three days, I’d tried to reconcile in my mind that the Nicholas I had known was also the eldest prince of the kingdom. But I still couldn’t quite manage it.

Nicholas had always been proper. But a prince?

“Piper, is it?” one of the girls at the table asked me. I jumped, realizing I was still standing there. Yet before I could apologize, she asked me, “Which one do you think is the most handsome?”

“Nicholas,” came my automatic answer. “Excuse me.”

Embarrassed at having been caught daydreaming, I forced myself to focus on work. And I succeeded – until I heard Nicholas’ voice come from the speakers.

“The kind of woman I’d prefer?” Nicholas said. “Someone loyal. Strong. Even tempered. And she has to like to children.”

“Check, check, and check,” came a voice from the table of girls. “He’s describing me! It’s meant to be.”

“Dream on. He’s clearly describing me.”

“You don’t even like kids!”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see which of us make it through the preliminary selection. Then you’ll see!”

we

were guarded. “It’s my

“He’d

at the camera, and for a moment, it seemed as if he was

My heart ached.

off to the side again, looking at the interviewer, and immediately, I felt

of me at

over my heart, hoping to

up on him. Sure, I hadn’t dated anyone else since, but that didn’t mean

lonely. I had Elva, and I had Anna. I didn’t need romance to be

was ready. I went back to retrieve it. When I returned to the

utmost seriousness. This

dropped the plate of food in my

silenced at once,

one wolf, weakens the whole

other waitresses hissed

quickly set to cleaning it. As I did, I cursed myself so

shift, I was worn down and exhausted. After my accident, I pushed myself as

not once lift my eyes to the television again, not even

wouldn’t be on

stubborn clump of food

he was the last to leave at night. But he was

would clean the dining room. The lights in the dining room

I was alone.

hot air brushed the back of my exposed neck. The stench

the plate I’d been cleaning, I immediately swung around, ready to knock Boss over

was a moment too late. Boss had been expecting the

the floor,

circling around my waist, he pressed his hips hard to mine, wedging me against the

I was trapped.

ripped open the buttons of my shirt, revealing my lacey white bra. He pressed

swelling within me, I struggled against him. He only held tighter, rougher, fingers

have the