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!”

that mean we can expect you to have a big family, Prince

smile, but his eyes were guarded. “It’s my duty as a prince to continue the lineage. But, yes, I’d like to

delight. “He’d make such

glanced at the camera, and for a moment, it seemed as if he was staring straight through it. I

My heart ached.

again, looking at the interviewer, and immediately, I felt

probably hadn’t thought of me at all since

hand over my heart, hoping to soothe away the touch

still be hung up on him. Sure, I hadn’t dated anyone else since, but that

and I had Anna. I didn’t

in the kitchen, signaling a meal was ready. I went back to retrieve it. When I returned to the dining room, Nicholas was still

utmost seriousness. This illegal trade of wolves

dropped the plate of food

at once, all eyes

any one wolf, weakens the whole pack. We cannot let that go

the other waitresses hissed at me, waking me from my

to cleaning it. As I did, I cursed myself so loudly in my thoughts, I

and exhausted. After my accident, I pushed myself as hard as I could,

even when the table of

wouldn’t be on the list. Why even bother

in the sink. After washing away a particularly stubborn clump of food from a plate, I noticed how

prep for tomorrow. Almost always, he was the last to leave

would clean the dining room.

I was alone.

the back of my exposed neck. The stench of

immediately swung around, ready to knock Boss over the head with it. Anything to

late. Boss had

plate onto the

hard to mine, wedging me against

I was trapped.

my shirt, revealing my lacey

I struggled against him. He only held tighter,

have the strength to