Ogres and other Dating Dilemmas
(Troy and Sean get their HEA)
Have you ever wanted an ogre to sweep you off your feet and show you what he can do with his big...hands?
Sean Lloyd has given up on finding love. It’s easier to concentrate on his work as a mytho biologist than figure out people. But that was easier to believe in his twenties. Now his friends are getting engaged and planning weddings, and he’s only planning his next hook-up. He wants more, even if he isn’t sure what that looks like.
When an ogre knocks him over and then sweeps him off his feet, he’s more than happy to go along for the ride. However, mythos aren’t classified as people, and Sean can see how hard it is for his friend Jordan to date a mytho even though his dragon-shifter boyfriend passes for human. Ogres don’t.
Troy Violet was thirteen when the collapse happened. He lost his family and was taken in by another, a much stricter household that cleaves to ways that were considered old even before the collapse. So much has changed in the ten years since, and there are so many more opportunities for an ogre not interested in finding a wife. However, he never planned on falling for a human man.
Some people aren’t happy with the way he is turning his back on ogre society, and they will do anything to drag him back, even if it means breaking a few human laws.
Ogres and Other Dating Dilemmas is a standalone novel that ties into the Mytho Investigations series. For readers who like size differences, awkward human heroes, cinnamon roll ogres, magic, mayhem, and happily ever afters.
When an ogre knocks him over and then sweeps him off his feet, he’s more than happy to go along for the ride. However, mythos aren’t classified as people, and Sean can see how hard it is for his friend Jordan to date a mytho even though his dragon-shifter boyfriend passes for human. Ogres don’t.
Troy Violet was thirteen when the collapse happened. He lost his family and was taken in by another, a much stricter household that cleaves to ways that were considered old even before the collapse. So much has changed in the ten years since, and there are so many more opportunities for an ogre not interested in finding a wife. However, he never planned on falling for a human man.
Some people aren’t happy with the way he is turning his back on ogre society, and they will do anything to drag him back, even if it means breaking a few human laws.
Ogres and Other Dating Dilemmas is a standalone novel that ties into the Mytho Investigations series. For readers who like size differences, awkward human heroes, cinnamon roll ogres, magic, mayhem, and happily ever afters.
Chapter 1
Sean had been tempted to blow off the game, not because of work but because they barely had the numbers. Some players on his team didn’t like it when they played against those that allowed mytho players. They showed their disgust by letting down their own team and refusing to play.
Which Sean thought was dumb because then the other team got the points.
It was only a social league, but as far as Sean was concerned, if they wanted to be on the team, they should turn up. As more teams started letting mythos play, it wouldn’t be long before the disgruntled players would have to make a choice between their hate and their desire to play.
While he could’ve changed teams to one that was more open to mythos, he’d been playing with these guys for years. Turning up to training and the games was part of his routine. If he changed teams, it would mean meeting a whole bunch of other players and going to a new court to train, and he couldn’t face it. The idea was enough to make him feel sick.
So he kept his mouth closed even though he wouldn’t mind if there were mythos on the team. Elves were fast, and ogres were tall. Both of which they could use a little of this season. That he was the tallest player, and he was a couple of inches off six feet, was a cause for concern.
“I heard the other team has a werewolf,” the team captain Brett said as he got changed.
Sean smiled as he imagined a werewolf chasing after the basketball, much like a dog. His smile vanished as he realized how offensive the werewolf would find that. It wasn’t their fault they were stuck as if mid-shift, part-man and part-wolf. “Is he any good?”
“Don’t know. I’ve never seen one play. You?”
“No. Any elves?” Their reflexes were faster than a human’s. An elf would be three steps away with the ball before the guy they’d stolen it from realized.
“Not this time, fortunately, just an ogre.”
“So how much will we lose by?” Sean pulled his shirt on.
Brett rolled his eyes. “Given that we have no subs…I’m hoping we can put a few points on the board to avoid a thrashing.”
As much as he wanted to say that they should revisit allowing mythos to play, he didn’t say anything. Last time it had been raised, the argument had been that this was a gay men’s team and mythos weren’t men.
Not human men anyway, but there were definitely males.
Last time they’d played a team with ogres, he’d been struck by their size and physique. He wasn’t embarrassed to say he had a type, and ogres fitted that except for the fact they had gray skin and weren’t human. A few of the guys on the team had crossed the line and dabbled with mythos, usually elves, as they were the closest. It seemed that mythos went to bars to hook up the same as humans.
If he couldn’t talk to human guys, trying to talk to a mytho wasn’t going to be any easier. And he doubted they used the apps, which at least limited the amount of awkward get-to-know-you stuff he needed to do.
He was damn sure the only reason he had a circle of friends was because of Jordan dragging him along to things. Sure, they’d barely dated in college, but Jordan was a better friend than he had been boyfriend.
With a shake of his head, he put on his shoes to join the rest of his team in eyeing up the opposition. They were a good team even without the mytho assist, and both mythos were playing with bare feet. Looking at the werewolf, he could understand that it would need to be a very special sneaker that made allowances for both the claws and the way he walked on the balls of his feet like a dog…er…wolf.
As for the ogre, Sean wasn’t even sure they made shoes big enough. Not commercially, anyway. Maybe a few of the brands made them for elite sports people, but mythos wouldn’t be able to afford them. His gaze tracked up the ogre’s legs. His skin was gray but not solid. Instead, it seemed to be a dozen different grays, kind of like military camouflage. Why an ogre would need to hide, and how a man who had to be brushing seven feet tall could hide, he wasn’t sure.
While the ogre was wearing the team uniform, probably in the biggest size, the shorts were shorter and tighter than they were on everyone else, showing off his thick, muscled thighs and leaving nothing to the imagination as Sean’s gaze moved higher. He snapped his eyes up, not wanting to be caught staring at a mytho’s junk.
The ogre smiled as if he’d noticed and wasn’t at all bothered.
Sean’s cheeks heated, he felt his throat burn, and he wanted the floor to swallow him. The ogre’s tongue flicked at something in his lip, a gold ring, then his eyebrows lifted.
Sean glanced behind him, sure that the ogre was giving someone else that very pointed look. But no one behind him was looking at the ogre. By the time he glanced back, the ogre was talking to the werewolf and another of his teammates.
That probably wasn’t an ogre look of interest. After all, there were better-built, better-looking guys here than him. And it’s not as if Sean was looking for a boyfriend. That would involve far too much dating, which gave him so much time to overthink and say the wrong thing. The idea of jumping into dating again made swimming with mermaids seem appealing.
At least the mermaids would kill him, and he wouldn’t have years to relive his failings.
“Sean, ready?”
“Sure.” They were going to get slaughtered. For a brief moment, he wondered why he did this to himself once a week. But at least he was out, and he could say he did something social when his busy-body brothers asked.