Page 28 of Sweet Heart for the Bear

For tonight.

Which—no. Absolutely not.

What? Don’t blame me. It’s not unusual to set up dummy accounts when testing software.

Uncle Uzzi had requested a few new features, mainly a user anonymity option—basically, an incognito mode where people could choose to keep their names and pictures hidden until the actual date.

Which, yeah, made sense.

So I did what any responsible tech consultant would do—I filled out a test profile. Honestly, even.

But did I expect to meet anyone?

Hell no.

Yet, here I am.

With a match.

A real one.

And my Bear? He’s not even curious about the person on the other side of that screen.

No interest. No excitement. Just one big, grumpy, territorial growl rolling through my chest like distant thunder.

Doug pauses mid-chew, his stupid Wolf eyes narrowing.

“Dude, are you hungry?” he asks, holding his pizza like he’s ready to defend it with his life.

“What? No!”

“Then why are you growling at my pizza?”

He takes another bite, eyeing me like I might lunge. “It’s really good, by the way.”

“I’m not growling at your pizza.” I scrub a hand down my face, exhaling sharply.

Because this—all of this—is ridiculous.

I am a grown man.

I have control over my cravings.

I am not going to let one tiny, too-good-to-be-true pizzeria drive me insane.

Even if I do secretly dream about their garlic knots and theirmeat lover’s pie with hot honey.

Fuck. My. Life.

Even if my Bear has been pacing like a caged animal every time I don’t let myself go in there.

Even if I have a really bad feeling about the fact that my mystery match is already making my instincts go haywire.

Doug sniffs the air dramatically, then wrinkles his nose.

“Yo, you’re making my Wolf all snarly. Spill. What is up with you?”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.

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