Page 67 of Spark
Mom had given her good advice.Go for it. Be honest. Don’t play games.Now it was up to Sophie to put it into action.
“Matt, Chris, I want to datebothof you.” There. She had said it out loud. She only hoped it was enough to keep their friendship from blowing apart at the seams. She added a heartfelt plea: “Please don’t make me pick one of you right now. Because I can’t.”
“Fine.” Chris turned to Matt. “Are you all right with that?”
Matt scowled, taking his time to reply. Sophie held her breath, certain that he was going to protest and insist that she only date him.
He surprised her when he finally spoke. “Okay. You can date both of us. But don’t date anyone else. Please. Just sharing you with Chris is going to be hard enough.”
She believed it. From what she’d observed of shifter relationships so far, they tended to be incredibly possessive.
“There isn’t anyone else,” Sophie reminded him. “You know that. But I promise I’ll only date the two of you, okay?”
Matt nodded slowly. Then he said something that rocked her to the core. “I’m in love with you, Sophie. I’vealwaysbeen in love with you. If this is what it takes for you to give me a real chance at becoming your mate, then I’ll take it.”
He’s in love with me? Mom was right?Sophie swayed, but before she could digest this revelation, Chris spoke.
“Okay, since Matt’s spilled the beans—” Chris grinned cockily at his housemate. “I’m putting you both on notice that I’m in love with Sophie, too. May the best shifter win!”
* * *
Bearpaw Ridge
Monday, June 18
What Chris really wanted to do on his day off from work was to spend the day in bed with Sophie, playing around with her and having lots of orgasms together.
But then it occurred to him that since he was formally courting her now, maybe he should take her out on a real date, with activities outside of bed.
After all, their relationship was supposed to be moving beyond just sex and hanging out. He was trying to get her to agree to mate and marry him. Mating for a shifter was a forever commitment. They needed to spend time together outside of bed so that he could convince her that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
After agreeing that they could both court her, the three of them had negotiated a dating schedule to minimize conflict. Matt and Chris each got to date her on alternating days, with one night off a week for Sophie to spend doing things with her other friends or her family.
Matt had immediately requested Sundays as one of his days, because of the weekly Swanson clan dinner at Grandma Elle’s house. Matt and Sophie were regulars there.
Chris occasionally attended that dinner with his Uncle Dan and Aunt Margaret, since Margaret and Elle were sisters and they had remained close, even after Margaret mated Uncle Dan and moved to his house on the Cougar Lake Ranch, near the hotel.
Plus, if Matt got Sundays, that meant that Chris got Mondays, which was his official day off work. But Chris worried that Matt and Sophie both attending the clan dinner would remind Sophie that she was an adopted member of the Swanson Clan…and therefore, might give Matt an advantage while courting her.
Well, nothing I can do about that, Chris told himself.
He’d just have to make sure that Sophie came to the next pride dinner, even if those were only held monthly rather than weekly.
Besides, she knew most of the Cougar Lake Ranch residents, and Chris had a secret weapon: an uncle with two Michelin stars to his name, who could beatanyone’scooking.
Okay, he asked himself.Where can I take Sophie on a date that will be fun for both of us?
He did a quick search on his phone, then texted her.
Hey gorgeous, want to head into town later for the Hot Summer Nights thing? We can walk around, get some dinner. Live band starts at 7 at Riverside Park.
Her reply came in almost immediately.Would love to. Want me to drive?
I’ll drive, he responded.Pick you up around 4.
It was the height of tourist season in Bearpaw Ridge, and the town’s Chamber of Commerce was running some version of their “Hot Summer Nights” street fair almost every evening between Memorial Day and Labor Day, in an attempt to get locals and visitors to come downtown.
On street fair days, Main Street was closed to traffic from 3:00 p.m until 11:00 p.m. The street was lined from one end to the other with booths selling food and drinks, plus a variety of local products and crafts of various kinds, that included knitted items, leather, wood carvings, and pottery.
