Page 38 of Bear In A Boutique
He was genuinely curious. Normally, he had a hard time engaging in conversations with Fox that might turn too serious or emotional. Part of that stemmed from the mental load his brother carried during their youth. He’d stepped into the ‘man of the house’ role after their father was arrested for the last time, and he took the responsibility seriously. Ryker never wanted to burden him further, so he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself.
Fox had changed over the last year. He’d opened himself up to love and eased up on his normally reserved, serious nature. He was more outgoing now, quicker to laugh and tease and maybe it was time to start getting his brother’s opinions on things.
“Oh, come on, Ryk. I know that you try to hide how you look at her, but I always see it.”
He scoffed. “Bullshit.”
“You did a good job at making her think you weren’t interested; I’ll give you that. It’s getting too difficult to keep that lie going, isn’t it?”
Ryker picked the label on his beer. “There was always an attraction there, but I didn’t feel it deeply until lately, and now I can’t shut it off.”
“Let me guess. You have the overwhelming need to watch over her and protect her. To make sure she’s comfortable and taken care of. To see her smile. To feed her until she’s literally slapping the food out of your hand to make you stop. I don’t need details on this part, but then there’s the lust that comes out of nowhere and—”
“I haven’t fed her anything.” The words rolled out way too damn quick.
His brother tipped his head skeptically. “Sure you didn’t. What didn’t you try and feed her?”
Ryker tried to ignore him, but the weight of Fox’s stare made his skin itch. Taking a drink, he dropped his voice and looked away. “Burned marshmallows.”
“That’s the best you could come up with?”
Running a hand over his mouth, Ryker scrambled to think of one damn thing that would call bullshit on his brother’s observations, but he had nothing.
“Have you put her into heat yet?”
Ryker spit beer. “What the hell, Fox?”
“I’ll take that as a no. It’ll happen, and trust me, you’ll know when it does.”
“Why the hell would I put her into heat?”
Fox put his elbows on the table and leaned over them. “She’s your mate,idiot. Just like the rest of us, you’re too stubborn to acknowledge it. But your bear will force you to wake the hell up and see what’s right in front of you. Sorry, brother. There’s no turning it off and you will never, ever get her out of your head.”
Ryker tried to brush Fox off with an annoyed sigh. But everything his brother was saying was hitting a little too close to home. “You might have changed your mind about relationships, but I’m not in a position to do that. She’s not my mate, and I don’t want her to be.”
Silence hung between them. Fox pressed his lips into a flat line and tapped a finger on the mouth of his beer bottle. “That’s not how shifter biology works. You know that. Once your bear has found its fated mate, your human side doesn’t stand a chance. Trust me. Everything will change and you’ll end up with something incredible… something you never dreamed you’d have.”
“I don’t care.” Ryker pushed away from the table. Enough of this.
He’d accepted the job in Denver earlier today.
It was too late for any of this to be true. In time, Olive would be a sweet memory that he tucked away while he got on with his life.
Tossing back the rest of his beer, he set the bottle on the table and started to get up.
“Lulu is pregnant.”
Ryker froze. “What?”
A disbelieving smile curved Fox’s lips. “It’s what I wanted to tell you about the other day at the bakery. We’re having a baby. I, ah, I still can’t believe it.”
He heard the words, but full realization was slow on the uptake. Fox was having a baby. Holy. Shit. A whoosh of emotion slammed into Ryker’s chest. Bursting from his chair, he grabbed his brother and pulled him into his arms.
“You’re going to be a dad!”
Fox pulled back, turned his head away, and sniffed. “Yeah.”
Vision blurry, eyes aching, Ryker pressed his fingers to his temples. He was going to be an uncle. Their mom was going to be a grandma for the first time. He flagged down a passing server and ordered two more beers.
