Page 23 of Bear with Me
"Do you even want a supervisor position?" I asked.
"No, but it's the next step up. It's what my parents would have wanted for me. 'Climb the corporate ladder, Son.' My dad was regional director at a tire company."
I leaned forward, scattering some puzzle pieces as I rested my elbows on the countertop. Gently, I pushed Blake's hair back from his forehead, still planted on his arms, and massaged his scalp with both hands.
"That feels so good," he mumbled.
"I have a new assignment for you in those notebooks of yours," I said.
"I'll do anything if you keep rubbing my head like that."
"Make a list of things you like to do. On the last day of our vacation, we'll review them together." I didn't want him to work his way up in a career he disliked, only to please two people who had already left this world.
"What do you think happens when we die?" I asked, hoping I wasn't overstepping. Grief was a slippery eel, sometimes slidingaway into dark waters, and other times shocking the hell out of us with no warning.
"I'd like to think we can find our loved ones who are still alive," he said. "Look down on them and see if they're happy."
"What would your parents see right now?"
"They'd see a sexy bear shifter rubbing the back of my head, and me enjoying it."
I laughed. "Okay, besides that."
"They'd see I'm miserable without them." He lifted his head to meet my gaze. "They'd want me to be happy."
I nodded. "So do I."
"Same. Your list will be the first pages of my purple notebook. Seems fitting, since that's the one you signed for me."
I grinned. "I like that idea."
My bear didn't understand why Blake needed to make lists, and he would rather eat the notebook and pen than use them. He wanted Blake to be happy, though, and I reassured him this would help.
CHAPTER 12
BLAKE
After fixingthe fire for the night, Ollie pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on, judging by the chimes that sounded after he hit the power button.
"Shit," he said a moment later. "I need to call my mom."
He stepped outside on the porch to make the call. I would have frozen my balls off, but he didn't even zip up his parka. He sat on the pile of wood he'd gathered before dark, looking like he belonged on a beach chair from the way he kicked out his legs and crossed his ankles.
It wouldn't be long before the fire blazed too hot for me to stay in the living room. I flipped open my new purple notebook and ran my fingers over Ollie's bold signature. Everything he did exuded confidence, even when I asked him to do something I bet he'd never done before. No random weirdo had ever asked me to sign a notebook before, that's for sure. Half of my high school classmates hadn't wanted me to sign their senior yearbooks, either.
Ugh. High school had been the worst fucking time in my life. Graduating had been a relief. Getting to college and discovering most of my classmates had been outcasts like me had given me hope for the future.
How had I wound up working a dead-end job for measly pay and no joy? In college, my RA had pushed us to find a hobby to help with stress. I'd joined Carving Delights, a woodworking group. An art professor ran it and provided the wood and access to his classroom filled with tools of every kind. Shop had been my favorite class in high school, and the group had been a wonderful escape from studying my notes.
When I graduated, I'd promised our professor I would continue wood crafting. Now, I couldn't remember the last time I picked up a woodworking tool. I'd never intended it to be more than a hobby, but now, I couldn't even call it that. Former hobby was more like it.
Well, it was Christmas Day. If there was ever a time to see if anyone checked the Carving Delights group chat, today was it.
"Merry Christmas!"I typed.
My phone pinged a moment later with a reply, and then an image of a beautiful sleigh crafted completely from walnut from a name I didn't recognize."Present to myself this year. Next year, a horse to go with it."
I wondered if horse shifters existed, and if Ollie would know. It seemed strange to think another world existed alongside the human one, where shifters hid in plain sight. Strange, but it didn't scare me. I was in awe of Ollie's bear form and his ability to shift before my eyes, but somehow, I knew he was still in there when his bear looked back at me.
