Page 27 of Bear with Me
I sighed. "My mom freaked out, my dad calmed her down, and then the three of us would discuss how I could avoid making the same mistakes in the future."
"Is your dad still alive?"
"Yes!" I knocked on the table to dislodge any frozen wood sprites who might be listening in on our conversation. I'd never seen a wood sprite, or any fae, for that matter, but I wasn't taking any chances. If shifters existed, they might, too.
She laughed but knocked on her side of the table, too. "Sounds like he's the rational one." She sipped at her tea.
I touched the steaming contents of my cup to my lips. Still too hot.
When I thought she was going to speak, she sipped her tea instead. Finally, once my coffee had cooled to where I could drink without it burning all the way down my throat, she put her empty cup down on the table. "Talk to him first. Tell him about your mate and see what he suggests for making amends with your mom."
"That's a really good idea." I couldn't keep the awe from my voice.
"Don't act so surprised!" She kicked my shin under the table. "Unlike you, I was the problem child. Besides, you're not the first bear to wander in from the woods looking for advice."
"Problem child?" I teased. "I don't believe you."
After she shared a string of seven seemingly unrelated stories with an eighth that linked them all together, proving she was acriminal mastermind at the age of eight, I had to agree with her. Also, my coffee was long gone.
"I should head back to Blake."
"Ooh." Maddie grinned. "Do you two have big plans for the ball drop?"
"We don't even have a television." I loved watching the final five minutes of the show until the giant crystal ball descended in New York, but it would only be nine in the evening here.
"Do your own thing, then. Play music or a trivia game on your phone. Do you have a deck of cards? You could play strip poker."
"With two people?" I asked.
She swatted my arm before picking up my cup and carrying it inside. "I don't think you're desperate enough to see your mate naked," she called through the open patio door. "Are you sure he's your mate?"
"My bear is sure." He was already so far gone for Blake, though even my rational human mind wasn't far behind. We'd lucked out as far as mates went.
I wished he understood how wonderful he was. He still judged himself by his bad days, and he'd had nothing but bad days since his parents died. It was time for him to have some happiness in his life. I hoped he would allow me to give it to him.
"Go get your man," Mattie said before shutting the patio door. She cracked it open a moment later. "And Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year!"
I dropped the bathrobe in the laundry basket next to the door. I shivered until I reached the bottom of the steps off the screened-in porch and shifted into my bear. Yes, we were sure Blake was our mate, but finding a deck of cards on such short notice was out of the question. Time to improvise.
When I returnedto the cabin, I found Blake sprawled out on top of the comforter, naked and sound asleep. His notebooks were tucked under his side of the bed, along with his shoes. His clothes lay in a neat pile on his nightstand.
I shouldn't have stood in the doorway like a creeper, but the scent of his slick, faint but unmistakable, drew me in. I couldn't wait to drag my tongue between his cheeks and taste him for the first time. When he was ready.
I finally took a step back, trying to break the spell that urged me forward. My gaze caught on his soft cock where it rested against his almost hairless thigh and the well-trimmed patch of hair above it. His balls were also mostly hairless and hung low between his thighs. I dragged my gaze away only to get hung up on his pert pink nipples. Nope, I couldn't stop there.
He must have pushed his hair out of his face while he slept, sweeping it straight up and putting his cherubic full lips and gorgeous face on full display. The stress lines between his eyebrows and across his forehead had melted away while he slept, leaving him looking younger. Like the sun, my mate was so attractive, it hurt to look at him.
I gripped the door frame and sighed. This wasn't for me. Blake had retreated to the bedroom when the living room overheated. He'd left the door open, and the bedroom got too hot, too. I usually opened the window a couple inches when I was in here by myself. The fireplace sucked all the oxygen out of the cabin, making us sleepy. It was perfect for a hibernating bear, but not so great for a human with goals to accomplish on his vacation.
I took another step back into the hallway, scoring a point for my willpower.
Blake rolled onto his side, reaching for my pillow. "Ollie?"
The soft plea in his voice called to me like a siren song. I lost the ground I'd gained by backing away, and then I ventured a step inside the door.
"Blake?"
