by Sable Sylvan
Kelly felt something brush against her leg, and then a paw against her hand. She opened her eyes and nearly jumped right out of her skin.
There was a bear right next to her.
Big for a black bear but small for a grizzly, dark black and brown, furry, a mess of paws and claws with a wet snout, there was a giant frikkin’ bear to her side. She couldn’t tell if it was a grizzly bear or a Louisiana black bear, so she assumed it must be a hybrid. There was only one thing she did know, and it was that the bear was none other than Tom King, the owner of the pile of clothes neatly folded and resting on the top of the back deck’s table.
“Tom?” asked Kelly, even though she knew who it was. She just didn’t know what else to say.
The bear nodded up and down, then motioned to his back with his head.
“What is it? You want scratches?” asked Kelly. She reached to scratch the bear’s neck.
Tom enjoyed the scratches, but the human side told the bear form to get back to the task at hand. Tom shook his head and motioned to his back using his head again before getting down on the porch.
“You…wait, no way,” said Kelly. “You want me to get on your back?”
The bear nodded up and down.
“You think you can really carry me home?” asked Kelly. “On your back?”
The bear frowned and nodded up and down. What kind of a question was that?
“Uh…okay, if you insist,” said Kelly. She got on the bear’s back. With no saddle or reins, she was resigned to gripping the bear’s body between her legs like an iron vise and gripping its fur to make sure she didn’t slip off.
As soon as Kelly was on his back, Tom started off. Before long, they were out on the streets of Fallowedirt, which were dimly lit by a combination of Old World style faux gas lamps and the moon above them.
Kelly had never ridden on a bear before. Heck, she’d barely had experiences with horses. Somehow, she felt safer and more at home on Tom’s back without a saddle and reins, wearing a pair of silly heels, than she had on a horse with a saddle, reins, and her cowboy boots.
Once they reached Kelly’s driveway, Kelly dismounted, but the bear followed her up to her porch.
“You need to use the bathroom or something?” asked Kelly, confused.
The bear shook his head.
“So this is goodnight, right?” asked Kelly.
The bear nodded once, but then shook its head.
Kelly crossed her arms. “What, you’re not expecting anything else tonight? I know y’all shifters are nude when you leave your shifts, so if this is a ploy to get in my bedroom and get in my pants…”
The bear shook his head vigorously.
“Okay, good,” said Kelly, lowering her arms. “Well…thanks for a great night, Tom. If you were in your human form, I guess this’d be the part where I give you a smooch goodnight.”
The bear nodded vigorously, and then got on his hind legs!
For a second, Kelly was a little scared, and then she realized what she’d just said. The bear put his paws on her shoulders.
“Okay, okay, you goof,” said Kelly. She gave the bear a kiss on his cheek, and in response, she was given a long lick on her cheek, from chin to forehead!
“Oh, gross!” said Kelly with a laugh. “Tom, you got slobber all over me! I gotta admit, I prefer the kisses you give with your lips. I’ll call you, okay?”
The bear nodded before getting down on his hind legs to walk down the driveway, and once he was gone, Kelly went back into her apartment, still wiping bear drool off of her face.
Kelly opened the door to her apartment and felt the carpet beneath her toes. It wasn’t as luxurious as the fur of the beast she’d ridden home, or as sumptuous as the meal he’d prepared for her. All it served was to highlight how mundane the house was, how bland and boring the house and her old life had been.
That’s when she realized something.
“Are you fuckin’ serious?” asked Kelly. “Not again!”
“You’re kidding me,” said Savina, nearly dropping that day’s green smoothie. “Not only did you not seal the deal…you lost another shoe?”
Savina and Kelly were sitting outside the community center at a large picnic table with the other volunteers, who, like Savina, had brought meals from home. Kelly had forgotten hers and placed an order at a local greasy diner for delivery, because after this dinner break, Kelly would need to get right back to work, finishing up painting the cornhole planks for the hoedown.
“Would I joke about shoes or sex?” asked Kelly. “Don’t you think if I’d done him, I’d be asking you for tips right now? Come on. You were glowing before you got pregnant. I know you have a very, very…very happy home life.”
“Happy wife, happy life,” agreed Savina. “But don’t you dare change the subject! You’re telling me that in the course of a single week…you got this close to doing it with a bear shifter, and you ended up sleeping in your own bed?”
“What can I say? Guess I must be real old-fashioned,” joked Kelly. “The hard part is…I’m going to have to figure out which one of them to pick.”
“Because, of course, they both want to date you, right?” asked Savina.
“Right,” said Kelly. “I guess I was just too fuckin’ charming.”
“Hey, watch your mouth,” said Savina, rubbing her belly. “The baby might hear, and that’s fuckin’ inappropriate.”
“Ladies!” said one of the other volunteers, a matronly older woman, shooting the two young women a glare.
“Sorry,” said Savina, before looking back at Kelly and mouthing the words, ‘not sorry.’
“How would you pick between the two of them?” asked Kelly.
“I never had this problem,” said Savina. “When Mace and I first got together…I just knew.”
“Then why did you two go through all that drama?” asked Kelly.
“Because I wasn’t being true to myself,” said Savina.
“I think I don’t have that issue,” said Kelly. “The issue I’m having is which of these highly eligible bachelors I want to pick…and with waiting on our food. Where the heck is the food? Delivery doesn’t usually take this long.”
“Ugh, this is so basic, but I’m sure Cayenne would tell you to make a pros and cons list,” said Savina. “It’s so boring…but she’s the most organized of all of us Quincy sisters, and that’s a system that works for her.”
“Okay, I can dig it,” said Kelly.
“Try pitching it to me,” said Savina. “What do you like about Jeff?”
“Well…he’s this alpha male cowboy,” said Kelly. “Any gal would fall for that. He’s sweet, though. He’s caring, sensitive, and thoughtful. He has a way with words, a poet’s heart, and I just feel like we were meant to meet. It really does feel like it’s Fate with him.”
“He better not be using Fate’s name in vain, just to get into your pants,” said Savina.
“That’s what confuses me about him,” said Kelly. “I don’t get why he didn’t want to seal the deal, right then and there, if he thinks I’m so ‘perfect.’ I worry that it’s too much of a fairy tale. I’m worried I don’t know enough about shifters, their temperaments, what being their mate really entails. The problem is…that’s the same set of concerns I have about Tom.”
“All right, all right, now, let’s not put the cart before the whores,” said Savina. “What are the good things about Tom?”
“Tom exposes me to things I’ve never tried, but that I love,” said Kelly.
“Like anal?” asked Savina.
“Ladies!” said the old lady, but this time, Savina ignored her.
“Like crawfish pie and fine French wine,” said Kelly. “I feel like, with Tom? I could travel the world without ever leaving my backyard.”
“And what if I told you there was a third option?” asked a familiar voice.
Kelly turned. Was it the volunteer lady there to complain and preach about the values of abstinence? No…it was Grandma Quiggly, and sh
e was carrying a large covered aluminum tray of food.
“Grandma Quiggly? Now what are you doing here?” asked Kelly. “You in the food delivery business now?”
“You have another gentleman caller,” said Grandma Quiggly. “This one took a while to figure out his romantic gesture, but I think he did all right in the end.”
“What is it?” asked Kelly.
“Y’all ordered food, didn’t you?” asked Grandma Quiggly.
“I ordered a stack of flapjacks,” said Kelly. “What’s all this?”
“Your secret admirer wanted to treat you to something special, so as soon as you placed your order, he not only paid for it, but added some extra fixings,” said Grandma Quiggly. She put down the tray and took off the tin foil cover like a magician taking a handkerchief off of a top hat.
Kelly couldn’t help but smile at what she was seeing. There were ten silver dollar pancakes in a row, each iced with the diner’s signature maple icing, reading out a certain phone number, stacked on top of a larger pancake reading ‘Will.’
“Will?” asked Savina. “You don’t mean the same Will we went to high school with, do you?”
“The one and only,” said Kelly.
“That bad boy came up with this?” asked Savina. “Grandma, come on. You must’ve thrown the poor boy a bone.”
“Nope! He told me his intentions from the start,” said Grandma Quiggly. “I pulled some strings, but a grandma never tells her secrets. The only question is…will you be going out with him, Kelly?”
“I’ll give him a shot,” said Kelly. “But I’ve already got two bears in this race.”
“Two suitors? Well, color me impressed!” said Grandma Quiggly.
Chapter Seven
Kelly Dean didn’t know what to expect from the bad boy cowboy previously known as the chemistry partner burnout known as Will, but she wasn’t expecting what was on her porch.
Tall, clean, with a five-o-clock shadow, a black button up that was freshly pressed, black jeans that looked freshly washed, a black belt with a silver buckle, Will looked nearly the same as he had the night they’d last seen each other. This time, his hat was in his hand, revealing his dirty blond hair, and in his other hand, there was a bouquet of daisies.
“And how on Earth did you know daisies are my favorite flower?” asked Kelly, taking the offered bouquet.
“You sketched them in your notebook all the fuckin’ time,” said Will.
“Ah, now there’s the Will I know,” said Kelly. “Come in. I’ve got to put these in water.” Kelly walked through the house to the kitchen and used an empty pint glass as a vase.
“Nice place,” said Will. “Not. Why’s it look like a serial killer lives here?”
“Oh, the plastic sheets?” asked Kelly. “I’m doing some painting for the Fallowedirt Hoedown, and when I do it at home, I don’t want to get paint everywhere.”
“Don’t want to, or can’t?” asked Will. “Because this place’d look better with some paint on the walls.”
“Knowing you, you’d just draw a giant dick on one wall,” said Kelly.
“That’s why you would be the one to paint it,” said Will. “After all, I’m the model.”
“You’re the model for what?” asked Kelly.
“The giant dick you want to paint on that wall,” said Will.
“Right when I thought you had found your sweet and sensitive side…” started Kelly, rolling her eyes.
“Come on, Kelly, don’t be like that!” insisted Will. “I’m just busting your balls…err, your ovaries?”
“Okay, okay, let’s just go on this date and get it over with,” said Kelly. “Anything but hearing about how you want to spray your dick on my wall.”
Kelly walked with Will to her front porch and followed him down the drive to a car that looked somewhat familiar. A muscle car, painted black with flames and a red leather interior, it screamed awful taste, but great execution.
“Recognize the old gal?” asked Will.
“I do from somewhere,” admitted Kelly.
“You don’t remember?” asked Will. “Remember the clunker I drove in high school? This is her.”
“This is the bag of bones you drove around?” asked Kelly. “Bullshit! I have half a mind to drive myself.”
“First of all, you have no clue where our date is, so that’s not going to work,” said Will. “Secondly, I thought you wanted me to be more of a gentleman. And finally, trust me. This car’s safe. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Your car looked like shit in high school,” insisted Kelly, buckling herself in. Will took that as a queue to start the car up and the engine was so quiet, Kelly could’ve sworn the car was just floating down the street.
“Keyword: looked. This baby runs like a dream,” said Will. “I spent all my extra money on fixing her up, starting with the insides and working my way to the exterior. This coat of paint’s barely a few months old.”
“Extra money?” asked Kelly. “Isn’t that all the money you made dealing?”
“You think I was a dealer in high school?” asked Will, confused.
“Well, yeah,” said Kelly. “You hung out with the other stoners and burnouts. You had a car before anyone else, and you slept through class…and you seemed to have a lot of connections. Plus, you always had cash.”
“I wasn’t a dealer,” said Will. “I hung out with other kids from my neighborhood. I had this car to haul my ass to work.”
“Your neighborhood?” asked Kelly.
“The trailer park,” said Will. “You didn’t know?”
“I had no idea,” said Kelly. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“I’m not ashamed,” said Will. “I worked in the next town over at first, waiting tables on a fake ID because, in a small town like Fallowedirt, I’d never be able to get someone to hire me at thirteen.”
“You were working at thirteen?” asked Kelly.
“And driving,” said Will. “That part, most people don’t know and don’t go blabbing about it neither. I was tall, so I could pass for fifteen or sixteen, work as an older teen. As a teenager, I passed for an adult man, and I could get better jobs.”
“Better like…?” asked Kelly.
“Like bartending, not dealing,” said Will. “A lot of times, I would work late nights so when I went to class, I had a wallet full of tips. I dropped the cash off at home with my mom before I’d head back out to work.”
“And that’s why you were always sleeping in class,” said Kelly softly. “Because it’s when you could sleep.”
“I didn’t do well in school,” said Will. “That’s no secret. But, I graduated. Only problem was, my resume was too strong for an eighteen-year-old to have. Isn’t that something? And I was learning about how to handle my shift, too.”
“So what did you do?” asked Kelly.
“Met a guy,” said Will. “He understood why I’d done what I’d done, told me it showed I was willing to work my ass off. I worked at his ranch, away from home, and sent the money back to my mom. Got her into a rehab program. She’s clean now, and working herself.”
“You’re not mad at her?” asked Kelly.
“Can’t be,” said Will. “We all have our stories. I’m living proof. Anyway. That man? Maxwell ‘Mittsy’ McCarthy. Hell of a mind, but the man’s got mitts for hands, so he hires the best farmhands in the game. When he opened the dude ranch, I was given the opportunity to move back here, to Fallowedirt. I jumped on that ship and well…it’s proof Fate’s real, ain’t it?”
“How do you figure?” asked Kelly.
“Means I got to see you again,” said Will. “Always meant to look you up, but…”
“But what?” asked Kelly.
“I wanted to make something of myself first,” said Will. “I know what people think of me. I know what people assume. I know impressions matter, and even though I blew my first impression, I wasn’t about to blow my second.”
“What do you mean?” asked Kelly.
“I liked you, Kell,” said Will. “Back in high school, I wasn’t joking when I asked you out those times.”
“You weren’t?” asked Kelly. “I’m sorry, I…”
“Hey, I ended up with the date in the end, didn’t I?” asked Will. “Come on. We’ve got a whole night ahead of us. You gonna focus on these old memories, or you gonna help me make some of our own?”
Will pulled into the parking lot on the outskirts of town. The parking lot had been transformed into a drive-in movie theater for the night, complete with 1950s themed food stands. It was another community fundraiser, this time, for new firetrucks. Kelly had heard about it but hadn’t planned on going as she hadn’t had anyone to go with. It was like Will had read her mind when he planned the date.
Will parked the car in an optimal spot for movie watching and opened the door for Kelly. He took her by the hand and led her to the food stands, where they had hot dogs to fill up and took turns feeding each other cotton candy. Once the movie was about to start, they grabbed a big bucket of popcorn and a pair of milkshakes: chocolate and mint for Kelly, strawberry banana for Will.
As the movie started, Will put his arm around Kelly. The feeling of a third man’s arm around her shoulder sent a shiver down Kelly’s spine that made her tingle.
“What’s wrong?” asked Will. “Are you cold?”
“Yeah, a little,” lied Kelly.
Will reached into the back of his car and pulled out a leather jacket. He wrapped it around Kelly’s shoulders.
“That better?” asked Will.
“Much,” said Kelly, but the lingering guilt of dating three men at a time was still there. It had haunted her on her date with Tom, but that had been the guilt from dating just two men. With a third in the picture, the feeling of guilt was amplified, and it hurt Kelly more.
Kelly tried to lose herself in Will’s warm, strong embrace, but seeing the marks on his hands, the shifter marks marking him as a bear shifter…they were too much.
As the movie went on, Kelly knew what Will wanted. As the film went to intermission, Kelly looked to Will. He’d already been looking at her, taking her in, and although she’d told herself she’d be able to resist him…she knew she couldn’t.
