Bears of Burden: HUTCH

by Candace Ayers

  Thorn sat down and rubbed his jaw. He was grinning, which was unusual for him. “I’ll be damned if I don’t like that girl.”

  I stiffened and tightened my grip on my beer. “Who?”

  He nodded behind me, to the spot where I could practically feel Veronica sitting. She was too close, too damned close. She was driving me crazy. “Ronnie. Veronica. The librarian. Yesterday, I thought I was going to throttle her, but tonight, she’s like a little kitten.”

  There was nothing kitten-like about those panties. Those were full blown tiger. Who was she wearing those panties for? Was there some fuck-wad in Burden who spent time peeling them down her smooth, soft thighs?

  “You missed the show last night. She was on the bar, dancing with the rest of the population of newly bold and brazen women in this town, when she just fell off. The only person close enough to reach her was Sterling and he had his tongue down someone’s throat, so she was just going to eat it. Like magic, she reached up and grabbed the light above the bar. I don’t even know how she reached it, man. Cost me five hundred bucks and a favor to Jerry for doing the repair so quickly, but I’m not even pissed.

  “Allie seems to really like her and, I’ll be honest, I think if I’d had a kid sister, she would’ve been a lot like Ronnie.”

  A headache was forming in the middle of my forehead. A nasty one. In fact, not a headache, a steel spike through the forehead. I sat back in my chair and swore. “When did you get so fucking sappy?”

  Sterling chose that moment to sit down and looked at me with a frown on his face. “Something crawl up your ass, big guy?”

  Thorn snorted. “Must’ve. Why else would he be acting like such a ball sack?”

  “I saw Wyatt carrying Georgia home on my way in. He didn’t even notice me. Looks like we lost another one to his mate.” Sam plopped into his chair next to me and looked around. “What the fuck? Why does everyone look so annoyed?”

  A giggle came from behind me and Sterling turned his head. “Damn. Who’s the chick with Allie?”

  Thorn grinned. “That’s Ronnie Maddox, the librarian.”

  Sterling’s mouth dropped. “No way. I mean, not that the messy bun and huge glasses weren’t cute, but da-yum, she is smoking hot. I’m going to go talk to her.”

  Thorn grabbed his arm and pulled him back into his seat. “No, you’re not.”

  I heard a crack and looked down at my beer bottle. Beer spilled out from where I’d squeezed too hard and cracked the neck right off. Cursing, I scooted back from the table as cold beer spilled into my lap. I stood up and yanked my wallet from my back pocket, threw a twenty on the table for the beer and for the cleanup and stormed out of the front door without looking back.

  I needed to get out of there. Veronica ruined it. I couldn’t be there if she was going to be in the same room, sitting behind me, giggling and showing off her new haircut and tiny panties. Jesus, that woman was going to be the death of me.

  She’d taken my breath away before, as she lurked in the shadows of the library in baggy clothes and glasses so big they nearly ate her entire face, but I’d controlled myself. I hadn’t given in to instinct. I didn’t know she had those sexy little panties, either. Fucking sexy little panties.

  I shook my head and climbed on my Harley. A good long ride would do me good. My bear perked up minimally. He hadn’t wanted much to do with me this past year since I let him know in no uncertain terms that we would not be pursuing our mate. A ride might take the edge off.

  The bike roared to life just as the door of the bar opened and Veronica spilled out with a few other women. A group of guys following them, slack jawed and drooling. Veronica glanced over at me and quickly jerked her head the other way.

  Good. That was the way it should be, I thought. Stay away from me. Make both our lives a little easier.

  Then, something happened. Something that hit me in the stomach like a metal fist. Her head snapped back around to me, her new ear-length bob flying around her face, and she met my eyes. With a glaring scowl, she turned back around and bent over at the waist before lifting the back of her dress and mooning me.

  My bear roared and my dick perked up, pulsing painfully in my jeans. I wanted to take that girl over my knee and redden her pale, plump ass cheeks. I wanted to sink my teeth into her soft flesh. Fuck.

  I sat there, mouth agape, staring like a dumb-fuck, as she stood back up, turned to face me, and flipped me the bird before linking arms with Marley, the chick from the grocery store, and sassily skipping off towards her house.

  CHAPTER 3: Veronica

  I woke up with another hangover, but with neither remorse nor guilt for my wild behavior the night before. Even as my head throbbed, I couldn’t help the hoarse laugh that threatened to send me running to the toilet as my head pulsed painfully at the sound. I kicked my blanket off and looked down to find I’d stripped myself down to my panties before crawling into bed the night before. I’d also left the bedroom curtains wide open.

  I grabbed the bed sheet and tucked it up around my chin before peeking out the window. My house faced Main Street, the bedroom windows looking out over my postage stamp-sized front yard and out onto the street. I had a nosey paperboy who I’d witnessed peeking into my room before—not that I thought he was some pervert, or anything. It was probably just human nature and curiosity.

  I leaned over the side of my bed and searched for my discarded clothes. When I came up empty handed, I slunk out of my bed, to the floor and crawled across to the curtains. I ascended to my knees to check the street out front for any sign of life. Nothing. I stood, grabbing the curtain to close it.

  As I reached for the curtain, a hot flush coursed through me. What the—Hutch. He was stepping out the front door of the house across the street. His eyes were glued to me and I swear I could feel his growl rumble through me from where I stood in my bedroom.

  Panic, hot and tingly panic, coursed through my veins. Self-preservation told me to get down and hide from the big, bad seriously-scary biker, Hutch Mallory, but I was in the midst of reinventing myself. I was the girl who danced on bars, although not well, and mooned a man and flipped him the bird because, well, because to heck and back with him. Virgin Veronica was gone.

  Well, technically, she was still intact, but she was a whole new woman now.

  Instead of dropping to my knees and hiding, I dropped the sheet, and glared at him with my hands on my hips. Hutch was my mate. He didn’t know I knew that, but I wasn’t a fool. I’d lived in Burden long enough to know that there were plenty of people in this town who weren’t quite human. I’d watched couples pair off and had done research enough to know that they were mates. I’d read about the way mates reacted to each other. It was the way I’d reacted to Hutch the first time we’d met. It was undeniable—for me. Hutch had apparently not felt the same. The man was my mate, yet he couldn’t seem to stand the idea of touching me.

  It figured that I’d have a mate who couldn’t stand to be near me. I was destined to be a virgin for the rest of my life. How pathetic.

  So, yeah, I was angry with him. I’d played it his way and practically hidden from him, like he liked. I didn’t do anything that might make him uncomfortable, avoided anywhere we might run into each other. I hid in my own town to make life easier for him. Why? Because I was a placating dweeb. But, not anymore.

  I slowly raised my hand and extended my middle finger. I watched his face turn from shock to anger and it lit something inside of me on fire. Good. I wanted him to feel as hurt and angry as I had been this past year.

  Feeling satisfied, like I’d completed my mission for the day, I reached up and snapped the curtains closed before entering my bathroom and starting the shower. My skin was flushed and I felt a little dizzy. Maybe I was still drunk.

  I took a long shower, using all the fancy soaps and shampoos that I loved. I took my time shaving and then walked around my bedroom, letting my body air dry before slipping into a fancy lingerie set that was more straps than solid fabric. F
ancy lingerie was my one vice, and this set did things for my breasts that felt sinful.

  I opened my closet and peered in. Everything was plain. That had been my style. I’d spent my whole life blending in and just being comfortable. My older sister, Jenni, was the one in the family who’d consumed the entire family’s clothing budget while we were growing up. I’d been fine with my older sisters’ hand-me-downs. That mentality stuck as I’d grown older.

  I was quiet. I liked books and spent an ungodly amount of time with my head stuck between the pages of one. You didn’t have to dress up to read.

  Seeing the way Georgia dressed, even to walk to the grocery store, made me think. Maybe it was time I started putting some effort into my appearance. She always looked beautiful, coiffed and put together constantly. I wanted to look like that.

  I stared in my full-length mirror and swung my head from side to side, watching the way my jet-black hair swayed. I’d been drunk when I told Brandi, at the salon, to chop my hair off. It was during a salon party that Georgia had planned and dragged me to. I’d worn it long my whole life. I always wore it the same way, in a messy bun. Now, I looked almost exotic. It fell just below my ears, contouring my jawline, in a blunt bob. My hair moved when I did and the bangs that fringed across my forehead were heavy and made me feel edgy. I looked my age for once.

  The clean lines accentuated my high cheekbones, and the bangs drew attention to my jade-green eyes. Who knew one haircut could take a girl from plain Jane to an exotic temptress? I loved it.

  I pushed around the clothes in my closet until I came up with an old pair of cut off jean shorts and an old T-shirt. I took out a pair of scissors and chopped both up. When I was done, the shorts stopped just under my ass and the shirt had a new, daring neckline that showed some of the straps of my bra. I tied it at my waist in a little knot and then looked in the mirror again.

  I looked daring, bold, confident. I looked like someone I would’ve been scared to talk to the week before. This girl wouldn’t be too shy to face a big man who was being a horse’s hiney to her. This girl would face off with him and come out on top. She’d be daring. She’d be fearless. No one would deign to call her Virgin Veronica or any such ridiculousness.

  I giggled, then pouted at myself. Okay, so I wasn’t going to change completely overnight. I was still a quiet, brainy girl who giggled too much. Baby steps.

  Although, nothing about the past few days felt like baby steps. Georgia had shown up at the library, looking for outdoor and nature books, and instantly announced that we were going to be friends. Within minutes, she had invited me to a girls’ night out with her. Something about her bubbly personality made me say yes. That, and I’d grown lonely over the past year or so that I’d been living in Burden.

  I loved Burden for its quiet, but it was starting to wear on me. So, I went out with the girls that night. Introductions led to shots. Shots led to dancing together in ways I’d only seen on TV. That led to doing embarrassing things that seemed to bond us.

  When Georgia showed up at the library the next day to collect me, it’d been natural to agree to whatever shenanigans she had concocted. It was easy to be a little crazy around Georgia, and I found myself desperate for that little bit of crazy.

  It was Sunday and the library was closed, so I normally did my grocery shopping. Instead, this morning I was meeting Allie at Thorn’s house for coffee. A few days into the brand-new Veronica and I already had girlfriends inviting me over to talk about the crazy goings on from the night before.

  I opened my front door and stepped out, inhaling a deep breath of the warm Texas morning air. The roses in front of my house were fragrant and I smiled at them before strolling down to the sidewalk.

  That’s when it hit me. He’d been at Maggie Flenoy’s house. Hutch had been sneaking out of Maggie’s house in the morning. My chest suffered a painful ache that felt like the stabbing of a dagger. I stomped my foot, hurt and angry that a man I’d never even said more than a few words to could cause me that kind of intense pain. Mates sucked.

  CHAPTER 4: Veronica

  I knocked on Thorn’s door and held my breath as I waited. I couldn’t quite kick the shyness. It sure was easier to laugh and hang out with everyone after a few shots. I worried if we’d have anything to talk about in the light of day, while sober. I worried that it might get awkward and I’d just run back to my safe spot, the library.

  Before I had time to freak myself out enough to run away, Allie opened the door. Wincing, she grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. “I hate the sun!”

  I flinched at how loud she was. “Hungover?”

  She nodded. “Like a bitch. I have coffee, fried bacon, and enough Tylenol to kill someone, though.”

  Every one of those things sounded heavenly. I followed her to a large kitchen and went straight for the coffee. “You’re an angel.”

  She piled two plates full of bacon and eggs before adding a few pieces of toast and then setting them down at the counter. “We also have juice if you want some.”

  I shook my head and sat down. “Maybe we should’ve scheduled a lunch date, instead.”

  She wiggled her eyebrows at me as she took a long drink of coffee. “I’ll be fine as soon as this kicks in. How about you?”

  I grabbed at the medicine and groaned. “I never drink.”

  She laughed and winced again. “You drank like a fish for the past two nights.”

  “I know. You guys are terrible influences.”

  Thorn strolled into the room and planted a kiss on the top of Allie’s head. “From what I could see, you were the bad influence. I’ve heard about the videos online, what are they called, ‘Librarians Gone Wild’, but I never realized the stereotypes were true.”

  Allie smacked him on the arm while I blushed. Thorn just grinned, clearly proud of his little joke.

  “I don’t remember breaking anything last night.”

  “You did. You sent a chair flying across the room so hard it hit the jukebox and cracked the front casing.” He laughed a loud laugh that had both Allie and me cringing. “I should be pissed, but for some reason, I’m not.”

  I put my coffee down and covered my face in my hands. “I am so sorry. I’ll pay for everything, Thorn. I’m never drinking again.”

  Allie shoved a piece of bacon in her mouth and wagged her finger at me. “No, no quitting. You’re a blast.”

  The compliment went straight to my heart and I took a second to let it sit there. Allie thought I was a blast. Being the second youngest of seven children, in a big city, in a big world, hadn’t ever allowed me to find a very loud voice. I’d always had a quiet nature anyway, but with seven children, I’d gotten lost in the chaos. No one ever heard my jokes, or my opinions, or anything, for that matter. Having someone acknowledge that they considered me “a blast” was, pathetically, almost enough to make me want to tear up.

  “Maybe quit breaking my bar, though.”

  I nodded. “No more bar breaking. Promise. Let me pay for the damages, though.”

  He shook his head and then patted me on top of mine. “You’re not the first one to do it, you won’t be the last. Besides, you’re cool, kiddo.”

  I looked at Allie, but she looked just as shocked as I felt. I looked back at Thorn and he was smiling at me. Smiling. “What?”

  “Nothing.” He kissed Allie and backed away. “I’m going for a run. I’ll be back later.”

  She watched him go and then turned to me with a sigh. “He’s weird, but he’s beautiful.”

  I laughed and nodded. “He was looking at me like I was some kind of cute, fuzzy little animal. I think he petted me.”

  She burst into a fit of laughter that was contagious. “I guess it means he likes you. I don’t know. He likes so few people, it’s hard to tell.”

  I made a face. “Do bears keep pets?”

  She stopped laughing and cocked her head to the side. “You know?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course, I know. This town is full of shifters
and I’ve read enough books to know that the idea isn’t crazy.”

  “Like paranormal romances?”

  “No, non-fictional books about real phenomenon like shifters. They’re less popular than paranormal romances, but they do exist.” I shrugged. “This town just feels different. I knew it as soon as I arrived. It didn’t take me long to figure out why.”

  “Wow, it took me actually seeing Thorn’s bear to believe. I’m still shocked sometimes. Georgia took it a lot better than I did.”

  I couldn’t contain the wistfulness in my voice as I spoke. “And, now you both have your mates.”

  Allie froze with a piece of toast halfway to her mouth. “I suddenly get the feeling there’s something you’re not telling me.”

  I was saved from confessing by the sound of the front door opening. “Thorn? Allie? Please, be decent.”

  Heat scorched my face and I looked around frantically for an exit. I knew that voice. He’d only spoken directly to me once, but as long as I lived, I would never forget that husky growl. Brave Veronica was nowhere to be found, leaving only chicken poop Veronica who was horrified that I’d flashed the man my bare breasts just an hour ago.

  “In the kitchen!” Allie called out and then looked over at me. “You okay?”

  I dropped to the ground and prayed that Allie wouldn’t call me out.

  “Hey. Where’s Thorn? I need to ask—” There was the sound of sniffing and then a low growl.

  I knew I was busted. I knew he knew I was hiding behind the counter, but I couldn’t make myself stand up. My legs were jelly. If anything, I was considering crawling out of the kitchen and all the way home.

  “You need to ask…?” Allie acted as if there was nothing strange going on. Bless her.

  Heavy footsteps circled the island and work boots suddenly appeared in front of my nose. “What are you doing here?”