by T. S. Joyce
Aviana didn’t know how, but she was going to find the courage to talk to him.
Chapter Five
She couldn’t do this.
Aviana took a long pull of the fruity cocktail she’d implored the bartender to make “extra potent.” She’d overheard Jason telling Easton he would take him out for a drink, and after seeing the picture of him and Easton and whoever Willa Wonka was, Aviana was pretty sure they would grab that drink at hashtag sammysbar. The Sammy’s Bar in question was a hole in the wall establishment on the main strip in Saratoga, complete with dim lighting, sticky floors, and mismatched chairs around scuffed wooden tables. A pool table sat in the corner, and a stage sat empty up front. The coaster for her drink advertised the Beck Brothers played live music every weekend.
Jason and Easton probably wouldn’t show.
Good, because again, she really couldn’t do this. Her heart was pounding double-time, and her hands were clammy. Twice already, she’d almost dropped her drink on the table because she was shaking so badly. If she did this, talked to Easton, it would change everything. It would put her at risk of being shunned, and would put her, a lone, frail raven, in the path of the most volatile group of badass grizzly shifters in the country.
“’Scuse me, miss,” a man with thinning hair and whisky breath said from the barstool beside her. “Can’t help but notice you’re here alone and dressed like you’re ready to party.”
She swung her disgusted gaze to him. “Piss off.” She cringed and slapped her hand over her mouth. That was really rude and not her at all. The alcohol was definitely talking now. “I mean, piss off…please?”
The man snorted and turned to his friend on his other side.
That was a sign it was time to go. Aviana sucked down the rest of her drink and stood, only to gasp and fall back onto the barstool the second she saw the door open.
They were here. And not just Jason and Easton either, but the entire Gray Back Crew filtered in through the door.
Oh, great hairy balls, what was she going to do now? Panicking, she slunk with her back to the bar to the very end where she eyed a rear hallway and exit sign.
“Gotta release the kraken,” Willa Wonka announced.
“Geez, Nerd,” Matt said, shaking his head with a smirk on his face. “Just say you have to take a piss.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” the spunky red-head said through a flirty grin, pointing at her blue-eyed mate.
Oh God, oh God, oh God, the three Gray Back women are walking this way. Act natural.
Aviana slurped extra hard on the last watered down drops of her drink and wheezed when a lemon seed shot through the straw and pelted her deep in the esophagus. She couldn’t breathe! Gasping, she clutched her throat and tried to drag in oxygen.
“I got this, sugar tits,” Willa said. She grabbed Aviana around the stomach and nearly cracked her rips in a quick, one-shot Heimlich. The lemon seed shot out of her throat and onto the bar top. Aviana turned around, mortified.
Willa reached forward and grabbed her boob. “Honk, honk, you’re welcome.”
“Are you okay?” a very pregnant brunette asked, gripping Aviana by the elbow as Willa sauntered off, clutching her tie-dyed purse and humming to herself.
“Uh.” Besides the fact that she’d just been felt up by a werebear? “Yes. Thank you.”
“Good,” the woman said kindly. As she walked off behind the other two, Aviana tried to place her face from pictures on Jason’s social media. Gia, human mate of Creed, she remembered.
She swung her gaze to the bar on her other side where the rest of the crew were sidling up and ordering drinks. From here, she could see Easton lean forward, a slight frown marring his striking features. When he turned his head, his gaze grazed over her.
Gasping, she froze. She couldn’t do this—nope, no way.
Melting to the floor, she crawled around the corner of the bar so her movement wouldn’t catch Easton’s attention as she made her escape.
“Lose a contact?” Willa asked from the bathroom door she was holding open for the others.
“Oh!” Aviana stood and pressed her back against the wall, hopeful that Easton wouldn’t hear Willa talking to her and come to see what was going on. Spread out like a starfish, she closed her eyes and sidled down the hallway wall.
When she opened her eyes to see how close she was to the exit, Willa was standing in front of the bathroom door, arms crossed as she stared at her. “Yep, I can still see you.” She narrowed her eyes and canted her head. “You a shifter groupie or something?”
“No. Yes! I like bears. They seem very…nice.”
“Liar. You sound and smell terrified.”
“Right. I’m just going to find the bathroom.”
Willa pointed to the door directly behind her. “There she be.”
“Okay.” Aviana’s words were coming out all breathy as her throat closed around them. “Thank you.”
Willa followed her inside, and now she was trapped between her and the other two who were washing their hands. A werebear sandwich, and how fitting that she was the meat. A whimper clawed its way up her throat.
“Dudette, are you going to pass out?” Willa asked, a sliver of worry infiltrating her tone.
“Maybe?” Aviana said as she pressed her shoulder blades against the tile wall. So unsanitary, but right now, the grimy wall was the only thing propping her upright. “I should go.”
“I think you should put your head between your knees,” Gia said, casting her a worried look.
“Yes,” Aviana whispered, sinking to a squatting position on the tile. She put her hands behind her head and waited for the lightheadedness to fade. Only now, she was completely vulnerable to the bears. Georgia, though she was even prettier in person than in the pictures on Jason’s posts with her wild hair and freckles, felt dominant. Willa, too, and now they were probably going to eat her.
A gentle hand rubbed her back, and when she looked up, the curvy park ranger smiled kindly down at her. “I used to be afraid of bears, too. We’re not that bad, though.”
Willa snorted, but Gia elbowed her sharply.
If Aviana didn’t ask now, she would never build up the courage again. Not after this disastrous night. “Can I ask you a personal question?” she asked Willa.
“Oooh,” Willa drawled out, tossing her head back. “Sorry about the boob grab, but I’m totally into dudes.”
“What?” Aviana asked, utterly confused.
“I like the pene.” Willa waited, eyebrows raised high. “The bratwurst? The talley whacker, the trouser snake, the one-eyed serpent, the dong, the long schlong, the tadpole shooter—”
“Willa,” Gia said, fighting a smile. “I think she gets it. And I also don’t think she was hitting on you.”
“You’re very pretty,” Aviana whispered in a fraidy-cat voice, “but I was going to ask you about Easton Novak.”
“Beaston?” Willa looked utterly shocked.
In fact, they all looked shocked.
“What do you want to know about him?” Georgia asked carefully.
“Is he…is he seeing anyone?”
“Honey, you’d be better off hitting on me. You aren’t exactly Easton’s type,” Willa said, leaning on the counter.
“W-what is his type?” she stumbled out.
“Serial killer.” Willa got elbowed by Gia again.
“I can see the appeal because he’s very handsome,” Gia said low, “but you are barking up the wrong tree with that one.”
“More like barking up the wrong forest,” Georgia said, rubbing her back. “That man isn’t meant for a mate, and especially not a woman as…soft…as you. You seem very nice, but a shy girl like you would sure have her work cut out for her with a man like Easton. Best you get him out of your head.”
Georgia flashed her a sympathetic smile and stood.
And as Aviana watched them file out of the bathroom, her heart sank to the dingy tile beneath her heels.
Get him out of
her head?
If she could’ve, she would’ve forgotten about her affection for Easton a long time ago.
Deflated, Aviana washed her hands, then made her way back into the bar. It wasn’t so intimidating to stay now that she’d made an ass of herself in front of half of the Gray Back Crew. The night couldn’t get much worse, as highlighted by Easton’s indifferent glance over at her as she left the hallway. He didn’t recognize her at all. Which, yeah, she got it. She hadn’t ever shown him her human side, and raven shifters didn’t have a smell unless they were in their animal forms. Not like furry mammal shifters did. To him, she was just another plain human hanging out in the bar he frequented.
She wanted to buy another drink to soften her sorrows, but the Gray Backs were talking and laughing it up at the bar, and she couldn’t force herself to get that close to them again. Peeing her pantaloons in fright after that utterly embarrassing scene in the bathroom would just be the cherry on top of the night.
The table in the darkest corner near the stage looked like the perfect place to watch Easton for the last time. What a failure. She’d come in here thinking she could actually talk to him, and the closest she’d gotten was talking to some of his crew, who probably thought she was a complete ninny.
Easton sat stoic in the middle of the laughter at the bar. He was picking apart a napkin with a slight frown drawing down his dark eyebrows. Every once in a while, he sipped a drink, but it was apparent this wasn’t his scene or he had some serious thoughts on his mind.
She was going to leave without seeing his dimples.
Her eyes blurred with pathetic tears, and she clutched her purse closer to her lap.
A massive man blocked her entire view of the bar. She arched her neck back to take in his full height. Dark hair, soft, sympathetic dark eyes, and two drinks in his hands. “Before you ask me to sit down, know that I won’t hit on you. I’m here on a reconnaissance mission only.”
Aviana sniffled and wiped her damp lashes. “Aw, what the hell. Will you sit?”
The man took the seat beside her, freeing up her view of Easton again. He set a red, sweet-smelling drink in front of her and took a long pull of his own. With a sigh, he said, “Woman, you’ve set your sights on one tough target.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yeah, you do. Why Easton?”
She shrugged miserably and took a pull from the cranberry vodka he’d brought her. “He reminds me of someone I used to know.”
“So, why don’t you go talk to him?”
“Because I’m a chicken.” She smiled sadly and swung her gaze to the behemoth. “It’s in my inherent nature.”
“Your inherent nature,” he repeated in a thoughtful voice. “So, if you never talk to him, what will happen?”
“I’ll never know him.”
“And if you talk to him?”
“Worst case scenario, he rejects me in front of all of his terrifying friends, scars me emotionally, I give up on ever talking to another man again, draw into myself with fear of being humiliated, push away everyone in my life, move out to some reclusive cave, and live on beaver meat and wild berries until I become an unrecognizable hermit with questionable hygiene and an imaginary pet fox.”
“Well, that was graphic and not at all what will actually happen when you go over there and say hi to Easton.”
“Oh, I’m not doing that. Chicken, remember?”
“So chug that drink and dig down deep. Find that badass I know is hiding in there somewhere. Hike up your big girl panties and march your sexy ass over there and make him notice you.”
“Sexy, hmm.” She clinked her drink against his. “Flattery gets you everywhere with me, mister giant.”
The man chuckled and jerked his chin at her drink. “Bottoms up, chicken. The Beaston awaits.”
He was right. If she left without talking to him, she’d always be disappointed in herself for giving up before she even tried. Feeling reckless, she slurped the drink down and stood. “I’m going to do it.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“I’m going to go talk to him.”
“You can do it.”
She straightened her tank top over her jeans and pulled her purse over her shoulder. She turned to leave, but hesitated. “I’m Aviana.”
“Nice to meet you, Aviana,” the man said with an easy smile. “I’m Kong.”
Kong. What a strange name. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
He nodded once, his dark eyes dancing. “Anytime.”
Aviana squared her shoulders and set her eyes on the crew at the bar top.
She was definitely going to do this.
Chapter Six
A woman cleared her throat delicately behind Easton. He turned on the barstool to tell her “Gray Backs only,” but the words got stuck in his throat the moment he saw her.
She was a wisp of a woman. Taller than tiny Willa only by a couple of inches, and with a fine bone look that said he could snap her arm without any effort. Her skin was tan, a smooth olive tone that made her clear-water blue eyes even more striking. Long, dark lashes matched straight black hair.
When he’d seen her come out of the bathroom, he’d taken notice. For an instant, she’d looked familiar. Or not looked, exactly. She felt familiar. Stupid fucking thoughts.
The woman lifted her overly big eyes to him, then dropped them to his work boots as if his shit kickers were the most interesting thing she’d ever seen.
His crew grew eerily quiet. All except Willa, who muttered, “Oh, shit,” and grabbed the woman’s trembling hand to steady it.
Too late to hide her fear from him, though. If he couldn’t tell she was shaking in those sexy little pokey-heeled shoes she was wearing under those tight jeans, he sure as shit could smell how terrified she was. Acrid. Bitter. He swallowed hard and waited for his bear to slash its way out of his skin.
But his inner monster stayed put.
In fact, the longer he sat staring at the strange girl in front of him, the more his bear shrank back inside of him, as if he was stunned. Or scared. Huh. Scared of this wood sprite?
Easton angled his face away from her suspiciously but never took his eyes off her downturned face.
“I’m Aviana Marie King.” She ghosted a glance to him, then back to his boots. “I saw you from over there, and I think you’re very handsome.” She gasped a tiny sound, too low for human ears, but it perked his senses right up. “You’re cheekbones are sharp, and your nose straight…regal…big muscles…and your eyes…I like those.” A tiny whimper escaped her as she clamped her mouth closed.
Easton looked to the faces of his crew, one by one. When he got to Jason, he growled out, “Is this a joke?” It had to be. No one had ever penned him as handsome. They avoided his gaze and shielded their children, but never once had someone called him what this strange woman had. Jason must’ve dared her to come over and talk to him. Now it made sense why she was this nervous.
“Definitely not a joke,” Jason muttered. “I’ve never seen her before.”
The woman was clutching her fist at her side, and her other hand was grasping Willa’s like a lifeline. She seemed to be waiting for something.
Oh. The manners the girls had been teaching him. “I’m Easton.” His voice came out a gravelly snarl, and the woman’s scent went from scared to petrified. Shit. “Sorry.”
She looked up through those long, dark lashes. “Sorry for what?”
He shook his head, baffled. “I don’t know.”
The tiny human straightened her spine and lifted her chin. “I want to buy you a drink.”
“But I already have—”
Jason shook his head, eyes wide.
“Okay,” Easton said, rubbing the two-day scruff on his face self-consciously. Manners. “Thank you.”
Aviana huffed a relieved, shaky sigh and released her death grip on Willa’s hand. Then she sat on the barstool Jason offered her right next to Easton. Right next to him. She smelled like vanilla. Not the
artificial kind in a bottle, but the real kind to cook with. He liked vanilla. Her hair was clean and shiny and looked soft as silk, and she had a face he wanted to stare at. Cute nose, high cheekbones, and round, innocent eyes. She didn’t look like she had anything wrong with her, but she was talking to him. Maybe she was soul-sick. “How old are you?” he asked.
“Ooooh,” Willa said from behind him as if he’d said something wrong.
“It’s okay,” Aviana said with a brief smile to Willa. “I’m twenty-eight.”
“Me, too. Do people call you Ana?”
Her soft lips turned up in a smile as she shook her head. “No. But you can if you want to.”
“I want to.” It was shorter. Easier than Aviana. Gray Backs gave nicknames. Nerd. Griz. Ranger. Beaston. He would give this one to her for tonight. She seemed nice. Frail and breakable, but nice.
Ana ordered him another beer and one for herself. She grimaced when she took the first taste, though. She didn’t like it, but she forced it down her throat, sip by uncomfortable sip. She tipped the bartender a five dollar bill. Maybe she came from money, or maybe she was just that nice.
“Where are you from?” Easton asked. It wasn’t small talk. He was shit at small talk. He just wanted to know more about a woman who would brave the Gray Backs and call him handsome.
“Rapid City. I was a teacher there. Kindergartners.”
Easton took a long draw of his beer. She was smart then. So why was she talking to him? “Why aren’t you a teacher anymore?”
Her cheeks turned the most appealing shade of pink. “I quit for a man.”
His bear snarled inside and scratched tauntingly beneath his skin. “Why would you do that?”
“Because he asked me to, and I didn’t understand that I could say no at the time. I thought he was it for me.”
“Your mate?”
She couldn’t meet his eyes anymore. She nodded her chin once. “I guess you could call him that.”
Easton wanted to kill everything. “Why aren’t you with him now?”
