Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 95(@200wpm)___ 76(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 95(@200wpm)___ 76(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
Bear looks my way, and we soon meet eyes. I’m feeling horrendously inadequate right now. Where did I get off not getting my makeup done and not putting on my best clothes? A ratty old T-shirt and rattier old jeans are not what I’m supposed to be wearing when I’m face-to-face with the man of my dreams.
“Good afternoon, Savvy.”
“Same to you, Bear. Dirt roads treat you okay?”
He approaches us, his eyes still locked on me. “About as good as it could treat anyone. And still better than some highways I’ve driven on.”
Savvy chuckles. “As a city girl, I can tell you all about it.”
“And who is this beside you, Savvy? The one staring at me like a deer caught in the headlights, but with a charming pink hue to her cheeks?”
The hue turns redder when he says that. “Um, uh...” I stumble through my words.
Savvy, the wingwoman that she is, stops me from making too much of a fool of myself. “This is my friend Char.”
“Char, huh?”
“It’s short for Charlene,” I say, eloquence continuing to evade me.
“Char’s a cute nickname.”
I swallow, and continue to stare at him, a nervous wreck. “Are all your new friends this lovely, Savvy?”
“Lovely, huh?” He strokes his stubble. “No one’s ever called me that before, but I’ll take it as a compliment all the same.”
Savvy shakes her head. “Hunter’s friends are nice enough. But I’m guessing you’re going to find Bear nicer than the others.”
“Savvy!” I hear from the other side of the cabin. “Nate’s, uh... doing some business. And I don’t think me handling it is the most sanitary thing right now with me cooking.”
My friend chuckles. “I gotta go do the mommy thing. You two can keep talking. I don’t think you need me here to chaperone.”
Savvy takes off, leaving me alone with this big bad Bear, who wants to eat me in all of the best ways. I think I could have done with a chaperone for a bit longer, but I’ll survive.
“You’re Hunter’s friend?” I ask, pacing around, nervous, and not wanting to blow it any more than I had already.
“I’d like to think I’m Savvy’s too. And a lot of other people.” He starts to slowly walk to the side of the cabin, and I follow his direction. “And maybe I’d like to be more, with some more recent acquaintances.”
“You don’t fool around, don’t you?”
“Hey, when something you want is right there in front of you, don’t ask too many questions. You take it.”
We moved toward a wooden... porch? Platform? It’s expertly crafted: no surprise, given Hunter’s expertise as a carpenter, but I couldn’t decipher its purpose just by looking at it. It has a ring of bench seats and an entrance and railings.
Bear kneels down, running his hand over some of the rougher joints. “Yeah, another layer of weatherproofing and this’ll be built to last.”
“You know what this is?”
He nods. “I’m helping build it, so I hope I do.”
“I’m at a loss.”
“It’s a gazebo.”
I shrug. “Don’t gazebos have ceilings?”
“It’s a mid-construction gazebo. Kind of the reason I’m here; gonna help Hunter get the support beams up and finally put on the roof. Should see the work he’s done. It’s pretty much art.”
“That’s sweet of you. Helping him with this.”
“Why wouldn’t I help him? He’s the closest thing I have to a brother.”
“No actual blood family?”
“None left in this time zone. Family’s what you make of it anyway.” He pauses from his woodwork examination and flashes me a playful grin. “Why? Looking to start one?”
I freeze, slightly panicking. “What? Right now?”
“Yeah, right now. I’m going to bend you over something and take you right in front of Savvy and Hunter.”
I audibly swallow.
“I’m kidding. Sorry if that was too much, too fast,” he says, pushing his mess of hair out his eyes.
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m just nervous. I didn’t exactly put myself in the ‘meeting a new guy’ mindset, coming up here.”
“You’re fine just the way you are, Char.”
I lean against the half gazebo, and look toward Savvy and Hunter. The former had just finished her cleanup, and I saw them chatting away, laughing and smiling with one another.
Jealousy is poking at me again. I want what they have so damn bad.
Bear was joking about the whole fucking-me-over-a-railing-right-then-and-there thing, but truthfully? I don’t think it’d take much convincing for me to go along with something so crazy.
Especially with a man like him. A tender sweetness, but an undeniable strength at the same time.
He’s just the perfect guy, and here I am, attached my lowest point.
Life’s a bit too cruel sometimes.
TWO
bear
Hot damn, who is this woman and where did she come from?
This was meant to be a day of hard work. Top off this gazebo and eat some of the secret family recipe brisket Hunter always bribes me with for help.
Char looks more delicious than that brisket could ever be, and that brisket is the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of good brisket.