My other New Year’s resolutions are going great, too.Missy talked me into dyeing my hair blonde, and in the spring, we both plan on walking a 5k.
That only leaves setting a boundary with my father and then…EEP…asking someone out on a date.
Unfortunately, the only man I want to be alone with is Dr.Hunk.I’ve been fantasizing about him for far too long in private and avoiding him in public as much as possible.It’s hard to do in a town of two hundred people, but I’m committed.I’ve managed to never be alone with him until the disastrous day at the clinic.We exchanged two texts, and I’ve not seen him since.
That streak is about to end.I suck in a sharp breath and try to veer away, but Daisy has my arm.She’s already lifted her hand, waving at them like she’s trying to flag down a taxi.
Shit, shit, shit.
I really want to turn and run.
Where is Missy?I scan the crowd, hoping to find my bubbly friend.I need her right now.She’s great at smoothing awkward conversations and filling weird silences.That’s probably why she’s been my best friend since I moved to Bad Bear Mountain.
It’s too late.Dr.Hunk waves back at Daisy, but his gaze is on me.My breath catches under my ribs.A hot flush rushes down my arms as the memory of how it felt to be held by him teases me.
Lana and Teddy look over and wave as well.Lana’s wearing a fitted gray dress that showcases her big pregnant belly.She rests her hand on her belly, and Teddy has his over hers.They are the cutest couple ever, and I swear I can feel cramping in my ovaries, like I just dropped another egg.What would it be like to have triplets with a bear-man?With Dr.Hunk…Stark…Matthias?
Whoa.My thoughts are skidding off track.I’m staring at the object of my fantasies, and it’s derailing my brain.
It seems there’s no escaping.I’ll have to talk to him.Tothem, I mean.I’ll have to talk to them.
It’s not like it’s a date.It’s just a quick conversation before I get on the Ferris wheel.I can do this without slipping and falling into his arms, dropping something, or blurting out something stupid.
I can converse with him without sighing and fanning my face like a love-struck goon.
He’s just a man.Just a gorgeous, hot, swoony doctor-man who makes my knees weak and occupies my every fantasy.
I finally manage to exhale.
Yep.I’ve got this.
Matthias
My gaze locks on Maisy.Even though she should be too far away for my bear to scent, the aroma of caramel and cinnamon fills my nostrils.I’ve been ghost-smelling her ever since Maisy visited me earlier this month.
“Dr.Matthias!There you are!”Daisy strides up to us, Maisy in tow.
Maisy’s cheeks are flushed from the cold.Her blue eyes look bright against the pink of her skin.
I devour her with my stare, memorizing and documenting every detail of the way she looks right now.Her new blonde highlights frame that heart-shaped face and cherubic cheeks.The snowy mountain woods make a majestic background behind her.I freeze the image in my mind to replay tonight when my cock is in my fist.
Control.
I need to get it under control.Good thing I took a dose of Moon Cure before I came today.
“Looks like you planned a perfect Winterfest, Daisy,” I say when they arrive, tearing my gaze from my beautiful mate’s face.
Maisy avoids my gaze; instead, she goes straight to Lana to say hello.
“This is the firstannualWinterfest,” Daisy declares.“I’m going to make it a Bad Bear Mountain tradition.”
“Bad Bear loves a good party,” my brother, Teddy, observes.He’s got his hand on his mate’s pregnant belly.In a few months, she’s giving birth to triplets.
Another set of triplet bears on Bad Bear Mountain–fate help us all.
I barely survived helping raise Bern, Hutch, and Canyon.My parents died in a car crash when I was young, and Winnie adopted me, then later, the twins, Everest and Axel, and, finally, the triplets.Shifters have super healing capacities and are normally immune to injury or disease, so my parents’ deaths left me on edge.Afraid to lose my new family.I ended up studying medicine as a way to control any potential circumstances.
Maybe it wasn’t fear but Fate that drove me to become a doctor because Winnie ended up with a rare shifter illness, which I was able to catch and diagnose early.I’ve managed to completely hide it from my brothers, inducing her into hibernation while I worked on a cure.
