“Liam!” I grunted, flying for the handle. He stared at me in shock. “You have to close the door and lock it.”
“Oh!” He flushed again, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, it’s just – ”A human thing,I almost blurted out. Bear shifters weren’t as modest about nudity around each other, but Liam didn’t have to know that I knew that. “Just. Don’t worry about it. Let me know when you’re done.”
The door creaked shut and I heard the shuffle of clothes from the other side.
“Here,” I said. “Try on a shirt, too, while you’re in there.”
I tossed one over the top of the door and I heard his grunt as he caught it. The rustling noises continued, then a zipping noise. Then there was silence.
“Um.”
Liam’s small voice grabbed my attention. “What’s wrong?”
He hesitated before speaking again. “I think I’m stuck.”
“Stuck?”
A tiny pause. “In the pants.”
I resisted the urge to sigh. “How did you get stuck in pants?” I muttered against the door.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But I am and I’m starting to freak out.”
My brow furrowed. I knew how unpleasant it was for a bear to feel trapped, even if it was something as ridiculous as being stuck in a pair of jeans.
“Unlock the door,” I grunted. “I’m coming in.”
“It’s unlocked.”
I burst in a moment later and found Liam standing awkwardly in the center of the room with the jeans halfway up his thighs. He looked like a newly born deer with the way his legs were splayed out. He glanced helplessly at me, and I had to try not to laugh.
“You’re okay,” I said. “Sometimes the designs are weird. It’s not your fault.”
“Okay,” he mumbled. “Can you help me out?”
I nodded and took a better look at what happened. The jeans were bulging around his muscular thighs. I only noticed now that Liam wasn’t as delicate and fragile as I thought. He was a bear shifter, after all.
“It’s my fault,” I said. “I should’ve gone with the size up. I’ll go get them now.”
“Help me out of these first!” Liam snapped.
“Calm down,” I growled. “I got you out of a burning building, remember? I’ll get you out of these pants, too.”
He exhaled as I knelt down to examine the problem. In his panic, Liam had spread out his legs as if to catch himself from a fall, but it was pulling the denim taut.
“Move your legs closer together,” I ordered.
He did so carefully, and the denim gained a little more give. I hooked my thumbs into the waistband.
Suddenly a shudder went through my body. Only now did I realize I was face-to-face with Liam’s crotch, on my knees in the middle of a dressing room – and not only that, but I was touching his bare skin.
“Victor?” he asked.
Immediately I was pissed at myself. I was supposed to be helping Liam, not noticing how half-naked and helpless he was. I forced a growl down in my throat.
“Is everything okay?” he asked again.
