This road was also dirt, but narrower, flanked by both coniferous and deciduous trees.
A panicky urge to launch into my 6th grade ecosystems lesson on the various trees of Canada rose inside me. But even I knew that was the opposite of appropriate pre-sexy-times talk.
I squashed it back down, clenched my teeth, and mentally chanted,Be cool. Be cool. Don’t mess this up. Be cool.
That worked… until the residual light from the town disappeared, and we were plunged into pitch black.
No footlights here. Just straight-up Dark Forest™ vibes.
As a Pittsburgher who’d moved to Vancouver—and had never so much as stepped foot on the surrounding mountains—this was definitely not on my Yeah, Totally Want to Go list.
But then Callum said, “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.” And his phone light clicked on, illuminating the path ahead.
“Thank you.” I let out a breath of relief now that I could see again.
The other Baerlow brother cleared his throat. “Bears can see in the dark, so not having any lights leading up to the main village is a natural deterrent to tourists.”
Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.The Total Eclipse of the Sun was trying to talk to me again.
I ducked my head and mumbled, “That tracks.”
“The village is actually pretty mind-blowing,” Callum said as the trees gave way to looming shadowy structures with strange markings I couldn’t quite make out.
At first, I assumed they must be some kind of naturally occurring erosional alcoves. But they had strange markings onthem and large holes that appeared to hold round, hobbit-like doors, with electric interior light seeping through their cracks.
“Too bad there’s not enough light to let you really see the outsides of the totem caves we live in,” Callum added, answering my unasked question. “They’re really gnarly. And majestic. I remember hiking up to see them for the first time shortly after we moved here and thinking—if I ever made it into one of these totem caves, I’d be living the dream.”
I could not relate.
Pittsburgh was home, and Vancouver was beautiful—especially if you could afford a sea or mountain view. But I’d never looked at a location and imagined myself living there.
“So you made it.” I tilted my head up toward him in the phone’s light. “Are you living the dream?”
He grinned down at me. “Now I am.”
Given the short amount of time that had passed since our initial meeting, I could only assume he was trying to compliment me, putting me more at ease before we had sex—and I appreciated that.
Still, something soft and warm fizzed behind my ribs at the insinuation that I was somehow part of his boyhood dream coming true.
“Here we are. Last place before it all becomes forest.”
He placed a hand on my back to steer me slightly to the right.
Sometimes, unexpected touch felt like needles on my skin.
My heart jumped—but then it settled. Back into that strange comfort I’d felt with Callum from the start.
Then a strangethwippingsound came from overhead.
I looked up into the pitch black. “What’s that?”
“Flags whipping in the wind,” the Total Eclipse—who I guessed I should start referring to as Gideon—answered. “We live with the mayor of Bear Mountain, so the British and Canadian ones fly twenty-four/seven.”
“Rys is our MLA, too,” Callum added as he pushed open a door that looked like an extra-large version of the ones in the rest of the cave. “He’s not here right now, but you’re going to love him. Great guy. Real bear of the people. And you know, he came in at number four on Reddit Canada’s list of Hottest Canadian Politicians.”
Interesting, but… Why was Callum telling me so much about their roommate?
Wait. Do they expect me to—“Oh, wow!”
