Page 52 of Bear and Book

Neighbors called greetings as they passed. A wave here, a cheerful “good morning” there.

I startled every time, but I found myself answering. “Morning.” “Yes, lovely day.” Simple words I never used to say.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d hidden from this town until recently. Until Leo, really. Maybe he was rubbing off on me. I allowed myself the smallest smile at the thought.

But then I turned the corner toward my bookstore, and the world tilted.

He was there, leaning against the brick wall beside my door, his posture casual, his head tipped in that way he used to when he wanted to look both approachable and untouchable.

The sunlight hit his face and caught that smug, practiced, and knowing smile.

Jason.

My pulse spiked, ears ringing. For a split second, I thought I was hallucinating, some cruel trick of memory conjuring him up. But no.

Jason straightened the moment he saw me, that grin widening as if he’d been waiting for me all along.

“Eli,” Jason drawled, his tone rich with the same warmth that used to unravel me. “Long time no see.”

Dread curdled in my gut, heavy and sharp. Memories I had fought to bury surged to the surface. Nights of raised voices, mornings of brittle silences, the hollow way he’d left without looking back.

I had spent a long time patching myself together, convincing myself that he would never appear in this little town.

I never expected to see him again. I had told myself over and over that Jason was gone, that I was free. That I could finally breathe without the weight of him on my chest.

And then Leo had come along. Leo, who made me feel like there was a future worth reaching for. But Jason standing there now, on my doorstep, cracked all of that open.

My fox snarled inside me, tail bristling, hackles up. Not him. Not here. Not now.

I didn’t want him in Sugarpaw Springs. I didn’t want his voice in my ears, his shadow spilling across the life I was trying to build.

My knees felt weak, my throat tight, but beneath the shock, a flare of anger burned hot and sudden. He had no right.

“What are you doing here?” The words scraped out of me before I could stop them, sharp and raw.

Jason only shrugged, like it was the most casual thing in the world. Like he hadn’t just ripped open wounds I thought had scarred over.

“Passing through,” Jason said smoothly, eyes flicking over me with the same assessing glint I remembered too well.

“I thought I’d pay you a visit.” His grin tilted, knowing, dangerous. “Guess fate’s got a sense of humor.”

The bile rose in my throat. Fate. If he only knew.

Behind my ribs, my fox snapped its teeth, demanding I push him out, shut the door, send him packing.

But my body was locked between past and present, between the man who had once held me under his thumb and the man who had kissed me awake this morning.

I forced myself to straighten, to meet his gaze without flinching. But my hands still shook as I slid the key into the lock, the metal biting harder than it should.

Every nerve in my body screamed that Jason didn’t belong here. Not anymore.

Because the truth was, I had started to move on. For the first time, I wanted someone else. Someone who looked at me not with smugness or control, but with warmth and reverence.

Leo.

Jason’s smile never faltered as the door swung open, like he expected I’d let him follow me inside. Like nothing had changed. But everything had.

And as the dread clawed up my spine, one thought pulsed louder than the rest. I can’t let him take this from me. Not again. Not when I finally found something worth keeping.