Page 62 of Bear and Book

Later, when the dishes were stacked and the lights dimmed, Elias led me back to the couch.

We didn’t need words. He just pulled a blanket over us, curled against me like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into my chest. His hair brushed my jaw, soft, and his scent filled my lungs. My bear purred. It was low, steady rumble that eased out of me without thought.

Elias melted against me, every line of his body relaxing, his breaths evening out. For the first time tonight, he looked completely at peace.

I kissed the top of his head, my hand stroking slowly down his back.

“You’re safe,” I murmured. “I’ve got you.”

Elias shifted slightly, tilting his face up to look at me. His eyes were shining, but his voice was steady. “I know.”

I bent down, kissed him. Soft at first, then deeper, slower, until the kiss turned into something more. Something grounding. His lips tasted like garlic and warmth and everything I never knew I needed.

When we finally broke apart, Elias rested his forehead against mine, whispering, “Stay tonight?”

“As if you could get rid of me,” I said, tightening my arms around him.

We sank deeper into the couch, wrapped up in each other, the world outside shut away. My bear finally settled, content. Jason was gone. Elias was in my arms.

Chapter 18

Elias

I should have known Jason wouldn’t just disappear quietly. Two days after that disastrous confrontation in my apartment, I woke to the steady buzz of my phone on the nightstand.

For a fleeting, stupid second I thought it might be Leo, checking in the way he always did, his messages warm and bright enough to push back the dark corners of my mind.

But when I reached for it, squinting against the glow of the screen, the name that appeared there made my stomach turn to stone.

Jason.

Missed call. Two of them. Then a string of texts, all variations of the same theme. We need to talk. I can explain. Don’t shut me out like this. You owe me a chance.

I didn’t owe him anything anymore.

I shoved the phone face-down and told myself I’d ignore him, but the unease clung to me through breakfast, through the careful opening of the bookstore.

My hands fumbled more than once when I shelved the returns, and I realized my chest hadn’t unclenched since seeing his name.

By early afternoon, I thought maybe I was in the clear. The store was quiet, only a few customers drifting in and out. I’d just set the kettle to boil in the back when the bell above the front door jingled.

Jason stood framed in the doorway like a bad memory made flesh.

Sunglasses perched on his head, his travel-worn jacket slung over one shoulder, the same careless swagger in his step that used to pull me in like a tide.

My stomach knotted so hard I had to grip the edge of the counter.

“Elias,” Elias said, his mouth curving in that familiar smile that once would’ve undone me. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

“I told you to leave,” I said, the words out before I could second-guess them. My voice sounded flatter, steadier, than I expected.

Jason sauntered deeper into the shop, letting his gaze skim the shelves like he belonged there, like he hadn’t abandoned me years ago and left me to gather the broken pieces of myself.

“Don’t be like that. We didn’t get a real chance to talk lastnight. We got interrupted,” Jason stated.

I knew what he meant. He meant Leo’s arrival, Leo’s arms around me, Leo’s fierce presence filling my apartment and driving Jason out like the unwelcome shadow he was.