Page 20 of Bear With Me

Bjorn, apparently oblivious to her tone, looked over his shoulder and gave her a bright smile. “Hi! I’m Bjorn, and this is Dennis.”

Dennis covered his eyes and tried to pretend this wasn’t happening.

“Aw, c’mon,” Bjorn cajoled, tugging at the hand he had over his face, “smile and say ‘hi’, Dennis!”

Dennis managed a grimace that might have resembled a smile. If you squinted and assumed a whole lot of good faith. “Hello, ladies.”

Purring lady grinned at him. “Hi! I’m Doris. This is my sister, Imogen. Immie!” She elbowed her companion, who was determinedly staring at anything but Bjorn’s body. “Be nice and say hello!”

Imogen cleared her throat. “Uh, hello,” she said, addressing her remarks to the ceiling. “Rather…chilly in here, isn’t it?”

Dennis nearly burst out laughing when Bjorn reflexively looked down at his cock, probably checking for shrinkage (there was none, from what Dennis could see). He managed to suppress the laughter into just a quiet snort. “Nice to meet you, Doris and Imogen,” he said as diplomatically as he could manage while trying not to die.

Doris held out a hand for him to shake, then grinned impishly as the elevator dinged. “Well, this is our floor. It’s been a…pleasure…boys. Hope to see you around!” And with that, she led her still-red sister out onto the hotel floor.

As the door swished shut behind the two women, Bjorn looked over his shoulder at Dennis. “I feel dirty,” he said with a shudder. “Like my grandmother just tried to french-kiss me.”

Dennis chuckled. “At least she didn’t try to grab your ass. I might’ve broken her hand then, and she’s a little old for that.”

At that, Bjorn whipped the rest of the way around to face him. “You’d do that?” he asked breathlessly. “Protect me?”

Dennis blinked. “Well, I was mostly joking. I wouldn’t attack an old lady, even if she groped you. But I mean, if you needed to be protected, sure, I’d help. Though I doubt you’d need my help,” he concluded, gesturing to Bjorn’s large form. “Nobody’s gonna attack a guy who’s six-five and turns into a bear.”

“I'm six-six. And other bears would,” Bjorn pointed out, frowning. “I’m just hoping nobody at the den gets pissed at me while we’re there.”

The elevator spat them out on their floor and they stepped out, heading toward their room and its…gulp…one bed. “Does that happen often?” Dennis asked as he tapped his keycard against the door’s reader. “People getting pissed at you and attacking you?”

“No,” Bjorn said quickly as he followed Dennis into the room. Then he paused. “I mean, sometimes? People think I’m weird.”

“Weird?” Dennis questioned, toeing off his shoes. “How so?”

He shrugged and plopped down onto the bed, which groaned ominously. “I dunno. Everyone there is very, like, serious. They don’t like it when I play jokes or try to get the kids to play games.”

Dennis grunted. “Sounds like that place must be boring as hell, if they don’t even let the kids play games.”

“Wellll...” Bjorn kicked off his shoes, sending each through the air until they landed on the top of the desk. Dennis shuddered and made a mental note to wipe off the desk before using it. “They want the kids in school during school hours.”

“That…does seem reasonable,” he ventured.

“But who can pay attention to school for eight hours a day?” Bjorn exclaimed, sitting up and giving him a pleading look. “They need time to play!”

“Isn’t that what recess is for?”

“Pfft.” He shook his head. “Recess is for dodgeball. And dodgeball is serious business in the den. Your social status as a kid can depend on how well you play. So that’s no fun, except maybe to the two or three best players.”

“Wow.” Dennis let out a low whistle. “That’s pretty hardcore.”

Bjorn nodded. “So I just wanted to help them play a little, but the teacher yelled at me, and then the alpha cursed at me, and my Gran suggested that maybe I should go out in the wider world because I needed more than the den could give me.” He sighed and hung his head. “Do you think she was trying to get rid of me?”

A shot of…something…went through Dennis. A little bit pain, a little bit ferocity, a lot of urge to protect. “I’m sure she wasn’t,” he assured Bjorn. “From what you’ve said, your grandmother loves the hell out of you.”

That got a small smile. “I love her too. But I’m really worried about this sickness. Alpha wouldn’t say much other than that she was sick. What if she’s…you know?” He waved a hand helplessly. “Really sick? Or…” He gulped and said almost on a whisper, “Dying?”

Dennis wasn’t sure what to say to that. He wasn’t known for his emotional support skills. He settled for walking over and setting a hand on Bjorn’s shoulder in what he hoped was a supportive manner. “It’s really hard to kill a shifter,” he pointed out, “right? So I think it’s pretty unlikely that your Gran is on death’s door.” Did he have any reason to actually think that? Nope. Gran could be lying on her deathbed for all he knew. But it wouldn’t help to say that to Bjorn.

Bjorn gave himself a little shake, accidentally dislodging Dennis’s hand. “You’re right,” he said resolutely. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. I just want to see her and make sure for myself.”

“Well, we should get there around dinner time tomorrow,” Dennis told him, backing away from the bed again and sitting in the desk chair. “And then you can see her and give her a hug and all the attention you want.”