Page 73 of Beastly Mountain Man

He smiled and opened a container of cheese.

Bear stationed himself directly between us in case gravity became generous.

Nothing about the snack was particularly noteworthy. Two mugs. Apple slices. Cheese. A handful of nuts Lucky dumped into a bowl without measuring.

I liked it anyway.

Maybe because he sat beside me at the kitchen table instead of serving me and moving around the room. Maybe because I stole one of his apple slices after finishing mine and he simply moved the plate closer.

Or maybe because I still wore his clothes, my hair had dried without any meaningful intervention, and there was no screen anywhere near my elbow.

Lucky took a drink of cocoa.

“So are we going back before dark?”

“Yes.” I glanced toward the windows. “My suitcase is there. My clothes are there. My cake is there.”

“Good priorities.”

“My laptop is also there.”

He waited.

I smiled into my mug.

“I noticed you not commenting.”

“I’m learning.”

“I’m not opening it.”

“I know.”

There was no praise in his voice. No surprise either.

Just acceptance of what I had said.

I reached across the table and touched his wrist.

“I like that you believe me.”

Lucky turned his hand and linked his fingers loosely with mine.

“I like that you tell me things you want me to know.”

That sat between us longer than the sentence probably deserved.

Bear broke the moment by shoving his nose against my thigh hard enough to move my chair.

I looked down.

“You had breakfast.”

He looked back at me.

“And I have been reliably informed that you also had an afternoon meal.”

Bear’s tail moved once.