She narrowed her eyes. “Cheater.”
He chuckled, brushing his nose against hers before rolling off her. They lay side by side for a moment, both catching their breath, before they sat up and he tossed her a water bottle.
She caught it, unscrewed the cap, and took a long pull, her cheeks flushed, that spark in her eyes still burning.
He watched her for a moment, the way she rolled her shoulders, stretching out the tension in her muscles. She looked good. Strong. More like herself.
“You’re coming to the Jackalope Fair this weekend, right?”
She paused mid-sip, then shrugged. “Yeah. Always do.”
He nodded. “Good.” He wiped the back of his neck with a towel, then kept his tone casual. Too casual. “Go with me.”
That got her attention. She blinked at him. “Like…together?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. That’s usually whatgo with memeans.”
She hesitated, the energy between them shifting.
He saw it before she even said a word—the hesitation, the internal war flashing across her face.
“Bear…” She exhaled, running a hand through her damp hair. “I don’t know. Maybe we’re not ready for the whole town to know about us yet.”
That stung.
She might as well have thrown a punch that actually landed.
Bear kept his expression neutral, swallowing down the sting. “You don’t want people to know we’re together?”
Joy chewed on her bottom lip, not meeting his gaze. “It’s not that. It’s just… I don’t know. It feels big.”
Big.
Yeah. It was big to him too.
But if she wasn’t ready, she wasn’t ready. Part of giving her room to heal was allowing that to be at the pace she needed.
He nodded, keeping his tone even. “All right. We’ll go separately.”
“Bear, I didn’t mean it as any sort of…”
“I know.” He reached over and kissed her quickly. “And I didn’t take it that way. We move at whatever speed you need us to.”
So what if he was ready to shout it from the rooftop while she wasn’t?
She cupped his cheeks. “I’m just not ready to be more of a source of gossip than I already am.”
Shit. That was perfectly understandable. “I get it. Now let’s spar.”
Right now, he’d teach her how to protect herself so she would hopefully never feel helpless again.
The rest could wait.
* * *
Two days later, Bear adjusted the leash in his grip as the stubborn miniature goat yanked at it, trying to chew on the hem of his jeans.
“This is ridiculous,” he muttered, giving the rope a little slack while the goat bleated in protest.
