He dropped his sponge and finally met my eyes. The look he wore was one I couldn’t read. “I have no idea what to do, Madi. I never thought I’d take a mate. I never considered what a relationship would even look like.”
I gave him a small smile. “I tried not to think about it when I was engaged.”
He grimaced. “I still want to kill that fucker.”
“I’ll cross my fingers that you get to eventually.”
Bo turned to face me a little more, leaning sideways against the cabinets. “We could go to the resort, if you want. Wait for everything to blow over. I probably can’t afford to stay too long, but I have some money saved. We can make it work.”
“Or we could go to your cabin and pretend nothing has changed for a little longer.”
He bobbed his head. “That’s an option too. But we can’t stay in this apartment. This is the first place the alpha will look, and there’s mold.”
“Is that why you’re cleaning it? I’ve never seen the kitchen or baseboards look so shiny.”
His expression grew slightly sheepish. “I figured you’d need to deep clean to get your deposit back.”
“Thanks.”
“I owe you a lot more.”
“You saved me from spending forever with a complete asshole. You don’t owe me anything.”
He scoffed.
So, I changed the subject. “It’s not logical, but I like Cub Lake, and I’d like to be able to live here after everything is settled. I love your cabin, so we could live there for now.”
“You’ll be a lot safer if we find a place to stay in town instead. Near some of the other bears. My cabin is too secluded. I can sellit to one of the older guys in the clan for a lot more than I paid. We can take the money, buy a house, and fix it up if we need to.”
“Assuming we decide to live together.”
“Even if we don’t want to be anything more than friends, I think both of our inner beasts would do better if we lived together,” Bo admitted. “We can stay in separate rooms, if you want.”
“Like we’re roommates instead of mates?”
“Yeah. Roommates who might have a kid together, and don’t fuck anyone but each other.”
I grimaced. “I was thinking about taking the morning after pill. I don’t know if it would work, or if it’s already too late, but I don’t want to have a baby right now.”
“I don’t either. I think it’s worth a try. And without a bond completed through vows, maybe it couldn’t happen anyway.”
“Here’s hoping.” I lifted my crossed fingers.
He chuckled. The sound was quiet, and not anywhere near as free as it had been back when we were snowed in, but it was definitely amusement.
“I’m on board with staying in town. I’m worried about the alpha coming after me, but you’re probably right about being close to the other bears. The skulk was obviously afraid of you guys,” I said.
“We’re terrifying,” Bo agreed.
I snorted, and he gave me a small grin.
“Give me a few minutes and I’ll have the temporary housing situation figured out.”
“Thanks.”
“Thanks for not hating me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I was screwing you yesterday. Seems pretty far from hate.”
