As they reached the house, Sunny asked, “Are you okay?”
“I think so.Tonight helped.Thanks for making me leave the house, I didn’t know how much I needed it.”
“I’m happy to bully you anytime.”
They parted ways in the hall, Fallon going to try out her new skin care supplies and Sunny ready to spend some time with her sexy mate.
Seneca was sprawled on the bed watching TV on his phone, wearing only jeans, his hair tousled like he’d just run his hands through it.
Her tigress growled.
She’d freaking missed him.
Toeing off her shoes, she stripped off her jeans and shirt and made her way to the bed, crawling up beside him.“How was it?”he asked.
She tilted her fingers so he could see them in the light of his phone.“Behold the sparkly goodness.”
“Beautiful,” he said, putting his phone on the nightstand.“Just like you.”
“Fallon is better.Tonight helped her.”
“I’m glad she’s got you.”
“I just want her to feel safe the way that I feel safe with you.”
“It’ll happen,” he promised.
He kissed her gently, lips brushing over hers like a sweet promise.
She closed her eyes and breathed in his warm scent.
She felt whole.
And hopeful.
Because of the big bear who held her so tenderly.
She wanted that for Fallon, and hoped she’d find it someday.
But for now, her bestie was safe and that’s what mattered.
“I missed you,” she whispered, turning in his arms and kissing him.“So freaking much.”
“I missed you too, sweet tigress.”
Tuesday morning, Seneca and Sunny were at the burger stall prepping for the lunch shift and the new burger of the day that she’d picked from one of his cookbooks: the Safari Burger.It was a standard beef patty with smokey jack cheese and a tangy sauce made from mayo, mustard, and pineapple juice, which they paired with shoestring fries.They tested the burger that morning in the commercial kitchen and it was a hit with the bears who were there working.
At the burger stall, Seneca organized the refrigerator while she used chalk markers to write the burger options: a kid’s meal with a slider and small fry, a regular hamburger, a cheeseburger, and the burger of the day.
“Do you like the lunch or dinner shift better?”she asked.
“I like lunch better in the fall and winter, but in the spring and especially in the summer, I like the dinner shift better because it’s not quite so hot.In August it’s a hot nightmare standing at the grill for hours over lunch.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she said.
“We did get those neck fan things this summer to help keep us cool and they were helpful, but it was still pretty miserable here.Not like the ice cream stall.Tayme and Rory get to stand next to a freezer all day.”
“Lucky.”
