Page 11 of Bear With Me

“We’re not?” How were they supposed to sort this out if they didn’t talk about it?

“No. It’s a non-issue. We’re going to sort out this double-booking, you’ll go find another hotel or whatever, and it won’t matter whether we’re attracted to each other after that.”

Wait, did that mean Dennis was attracted to him? He’d said each other. It did, didn’t it? Bjorn brightened and scrambled to his feet to approach Dennis. “I knew it wasn’t just me!” He just barely restrained himself from throwing his arms around his mate.

Dennis poured the eggs into the skillet, back still to Bjorn. “What wasn’t just you?” he asked casually, as if he had no idea what he’d just said.

“You just said you’re attracted to me!” Bjorn enthused. “I knew it wasn’t one-sided.”

“Ugh.” Dennis scoffed at that. “I didn’t say that. And even if I did - which I didn’t - attraction happens all the time. I can be attracted to someone without locking myself into a relationship with them.”

“But…” Bjorn was still struggling with the idea that Dennis could know they were mates and just…say no. How did someone do that? Didn’t Dennis feel the draw between them? Didn’t he want a mate, love, a companion for life? “But fate…”

Dennis snorted. “Sky fairies, like I said. I don’t believe in the gods, and I don’t believe in invisible sky fairies. I believe in myself and making my own choices. And my choice is that I want my quiet vacation and then to go home to my restaurant and my friends.”

“I could…go with you,” Bjorn ventured. “I work remotely, so that wouldn’t be a problem.”

“That wasn’t an invitation,” he replied flatly.

Bjorn deflated. “Oh. Well, I…then I’ll visit,” he said determinedly. He wasn’t giving up on Dennis. This was his mate. And his mate couldn’t keep him from visiting a public restaurant. Er…once he figured out where that restaurant was. “Where are you from?” he asked, plowing on.

Dennis paused his stirring of the eggs for a second to look at him skeptically. “You think I’m gonna tell you that when you just said you were going to turn up at my place?” he said. “Yeah, no.”

Bjorn bit his lip. “I wouldn’t stalk you or anything,” he tried. “Just, you know, visit. Say hi. Maybe we could have dinner together. I’m from Stone Forge, myself. Uh, in West Virginia. About six hours from here.” Was he babbling? Maybe a little. He decided to try another tack. “How far did you have to travel to get here? You said you couldn’t just turn around and go back, right?” Actually, that had been Bjorn’s argument yesterday, but a few leading questions never hurt anyone.

“Mmm. Get plates.” Dennis was apparently choosing to ignore his question, pulling the skillet off the burner and giving the eggs a last stir. “I think they’re in the last cabinet on the right.”

Obediently, Bjorn fetched plates and set them down next to the stove so Dennis could divide the eggs onto them. “These look delicious,” he offered with a smile, picking up his own plate and nudging Dennis’s toward him. “Thank you for cooking.”

Dennis gave him a suspicious look, but when Bjorn just continued smiling pleasantly, he sighed and said, “You’re welcome. I used to do most of the cooking at my pub, before we got big enough that I needed to hire more help. So I’m great at deep-frying things and cooking things like burgers. Eggs aren’t really in my comfort zone, because we don’t do breakfast, but…” He shrugged. “Needs must.”

“Well,” Bjorn said through his first mouthful, “they’re good.” He swallowed and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “So if this is what things you aren’t good at cooking taste like, I imagine your burgers are manna from heaven.” That wrenched a reluctant smile out of Dennis. Hmm, were compliments the way through his shell? Bjorn made a mental note.

Dennis took a bite of his own, chewed, and swallowed. “Yeah, they’re not bad, actually.”

They stood there for a few minutes, just eating and looking at each other. Well, Bjorn looked at Dennis. Dennis pretended he wasn’t looking at Bjorn, but Bjorn caught him glancing over every few seconds, upon which Dennis would look embarrassed and look away again. Finally, Dennis sighed. “It’s weird as fuck that I’m standing here having breakfast with a naked man I haven’t fucked.”

Bjorn’s abs tightened at the mention of fucking. Had he been imagining himself fucking Dennis? Yes. Would he object if Dennis wanted to fuck him instead? Not a chance. Bjorn was an equal-opportunity lover. “We could fix that,” he offered cheerfully.

Dennis blinked. “What?”

Bjorn set down his empty plate and gestured down his body. “If it’s weird to have not fucked, then we can fuck. I’m down for it if you are.”

Dennis’s response was a splutter and a bit of egg went flying out of his mouth, sticking to Bjorn’s chest hair. Dennis slapped one hand over his mouth and pawed at Bjorn with the other, trying to dislodge the egg projectile. “I’m so sorry,” he managed after swallowing, finally managing to pluck the offending egg - and a few hairs - off Bjorn. “That was disgusting.”

Bjorn, on the other hand, was enjoying the physical contact, even if it had required some projectile breakfast to happen. He raised his hand and cupped it over Dennis’s on his chest, pressing it to his skin so the other man could feel his heartbeat. “I mean, we’ll eventually be exchanging bodily fluids. A little bit of egg is nothing.”

Dennis’s expression changed from embarrassed to resentful. “I told you -”

Bjorn laced their fingers together, which brought Dennis’s protest to an abrupt halt. He stared at their joined hands, still resting on Bjorn’s chest, then raised his eyes to Bjorn’s face. “Don’t.”

“Why not?” Bjorn challenged. “If you’re not attracted to me, then this is nothing to you, right?”

“Goddamnit, Bjorn.”

Yep, he wasn’t unaffected. Victory! Bjorn hid his smile, though. “So, you never told me where you live,” he said instead.

Dennis, looking a little dazed, blinked. “DC. Well, metro DC.”