Page 44 of Bear With Me

“No,” she shot back, “they’re awful, and you’re going to help make them less awful. Because I raised you right, despite the shit they put on you.” She patted his hand. “I’m so proud of you, my baby. And…” She turned her head to meet Dennis’s eyes. “I think you and your mate are perfectly suited. I can’t wait to see the life you build together.”

“Gran, you know we’re not -” Bjorn began, but suddenly Dennis couldn’t stand to watch him deny the facts again on Dennis’s behalf.

So he interrupted his mate. “I think it’s going to be a hell of a life.” He smiled at Bjorn. “Though I have to warn you, I’m kind of an asshole.”

Bjorn stared at him, open-mouthed, for long moments. “Are you…?”

Ginevra and Escalus were watching them so avidly that Dennis felt like he ought to do a little dance to complete the entertainment. Instead, he ignored them and focused on Bjorn. “Let’s go on a date. No promises beyond that, but…I want a date.”

“Oh, fuck yeah!” shouted Gran, startling everyone. “What?” she said, lowering her voice, when she saw the stares directed at her. “My boys are figuring it out!”

15

Bjorn

The next day, Fiona came to sit with Gran, who insisted this would be her last day of bed rest come hell or high water, so that Dennis and Bjorn could go to meet with the alpha in his office. There was the usual amount of cursing and insults exchanged between the two women before they left, but Bjorn was pretty sure Dennis was getting used to it, because he just rolled his eyes and chuckled.

As they walked down the path toward the den house, which housed Escalus’s home as well as his offices, Bjorn eyed his mate without turning his head. They hadn’t talked any more the night before about Dennis’s apparent acceptance of the likelihood of their mating, and he wasn’t sure how to – or if he should – broach the subject now. “So, uh…” he ventured eventually. “About last night?”

“Hm?” Dennis glanced at him. “Which part?”

Which part? Bjorn couldn’t help but be boggled by that. Had there been other parts that needed to be discussed? If so, he’d been too preoccupied with being offered a date to notice them. “Uh, us?” Why did everything he said sound like a question today?

Dennis smiled slightly. “Ah, that. What about us?”

“You…” Bjorn took in a slow breath, trying to keep his heart rate under control despite the stress and fear that rose in him at the topic. “You said we could go on a date. And you seemed like you thought we might actually mate.”

Suddenly, Dennis was taking his hand and drawing him to a halt, right in the middle of the woods. Bjorn stumbled to a stop against a tree. “I did,” Dennis said evenly. “I’ve had time to think over the past few days. And time to get to know you. Really, that’s what I wanted in the first place. I’m not ok with some handwavey ‘fate said you’ve gotta fuck’ thing, but I guess I am open to ‘this person might be a good match for you, so get to know him’, as it turns out. And that’s where we are now.” He sighed. "Besides, it turns out shifters aren't all that different from us humans. I'm starting to feel like a shit for how I treated the guys who accidentally trashed my bar."

Bjorn could only stare at him. “For real? Like, really real? You want to get to know me, for real?” Could he say the word real a few more times, perhaps?

Dennis gave his hand a tug, getting them walking again, but didn’t release the hold even once they were moving. “Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “I mean, you don’t suck, from what I can tell.” He grinned. “Your parents suck monkey balls, but you don’t seem to. And your Gran is pretty cool.”

Holy shit. Bjorn almost tripped again at the sheer relief. “Gran is awesome,” was the best reply he could actually vocalize, though, because everything else he could think of seemed too much like it could change Dennis’s mind.

Dennis snorted. “I expect a good date, though. I’m leaving that up to you.”

No pressure. No pressure at all. Bjorn managed to dredge up what he hoped was a confident-looking smile. “I’ll wine and dine you. Definitely.”

“Eh.” Dennis shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t need to be wined and dined. I mean, I don’t mind it, either, but it doesn’t have to be that kind of date. We could…I don’t know, have a picnic, or take a walk in the woods, or…” He chuckled. “You could shift and let me ride your bear.”

“You are not riding me!” Bjorn said immediately, then flushed as the implications of that statement occurred to him. “I mean, uh, not like that.”

Dennis’s chuckles turned into full-on laughter. “Oh, but other ways are ok?”

Bjorn cleared his throat. “Um. Uh. Yes. Though also I could ride you. I…you know. I go either way.”

“Big guy like you?” Dennis cocked an eyebrow. “Interesting. Non-stereotypical.”

Gathering his courage, Bjorn squeezed his mate’s hand and drew him to a stop again. They were within sight of the den house now, but still in some wooded cover. “Dennis, I will do whatever makes you happy. Anything. You’re my mate, and that’s what being a mate means.”

Dennis’s face softened and the laughter stopped. Before Bjorn could react – though quite what his reaction would have been, he wasn’t sure - Dennis went up on tiptoe and pressed his lips to Bjorn’s. He pulled back just as quickly, the kiss short and sweet. “And that’s why I’ve decided I like you and you have a chance,” he informed Bjorn. “Now, let’s go talk to the alpha about how to torture your parents.”

***

"Something seems different," Escalus said suspiciously as he led them into his office a few minutes later. "What did I miss?"

Dennis smiled slightly, but said nothing. Bjorn, on the other hand, couldn't contain himself. "He kissed me!"