Page 50 of Bear With Me

Oh, thank god. Bjorn’s tension deflated all at once, and he sagged where he stood. Hoping to disguise that, he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms to hide his shaking hands. “Uh, no. I did consider a fancy restaurant, but then I thought they wouldn’t take kindly to me suddenly shifting and breaking all their plates. Plus I don’t really think either of us is a ten different forks type of guy.”

Dennis snorted and grinned. “Yeah, no. Ok, so science museum party. If you shift, I’ll protect the exhibits. What time tonight do I need to be ready?”

“Well, it’s about an hour’s drive to the city from here, and the event starts at 6 and runs until 1am, but we don’t have to be there at any particular time, and we don’t have to stay until the end. So it kind of depends on what time you want to be ready.”

Dennis contemplated that for a second, then did a little counting on his fingers. “Ok, so if we wanted to get there at 6, we’d need to leave around 4:45, to allow for a little bit of traffic. But that feels really early. How about we aim to be there at 8? That would let us make Gran an early dinner first.”

“Oh,” Gran said, waving this off, “don’t you worry about me. I’m out of bed as of tonight, remember?” She mumbled something that might have been fucking finally.

Dennis frowned at her. “Doesn’t mean you need to be bustling around, cooking for yourself, right away. We’re here; take advantage of us. Well, and by ‘us’ I mean ‘Bjorn’ because my cooking talents mostly extend to burgers and fries, and I don't think we want to give you a heart attack on top of pneumonia.”

Bjorn nodded enthusiastically. How was this man so damn perfect for him? “I wanted to try a new casserole recipe for you tonight, so you'll have something substantial before Dennis and I go out on the town.” A problem occurred to him suddenly. “Oh, but if we’re drinking there…and it’ll be late…and an hour back to the den…” They wouldn’t be able to truly enjoy the bar, or stay late at the museum. He sighed. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

“What? No!” Dennis shook his head vehemently. “This is an awesome idea. We just need to think outside the box. What about, uh…” He looked away, eyes on nothing in particular that Bjorn could see. “We could get a hotel room in the city overnight,” he said quickly. “Well, if we can find someone to stay with Gran.”

A hotel room? With Dennis? Out of choice, for once? Oh, fuck yes, he wanted to scream, but he restrained himself and forced himself to think about it. “We’d definitely need someone to sit with Gran. I don’t want to leave her alone so soon after all this.”

“Gran is right here and can think for herself,” the woman broke in snappishly. “And I’ve been taking care of myself since my mate died thirty years ago. I can survive a night on my own, especially if it’s so you two can have some time to yourselves. You’ve been stuck with me and the den nonstop since you got here.”

“Oh, Gran, we didn’t mind,” Bjorn said quickly, not wanting her to start feeling guilty for being ill. Then, after a second's though, he allowed, “Well, maybe we minded my parents a little."

Dennis snorted at that. “Just a little. But yeah, we didn’t mind taking care of you. And working with the alpha on the business stuff has been pretty interesting.” He waved away the concerns. “But the point remains: you’ve been very sick, and we don’t want to leave you completely on your own just so we can go out partying. Do you think Fiona will come sit with you?”

Gran made a rude noise. “I’m so sick of her fussing over me.”

“Well, this will give you a chance to fight it out,” Dennis offered, and Bjorn almost laughed at the mental image that popped into his head: two elderly matrons, wearing boxing gloves and going at each other. “And you can prove to her that you’ve gotten better and she can quit fussing over you so much.”

Gran’s eyes sharpened, this idea clearly having not occurred to her. “Well, that’s true.” She sighed. “Oh, very well. I’ll give her a call and ask, if it means you getting on with your date. Please.” She flapped a hand at Bjorn. “Go find a hotel room. Something nice,” she added sternly. “You need to impress your mate.”

“Standing right here,” Dennis threw in calmly. “And I’ve got pretty low standards when it comes to hotels. As long as there’s no cockroaches and the towels are clean, I’m pretty much good.”

Oh, Bjorn could do better than that. A lot better. He barely held in the evil little chuckle that wanted to escape him as he whipped out his phone.

18

Dennis

Dennis was honestly getting a little sick of always having to be the one to drive when he and Bjorn went places, but there wasn’t really another option, at least until – unless, he reminded himself – they bonded and Bjorn regained his shift control. So he was trying hard not to be grumpy about the driving as they settled into the truck that evening.

“You ok?” Bjorn asked, casting him a worried glance.

Oops, some of his grump must have leaked out after all. He offered Bjorn a reassuring smile. “Just a little nervous about driving into a strange city.”

Bjorn smiled in return, looking relieved. “Oh, don’t worry. This will be nothing like driving into Washington, D.C., I promise. We’re talking a city in South Dakota. It’s got 30,000 people and probably nearly as many head of livestock. No subway, no taxis.”

Well, that would make a change. Dennis had just assumed that this was going to be a city like any other. “Huh,” he mused. “Well, I suppose that’s likely to be less stressful.” He started the truck and turned it around in the clearing, then entered the museum’s address in his phone. “We officially ready to head out?”

Bjorn graced him with an even wider smile. “Absolutely. Onward!”

Dennis hit the gas and hoped tonight wouldn’t end up being a mistake.

***

"Hey, come look at this," Dennis called to Bjorn, who was standing a few exhibits away, studying a comparison of weights on fulcrums.

"Hm?" Bjorn trotted over to him. "What's this one?"

"Lets you build a beaver-style dam in actual running water," Dennis explained, not entirely sure why he was so excited by this idea but nevertheless rolling with it. He gestured with the tiny sculpted branch he was holding. "C'mon, help me."