Chapter 9 Ollie
OLLIE
I’m startled awake by my ringing phone. I was having the best dream of cuddling with Phoebe, finally holding her in my arms because she’s mine.
Wait. It’s not a dream. We’re spooning, with my arm across her abdomen and her hand resting on mine.
Our fingers are entwined as much as her wrap allows.
Our bodies are pressed together from chest to hip.
I got up during the night to pee and see if it was still snowing.
It was, and the house was getting colder, so I shifted into my Bigfoot form to be warmer and share the heat with Phoebe.
I’m still basically the same as I am as a man, but a little bit taller and broader and a lot hairier.
“Is that your phone?” she asks while petting the hair on my forearm. I feel each stroke throughout my body, and it makes my already half-mast morning wood wake all the way up.
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to answer it?”
“Yeah.” My sigh comes from the tip of my hairy toes as I carefully roll away from Phoebe’s cuddly body and grab my phone from the table on my side of the sofa. “Hello?”
“King? This is Liam Morgan.”
I sit bolt upright. Shit. Practice. I didn’t even think about it. My first week here, and I’m already missing practice.
“Oh, shit, Coach, I’m sorry. I’m snowed in. I can’t get to practice. I didn’t call. I’ll accept the benching or whatever the appropriate punishment is. It won’t happen again. This isn’t like me at all.”
A chuckle comes through the phone. “Breathe, King. You aren’t missing practice. There is no practice. Calling to see how you are. You’re at your brother’s on Pott’s Creek Road, right?”
Wow. They really know everything. “Yeah, I am. My…” What do I call her?
Friend? Sister-in-law? Alvarez and Andie think we’re engaged, and who knows what they told people.
“Phoebe sprained her wrist, and she’s cat-sitting my brother’s cat, so I’m here to help.
We’re snowed in, and there are trees down in the road.
I’m going to see if I can move them, but we’re not sure Phoebe’s car will get us through. ”
“No worries. We have snowmobiles and tools. We can get you guys, kitty cat included, to somewhere safe and comfortable. If you want.”
“Oh. Wow. Thanks. Let me check with Phoebe?”
“By all means, go ahead.”
I turn to Phoebe, who’s looking at me with wide eyes.
“What’s up?” she mouths. I shrug, slip out of bed, and pad to the front door.
I glance out the window next to the door and feel Phoebe come up behind me, lightly resting her hand on my back.
I feel like I’ve been branded and am proud to wear her mark.
She slips in front of me when I move to the side so she can see outside.
It’s beautiful. Judging by the porch rail, there’s about five inches of snow and whatever ice may be underneath.
The snow has stopped, and the sun is shining. And we have power again.
I hit mute on the phone and look down into Phoebe’s upturned face.
“It’s Coach, checking in. Some of the team can come help us dig out or take us somewhere, Marsha too, if we want. I’ll go along with whatever you want to do.”
She gives me the sweetest smile. “We have power and heat again, food. I’m okay staying here. We can catch up. It’s been forever since it’s been the two of us, and I’ve missed it. It’s like a winter wonderland. When will we ever have this chance again?”
My heart clenches. Spending time alone with Phoebe, without the world intruding, does sound magical. I swallow thickly and unmute the phone.
“Coach? We’re okay here. If that changes, I’ll reach out. Thanks for checking on us.”
Coach chuckles. “Snowed in together in a cozy cottage? I wouldn’t go anywhere either. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll text you about tomorrow’s practice once we have an idea of road conditions and stuff. We can pick you up if necessary.”
I don’t bother to correct his impression of the situation because I don’t want to admit it’s not a romantic opportunity. I want to pretend as long as possible.
“Okay, thanks.”
I lower the phone, then realize I’m still in my Bigfoot form.
In front of Phoebe. I don’t think she’s ever seen me like this before.
Maybe if she watched the first episode of Bigfoot Finds a Bride.
They had us initially greet the bachelorette in our Bigfoot form, but wearing suits.
That’s different from standing in front of her in a T-shirt and shorts.
I hope I don’t frighten her. Self-consciously, I step back from her and hunch my shoulders, trying to make myself smaller.
“Don’t do that,” she says.
“What?”
“Make yourself shrink or disappear or be less or whatever the heck you’re trying to do. I’m not uncomfortable around you like this. I’m not intimidated or afraid of you. You’re cute like this. Stand tall, be proud.”
My skin is darker in Bigfoot form, but she can probably still see my cheeks get ruddier as I blush.
But I straighten up and stand at my full height, towering over Phoebe.
To my shock, she steps close to me and wraps her arms around my waist and rests her cheek on my chest. Of course I embrace her too.
“Hmm…this is what I love about you, Ollie. You’re the only man I’ve felt tiny next to.”
My heart trips when she says she loves something about me. I wish she was saying she loved me.
I chuckle. “I’m a foot and a half taller than you when I’m like this. I’d make anyone feel tiny.”
She squeezes me tighter. “When you’re not shifted, I still feel small and protected by you.”
“You’re always safe with me, Phoebe. I’d do anything for you.”
I feel her sigh. If this were a romantic movie, we’d look into each other’s eyes, romantic music would play in the background, and we’d finally share our first kiss. But it’s not.
Phoebe lets go of me and steps back. I miss her already.
“I know you would. I’d do anything for you too, Ollie, starting with cooking breakfast, since we have power. Do you want to eat first or go outside to see about moving the trees? I can have breakfast ready when you come back in.”
“You don’t have to cook, Phoebe. You’re injured. I can make us something simple.”
She walks toward the kitchen. “Can you plug the fridge back in to the wall?”
I do, and she opens it and looks to take stock.
“Eggs, bacon.” She opens a cabinet. “Pancake mix. I think they have a waffle maker.” She bends over so her luscious ass is in the air, and my mouth goes dry. I’d love to grab it. Being cuddled up against it last night was heavenly. “They do!” She straightens up. “Can you get it out for me?”
I get it and set it up on the counter near a plug.
“Okay, I’ll go assess how things are outside and start clearing up. Let’s say thirty minutes?”
She nods. “Scrambled eggs with cheese okay? And I’ll fry up some bacon and make waffles. Do you want coffee?”
A huge smile forms on my lips. This could be my life. I know it’s only one day, but I’d give anything to make this forever.
I shift when I go into the guest room. It’s obviously easier to use tools that are sized for human hands in human form.
I dress in jeans and a hoodie with work boots, then walk through the cottage to grab the snow shovel and tools from the closet on the back screened-in porch.
Phoebe is in the kitchen, whisking the waffle batter using her left hand.
Slowing my steps, I ask, “Are you okay doing that left-handed? I can do it if you want.”
Phoebe looks up and gasps. “Oh! You shifted back! You’re still cute.” Her cheeks pinken like the words slipped out. “I mean, I said you were cute in Bigfoot form, so I wanted to reassure you that you were cute like this too.”
“Thanks. You’re cute too.”
The pink on her cheeks deepens. “I don’t shift.”
I shrug and shoot her a wink. “Guess that means I think you’re always cute.”
Holy shit. I just flirted. Or tried to. I’ve never done that before. She’s looking at me with wide eyes. But she doesn’t look disgusted. She’s not laughing at me. I guess that’s good? Or maybe I’m so bad at it she doesn’t even realize I’m attempting it?
I hurriedly turn and grab what I need from the back closet, then rush back through the cottage and out the front door.
I don’t even sneak a glance at Phoebe out of fear of what I’ll see.
I set the timer on my watch and start shoveling the porch and steps.
There’s a layer of slush under the snow, but it’s shoveling with the snow, so we should be okay to walk on it.
I shovel a path to Phoebe’s car—I’ll brush it off later.
It’s doubtful we’re going anywhere today.
I know I’m not in any rush to leave our little private piece of paradise.
Never thought I’d think of this cottage on the edge of the marsh in that light, but right now, there’s no place else I’d rather be.
The trees across the road aren’t the big issue I thought they’d be.
I’m able to lift and drag them out of the way, back into the yard of the house they belong to.
Let the homeowner worry about cutting them up.
Not our problem. I’m done with my tasks within the half hour I set, so I’m kicking snow off my boots as my watch chimes.
Opening the door, I give in to the impulse I’ve had for the longest time.
“Hi, honey, I’m home!”
Phoebe’s giggle from the kitchen makes me smile as I sit on the bench to take off my boots.
“I feel like I should be wearing an apron and pearls, maybe have your martini ready,” Phoebe calls.
“I don’t like martinis. I’m fine with a beer.” I pad into the kitchen in my stocking feet.
She stops putting bacon on the paper-towel-lined plate and stares at me. I look down at myself and check my fly. I didn’t feel any breezes when I was outside.
“What?”
A slow grin spreads across her face. “You’re wearing your glasses.”
“Yeah, I put them on before I went outside. If I’m not skating, then I don’t like to wear my contacts. Gonna wash my hands, and I’ll be right back.”
I pull my hoodie over my head, and my shirt rides up, exposing my abs.
I hear Phoebe’s breath catch. Maybe she likes what she sees?
I’m not stupid—I know women like my muscles, and I’m not ugly.
Women are attracted to me. Being a professional athlete making decent money helps.
The fact that I’m a shifter adds an aura of danger.
There are women who have a fuck-it bucket list where shifters are concerned.
As a heterosexual twenty-four-year-old man, I’m attracted to all sorts of women.
But for me, attraction isn’t enough. Attraction is physical and chemical.
I need to feel an emotional connection to want to be physically intimate with a woman.
I’ve only felt that with Phoebe. In a lot of ways, life would be easier if I wasn’t how I am.
But I am. And Phoebe is my person. If I need to flex my abs and hope she finally notices me as a man and not her buddy, so be it.
“The snow is beautiful now that we have heat and power, huh?” I ask with a smirk as I finish taking off my hoodie.
“Snow?” she asks distractedly as she turns to look out the window. “Yeah, beautiful.”
She sure is.