Chapter Sixteen
I couldn’t sleep.
It wasn’t even because I was tossing and turning over the vicious words we’d exchanged during our fight. The real culprit was the chaotic storm raging outside. I have always been entirely, deeply terrified of severe weather.
I physically flinch under my blankets as another sharp flash of lightning completely ignited the sky, illuminating my bedroom in a stark, ghostly white. A mere two seconds later, a deafening rumble of thunder violently rattled the glass of my windowpane.
That is it.
I fling the covers off, my feet hitting the cold floorboards as I march straight out of my room. At this point, I did not give a single shit that Mitchell and I were currently locked in a cold war. I was petrified, and there was no way in hell I was going to spend the rest of the night sleeping by myself.
I stop in front of his door, knock once for the sake of manners, and push it open just enough to peek my head inside.
“What, Danny?” Bear growls from the darkness. His voice was thick with exhaustion, and because the charcoal room was entirely pitch black, I couldn’t even see his silhouette.
I bit my bottom lip to stifle a pathetic little whimper as the sky split open with another blinding flash, followed instantly by a booming crack of thunder. “Can I sleep with you?”
There was a brief moment of heavy silence, followed by the rustle of sheets. Then, the warm glow of his bedside lamp clicked on, cutting through the shadows. Bear was sitting up, his emerald eyes tracking my trembling frame. “Are you scared?”
I nod, wrapping my arms tightly around my torso. “Yeah.”
He let out a long, heavy sigh, but reaches down and lifts his dark blue comforter, throwing it back in a silent invitation. “I’m still mad at you.”
“I know,” I whisper, practically scrambling across the room. I climb into the bed, sinking into the plush mattress, and instantly melt as he pulls the heavy blankets back over us.
Without a word, Bear snuggles in close, wrapping one massive, heavy arm securely around my waist and pulling my back flush against his chest. He leans down, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to my forehead, and I couldn’t help but smile into the solid warmth of his chest.
“You can’t just go through my stuff, Danny,” he murmurs into the quiet room, his deep voice vibrating against my shoulder.
I sigh, shifting slightly on my side. “I know. I’m sorry. My curiosity just completely got the better of me.”
“Curiosity killed the cat,” he grunts.
“Yeah, well, satisfaction brought it back,” I retort smartly.
Bear let out a low rumble that sounded dangerously close to a chuckle, but his posture quickly sobered. “Look... I don’t like sharing things with people. Let alone fucking touching people.”
“Because of prison. I know,” I mutter softly, gently rubbing the arm he had wrapped around me.
He let out another heavy breath, his grip tightening just a fraction. “But I can’t exactly help the fact that I have feelings for you.”
A massive, giddy smile broke across my face in the dark. “Okay.”
“And I know you want shit like that,” he continues, his tone a mix of frustration and rare vulnerability. “The communication, the talking. Which is why... I’m willing to try.”
I blink against his chest, entirely surprised. “To try what?”
He grunts, shifting his weight. “To be more open with you. Because, honestly, it was partially my fault you were snooping through my things in the first place.”
“It was?” I ask, completely bewildered. What is actually happening right now? Is Bear taking accountability?
“You wouldn’t have felt the need to go digging around if I had just told you what my medication was for,” he states bluntly. “But the Crystal thing... I’m still mad about that.”
I hesitate for a beat, thinking of the beautiful blonde girl in the photos. “Did you love her?”
Bear’s posture instantly stiffens, a defensive growl rippling through his chest. “She was my best friend, Danny. Of course, I fucking loved her.”
“Hey, you don’t need to get defensive,” I say softly, reaching up to touch his jaw. “I was just asking.”
He takes a deep, calming breath, actively forcing his shoulders to relax. “It’s just an incredibly sensitive topic for me.”
“I’m really sorry you had to go through that, Mitchell,” I whisper, meaning every single word.
He let out a final, soft grunt, burying his face into the crook of my neck. “Sleep.”
I turn fully onto my side to face him, leaning up to press a soft, sweet kiss directly to his split lip. “Good night, Mitchell.”
----
A Few Days Later...
“I literally cannot breathe,” I gasp, clutching the velvet curtain of the dressing room.
Mac let out a sharp huff, aggressively yanking down on the zipper of the formal dress. “Well, we are already up to a size 10, Danny.”
“I have a big ass, okay? It’s a medical fact,” I murmur, struggling to suck in enough oxygen.
“Oh, trust me, I know,” Jay chimes in from the waiting area, flipping through a fashion magazine. “That is precisely what Bear likes best about you.”
“So true,” Mac agrees seamlessly. She pokes her head out of the curtain and snaps her fingers authoritatively at a passing retail worker. “Excuse me. We need this in a size 12.”
The sales associate let out an irritated huff and storms off but returned a minute later holding the dress in a size twelve. I slip it on, and with Mac’s help, the zipper glided up perfectly.
“Oh, it looks absolutely amazing,” Jay gushes, clapping his hands together as I step out to look in the mirror. “That slimy ex of yours is going to be absolutely furious when he sees what he lost.”
“Good,” I smirk, smoothing down the fabric.
As you can probably tell, I had finally made a definitive decision about the wedding. It was my aunt, after all, and she had basically been a second mother to me my entire life. I couldn’t let Jason and my biological mom ruin that for me.
“So, where is the big guy today anyway?” Jay asks as we finally exit the boutique, shopping bag in hand.
“He told me he has a stock shift at Walmart until six,” I answer, checking my phone.
Mac’s eyes instantly lit up with a dangerous, chaotic spark. “Walmart? Let’s go crash it.”
“No way,” I laugh, shaking my head. “We absolutely cannot go disturb him at work.”
“Hell yeah we can!” Jay yells, already sprinting toward the parking lot.
----
Ten minutes later, we were striding through the sliding glass doors of Walmart. I grab a large shopping trolley, and before I could even object, Jay hops entirely inside it, sitting cross-legged like a giant toddler.
“Ooh, grab those!” Jay orders dramatically as we zip past a seasonal display. Mac didn’t even hesitate, snatching three bright neon pool noodles and tossing them into the cart on top of him.
“He’s a stock boy, so head straight for the back aisles,” Mac directs, navigating us through the store. As we made our way toward the grocery warehouse doors, we managed to accumulate a mountain of junk: several giant bars of chocolate, a random Lego set, and a literal children’s bicycle. Apparently, Natasha desperately needed a new set of wheels.
“There he is,” I hiss, suddenly halting the trolley.
We all peek around the corner of the aisle. Bear was standing by a pallet, looking entirely ridiculous but incredibly massive as he stocks boxes of tampons and pads onto the shelves.
“Hey, Bear!” Jay greets him at the absolute top of his lungs, waving enthusiastically from inside the shopping cart.
Bear slowly turns his head, his emerald eyes narrowing into a fierce, lethal glare the second he took in the sight of the three of us.
Mac strolls up to the shelf, completely unfazed. “You need any help with those feminine products, big guy?”
“No.”
“Oh, don’t be so incredibly testy,” Jay scoffs, leaning over the edge of the trolley. “We’re only here because we missed you.”
“Figured,” he mutters, aggressively slamming a box of pads onto the shelf.
I gave him an apologetic look, silently mouthing, ‘I’m so sorry.’
He rolls his eyes at me, his expression perfectly conveying the words: Sure you are, Danny.
“So, are you going to her aunt’s wedding with her or what?” Mac asks casually, pretending to inspect a box of overnight liners.
“No.”
“You do realize that slimy ex-boyfriend of hers is going to be there, right?” Jay chimes in, leaning forward.
“I know,” Bear says, his voice dropping into a dark, dangerous octave. “And I already told him exactly what would happen to him if he even thought about putting a finger on her.”
“My dad is going to be there anyway,” I pipe up, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. “And trust me, he already wants to murder Jason.”
Jay cheers, pumping a pool noodle in the air. “God, I absolutely love Daddy Moore.”
Suddenly, a scrawny floor manager wearing a bright orange vest hesitantly shuffles into the aisle. The poor guy looked like he was genuinely about to vomit from sheer terror. “Uh... B-Bear? Would you... would you please get b-back to w-work?”
Bear didn’t even yell. He just shifts his massive frame, turns around, and let out a low, guttural grunt.
The little manager let out a high-pitched squeak, spun on his heel, and literally sprints in the opposite direction.
Mac burst out laughing, watching the guy disappear around the corner. “Wow, Bear. What on earth did you do to that poor man?”
Bear just gave a careless shrug, turning right back to his pallet of tampons.