Chapter Eight
Aldrin
She was here. Our mate. One day, we were considering an app, and less than a week later, she was here.
Whoever owned the technology that we used to video chat her needed to reprogram that shit or something because she was three times as beautiful in person.
I could scarcely speak. My throat went dry. My words jumbled in my head. I was a mess.
And I was never a mess.
I took her backpack from her and hugged her, hoping the warmth from her presence helped me find the words. It did. “It’s so nice to meet you in person, Posy.”
“It is nice.”
Saber and Judah took turns hugging her, and whatever awkwardness we had soon fled.
“We decided to take a bus from the airport to the national park. You’ll get some good views of the landscape before we get there. Are you hungry? Need to use the restroom? Now’s the time before we get on the road.”
Traveling and especially camping with a female would be a new thing for us. We didn’t require a lot. A campfire and something to eat at night. A tent on occasion. We could pee anywhere we wanted to.
Those things might not be okay with Posy. We had to figure out her boundaries.
We’d never taken anyone with us before except some friends, and they were males.
“That sounds good. And yes, I’m going to use the restroom, but I’m not hungry. The turbulence toward the end of the flight made me kind of queasy.”
While she was in the restroom, Saber darted to the closest vendor and picked up a can of ginger ale. When she came back, she blushed at his gesture.
“Thank you, Saber. I’m ready if you are.”
She sat next to Judah and, while we rode, he pointed out things and made her laugh. I laid my head back and listened to every word she said.
My bear wanted her. Immediately recognized her as his mate.
“What do you think?” Saber asked, elbowing me.
“I think she’s perfect.”
He let out a breath. “Oh, good. Me too.”
When we arrived at the entrance to the national park, Posy took her bag back, and one of the rangers shuttled us out to our campsite.
“This is where we’re staying?” She appeared confused. Shit. Had she expected a cabin? A resort? A lodge? She watched our videos. We didn’t always stay in the best places. In fact, we rarely did.
We once spent a whole trip to the UK couch-surfing.
“Yeah. We’re staying in the big tent, and we rented the trailer for you. We thought you’d want your privacy.”
She looked disappointed to me. Of course, we hadn’t known her long enough to actually know that but I suspected. “Privacy. Yeah, I get it. Thank you.”
“We’re going to set up our camp area a bit, and tonight, we’ll get a fire going. Did you want to rest until then?”
“Maybe I could help gather some firewood or help with the tent?”
Saber spoke up. “We’ve got it, Posy. But if you’d like to help me with firewood, that would be great. There are also…”
She looked conflicted. Gorgeous and perfect but conflicted.
Had she expected something else? Was her trailer not good enough?
Maybe she saw our views and thought we lived differently?
“You know what? I think I will take that rest. It’s been a long day.
” She went into the trailer, and I had a sinking feeling we had done something wrong.