Page 15 of Riding With the Grizzly

"Touché. Alright, come on. I'll give you a short tour. I'm guessing that you don't really need it. You could probably show me around," he jokes and I smile.

“Probably.”

We head into the front room and I take in the more modern furniture.

“Living room,” Jude says, reaching back and taking my hand as he leads me back toward the kitchen. “There’s a half bath here.”

I nod, peeking into the small bathroom. I remember cleaning that room for most of my high school years. I usually handled the bottom of the house, while Astrid did the upstairs.

“Here’s the kitchen,” he says and I take in the gleaming appliances.

“Looks like I remember,” I tell him. “Although, a little more modern.”

“Come on, I’ll show you to your room. I’m sure you must be tired. Do you want me to run you a bath or anything? Or are you hungry?”

“I’m fine. Just tired.”

He nods, squeezing my hand as we head back toward the staircase. He drops my hand and then grabs my bags.

“I can take one,” I say and he shakes his head.

“I’ve got them.”

I follow him upstairs and down the hallway. We pass one bedroom, then two. There’s a bathroom in between them and we walk past all of it to the bedroom next to the master.

“How’s this one?” Jude asks and I look inside.

It looks like the other rooms that we passed with a queen-sized bed, dresser, nightstands, and not much else.

“Sure, it’s fine.”

He puts my bags in and I pause.

“Why this room and not one of the others?” I ask him as he steps out of the room.

“Because it’s the closest to me. I would have put you in the master bedroom if I thought that you would have gone for that,” he says with a smirk.

“I wouldn’t have,” I tell him and he nods.

“I know.”

“Not yet anyway,” I whisper before I step into the bedroom and close the door in his surprised face.

I smile to myself as I unzip my bag and start to get settled.

CHAPTER SEVEN

NARA

“One large iced caramel latte with extra whipped cream!” the barista calls out. I grab my drink from the end of the counter and join Astrid at our favorite table next to the window.

“Girl, tell me everything. It’s been two days since you left home. Why didn’t you call me the second you ran? Where did you go?”

I blink a few times, taking in my friend’s rapid-fire questioning.

“Remember the guys who helped guide us out of the MC rumble happening outside a few days ago?” Astrid blushes and nods. Interesting. I’ll have to circle back to that later. “Well…” I inhale and blow out a breath, trying to decide how much I’m allowed to tell her. “I really connected with Jude, the man who found me and led me safely back to the car.”

“Okay…” Astrid says, not making the connection.

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