Page 68 of Trusting Her Bear

He snorts. “I won’t argue with the good person label. If she loved us, she wouldn’t have left. If she loved us, she would have come back. We lived in the same place. It would have taken me a lot of effort to find her.” His hands stop. “I wanted to believe,” he whispers.

“You don’t want to look now?”

He places my legs gently on the floor and crawls over them. “Right or wrong, if she wanted to be found, she would have reached out.” He lays beside me and pulls the blankets over us.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how to comfort you or say the right words.”

He slides his arm over my stomach and pulls until my shoulder hits his chest. “You just did. You saying that is enough comfort.” He kisses my lips. “Thank you.”

“For the record, I will always believe you.”

“Fuck,” he whispers and drops his face to my head. “I don’t deserve you.”

“I don’t believe that. We are in this together. You can ask me the question as much as you want, and I will always answer yes. Even though I know now it comes from a not-so-great memory, it makes me feel as if you are checking in with me, making sure I understand the point you are making.” I wrap my fingers around his arm.

“That was what he was doing,” he whispers. “He wanted me to believe him, to hope.”

“Maybe there is still hope,” I say, turning to snuggle close, my lips kissing his chest.

“I don’t think so.”

It’s sad, but he is probably right. Why would a mom leave? Would it be too late if she came back now?

I close my eyes and concentrate on his hand caressing my back. My mate hides so many things inside. I can relate, but I want to be his safe spot. I want to be someone he can always depend on. Someone he can always believe. I am learning that my past doesn’t define my future. What I went through doesn’t make me weak.

Quinn has helped me see that.

Every minute, I am falling for him. Deeper and deeper. I am beginning to realize I don’t want to fight the fall.

“No,” Quinn growls, and five sets of wide eyes stare at him.

I woke up just as I fell asleep, naked and pressed against my yummy mate. I don’t remember the last time I went to bed naked. We slept until nearly noon, but he made me breakfast, and we both took a shower separately, much to my disappointment. Luckily, he keeps extra clothes in his car. We had just gotten done when we heard Breeane downstairs. She brought Sally, Gabby, and Marie with her.

Marie innocently asked if I wanted to have a night out with the girls, but Quinn didn’t like the suggestion.

“It’s tradition,” Marie says.

“All of you are aware there is an asshole out there just waiting for Steph to be alone or without me,” he says sternly.

“Bash said he would come,” Marie says.

“Do you remember what happened the last time you went out? Wasn’t Bash with you then?” He continues to make valid points.

It’s kind of annoying.

Not that I don’t want to be with him, but I haven’t had any time with my sister or Breeane. The other girls seem interesting and nice, too.

Breeane told me about her night out with the girls; it ended with her having a swollen cheek and all the ladies' mates not happy with them.

“We weren’t in any danger,” Marie says.

“Didn’t Breeane get hurt?” Quinn says, lifting a brow.

“Not really,” Breeane chimes in. “She was human.” A human threw the first punch.

“It was hilarious,” Sally says. “I’ll have to show you the video.”

“You have a video?” Gabby asks.

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