Page 40 of Wild Card

Bear leans out the doorway, whistling for Shera, and my chest gets all warm and fuzzy.

He’s so freaking sexy.

Bear stops by his room for a change of clothes for both of us. He comes back into the hallway and guides us down to the end and into a room that’s not his. The massive space holds a larger than king-size bed. Multiple dressers line the walls, and there’s a hallway on the right.

Bear flips on the light, and everything becomes easier to make out.

The bed has a giant grayish-brown headboard, a dark gray comforter with a baby-blue knit blanket tossed over the bottom, and a mountain of pillows.

“We completely replaced the bed. Not only the mattress, but also the frame.” Bear steps up behind me. “The nest was professionally redone as a gift from my family pack upon moving out.”

“It’s incredible,” I tell him truthfully.

My family had six people in a three-bedroom house. This room has to be two or three times larger than the room my parents shared while I was growing up.

I considered it lucky that Brooklyn and I had our own rooms.

Bear wraps his hand in mine and tugs me toward the hallway while I’m still lost in thought.

It’s hard to think about Brook. I miss her and Liberty a lot, but I guess that’s part of growing up. Everyone moves on and starts their own families.

I’m not really sure how I feel about children.

Libby is a great kid. She also rises with the sun every damn morning and doesn’t come with a quiet setting.

I’m pretty sure that’s all kids, though.

“The nest is the last door on the left.” Bear comes to a stop near the front of the hallway. “The right side is exclusively closets. This door is the bathroom. It connects directly to the nest, which is nice.” He clears his throat, scratching his beard as he watches me with a look I can’t decipher.

“That sounds amazing.” I give him a sincere smile. “Can I see it?”

He nods. “I thought we could shower together, if you’re up for it?”

My eyes meet his. “Yeah, absolutely.”

Bear towers over me as the sound of the water running in the shower fills the air. His blondish-brown hair falls around his face as he bends down, prying his jacket out of my hold.

Wow.

Who knows where I lost my chill, but it sure disappeared somewhere around the time we stepped into this killer bathroom.

My gaze darts around, taking everything in.

Yep, it’s still spectacularly nice.

The fanciest bathroom I’ve ever considered getting naked in.

There’s a four-person tub across from the luxurious glass shower that takes up as much space as the entire bathroom Brooklyn and I shared growing up. The expensive stone countertops match the large gray tiles that make up the back of the shower.

The kitchen was seriously glamorous, too, when we walked through.

I’m starting to wonder how much a house like this costs because I’m pretty sure Rush and Bear are out of my league.

My face heats.

I barely graduated high school. There were definitely no scholarships waiting to entice me to universities all across the country.

My sister was always going to escape backwoods North Carolina. The only reason I did was because I glommed on to her and held on with both hands.

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