Page 32 of Snowed In With the Grizzly

Caleb lifts his nose and scents the air. “That smells hella good. Can’t do a lot of hunting in a blizzard.”

“Just go sleep. I’ll speak to you tomorrow,” Jaxton snaps. I can almost feel the anger crackling off his body.

“Got any jerky? I haven’t eaten for almost two days—”

“Don’t give me that crap, Caleb. You’ve always been good at looking out for yourself.”

“It’s okay,” I say quietly. “If you’re worried about me—it’s fine.”

Jaxton slams the door in his brother’s face. The moment his eyes meet mine, they turn soft, all frustration gone from them. “Rowan, this is your special evening. I want everything to be perfect. You don’t know my brother. He pulls this kind of shit all the time.”

“It is perfect,” I tell him. “Just being here with you is enough. And I can only eat half my steak. He’s welcome to the other half.”

Jaxton looks from me, to my plate and back again, growling and muttering to himself. “You’re too kind, you know that?” He darts forward and plants a kiss on my forehead. “Just one of the things I love about you.”

Love—?

The word bounces around my head as he turns back to the door and heaves it open.

Did he really mean that? Things have happened so fast between Jaxton and me, but I love him, too. With all my heart. I feel like I’ve always loved him.

But should I tell him, before I have to walk out of his life forever?

Caleb doesn’t wait to be invited in. He bursts through the door, shaking the snow off himself.

“Don’t make a mess in here!” Jaxton bellows. “This isn’t one of your flea-infested dives!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Caleb tries to wipe the snow onto the mat more discreetly.

I giggle. There’s something endearing about Jaxton’s weary acceptance of his brother. Right away, I understand that Caleb is the younger brother, and Jaxton the responsible elder.

Caleb grabs a chair from the side of the room and drags it up to the table. Jaxton waits until he’s more presentable before he introduces us.

“Rowan, this is my reprobate brother, Caleb. Caleb, this is…” He hesitates and my heart pounds. How is he planning to describe me?

“Your beautiful mate, of course,” Caleb butts in.

While I’m still staring at him in amazement, he lifts my hand to his lips. “Very glad to make your acquaintance, Rowan.”

Then he turns to Jaxton, with a flicker of hurt in his eyes. “Things happened fast, huh?”

Jaxton shakes his head and takes my other hand. “Nope. I found Rowan many years ago. I’ve just been waiting until I could be a worthy mate for her.”

Caleb’s eyes light up. “Sounds like a hell of a story.”

I leap to my feet to grab a plate. My heart’s beating so hard.The way Jaxton’s talking… I feel like I’m in a parallel universe where the clock’s not ticking, and our future is stretching ahead of us…

“Here you go.” I put half my steak on Caleb’s plate and add a big helping of potatoes.

He digs in right away, munching like a beast, while asking a ton of questions and waving his arms around.

“This man”—Caleb drops his silverware with a clatter and grabs Jaxton’s arm—“is the best guy in the whole damn world. If you knew how we were raised…” he puffs his cheeks out. “I’ve been a beast all my life. A loser. But he’s been in the military. He was their senior engineer. Decorated and shit. Now he makes a ton of money, without even having to leave his little mountain retreat—”

Jaxton tries to shush him up, but Caleb waves him off, shoves another piece of steak in his mouth. “And I’ve been a pain in his ass his whole life, let him down a bunch of times. But he’s always got time for me. You won’t find a better mate out there.”

Jaxton clears his throat. “Enough of the sales pitch, Caleb.” He looks so adorably embarrassed, my stomach tingles with love for him.

Caleb shrugs. “S’all true. Guess what I’m trying to say isthank you. Thank you for being an amazing brother. And thank you to you, Rowan, for so generously sacrificing your romantic evening for my uncivilized ass. You’re an awesome person, and Jaxton is lucky to have you.

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