Page 49 of Cowboy Bear's Hope

“Oh my God! Avery, I am so happy for you,” Jezebel said first, and I gladly accepted her hug.

She was a really special woman, and the truth was, aside from Penny, I hadn’t known a lot of them.

But Jez was one of a kind, and having a second best friend was a gift I wouldn’t take for granted.

“Thank you,” I told her sincerely.

“What about you, pretty Penny? Aren’t you happy for me?” I asked my suddenly quiet bestie.

I waited for her to look at me, a little confused, and more than a little hurt by her reaction.

But the vibes she was giving weren’t happy ones. In fact, she was frowning. Hard.

“Oh Av, I mean, of course, I’m happy for you. But it’s just, you always act like the person you’re about to date is going to be the love of your life. Ahem, Mark,” she said and made a face like duh before continuing, “Avery, you pick them, then you run when it gets serious or when he has an annoying quality?—”

“Cheating on your taxes isn’t an annoying quality, Penny. It’s criminal behavior. And Rosie hated Mark. She puked on him!”

But Penny was on a roll, apparently. Drumming up my disastrous dates like they were some sort of proof I was a flake and couldn’t be serious about Dante—and the hits just kept on coming.

“Plus, you never act like you like Dante. And well, mating is for life. I don’t think you get it. If you leave him,” she whispered, leaving the last bit unsaid.

“What are you talking about? I do not act like every date is my potential forever, Penny. And I haven’t been on that many,” I argued.

“I know that, Av. I just mean you can’t dump him like you normally would?—”

“Why would I do that? What are you even saying? That I’m not good enough for him?” I asked.

It was true, in the last couple of years I’d tried dating again. But it was only a few times. I wasn’t flippant about men or my feelings, for fuck’s sake.

“No! I didn’t say that. I know you’re not flippant,” Penny started, and dammit, I realized I’d said all that aloud.

“You know what? I gotta go,” I said, shaking with emotion.

“Avery, wait! I just want to make sure you understand how serious this is. Shifters can die without their mates. You can’t just throw him aside when you get scared,” she said, and I hated that even a part of that made sense to me.

“For your information, Dante and I spoke at length about what it means to be mates. I’m sorry if you don’t think I’m good enough for him, or that I’m too emotionally immature to understand, but what you think doesn’t matter because he disagrees with you,” I told her, ignoring the metaphorical knife she just stuck in my back.

“Rosie? Rosie, get your coat on, Sweetheart. Say bye to Aunt Penny and Aunt Jezebel. We have to go,” I called out.

Standing up quickly, I walked away from Penny and Jezebel. I ignored the sound of my name coming from the two women and found Rosie standing by Mrs. O’Hare plating up the cookies they’d just baked.

It smelled great, but I was in no mood. Shock and anger mixed with grief and sadness, but I had to keep it together for Rosie.

“Wow! You two were busy!” I said with false gaiety.

Rosie narrowed her eyes, and she nodded towards the cookies.

“Mama? Are you okay?”

“Yep. I’m fine.”

“The cookies are ready. Want one?”

“Not yet, Baby. Get your stuff,” I told her.

“Think Danny will want some?” Rosie asked, smiling at the mention of his name.

I was glad she was chatting about cookies. That meant she hadn’t heard me argue with Penny. That was something, at least.

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