Page 2 of Ours

He shot a glance at the locker room door then back at blonde. “What’s the little redhead’s name?

The blonde frowned, turned to the door, shrugged, and answered, “Good luck. Don’t let Sandy hear you call her little redhead.”

Zack watched the blonde follow Sandy, his mate, into the locker room.

After looking at his brothers, who were still fighting, he went to find his best friend and cousin Jake and get ready for the class. Something that had started out as a favor, had turned out to be one of the best decisions he’d ever made. With a grin on his face, he looked forward to the evening ahead.

****

Jake watched the women file in and gave an inward moan at half the bunch. Some were taking this seriously, dressing in track pants and singlet tops or workout clothes. The other half… Jake shook his head as he watched the other half, who wore jeans or corduroy pants, and a couple were in short shorts. He could tell straight away the ones who were going to take what he said in. The other half were only here to flirt with him and Zack. The Bear family men were a hot commodity.

Looking over at Zack, Jake noticed that his gaze never left a petite redhead. At first, Jake thought she was a teenager, but when he focused on her, he could see she was in her early twenties. She was a cute shapely little thing, who at the moment was staring at him with wide eyes.

Jake froze when two women grabbed his arm to get his attention. He shot a glare at the two, only to stop when he realized what he was doing. Not only that, without realizing it, he’d been walking toward the redhead. Who was this woman?

Smiling down at the two ladies, he checked his watch and noticed it was 6:35. He was five minutes late starting. Nodding to Zack, he stepped away from the girls who held onto him and yelled, “Hello, ladies, and welcome to self-defense class. Today is the only day I will start at this time. From next week on, if you’re not here by six thirty, then you will not be let in.” He watched as the women nodded and some groaned. “My name, for those who don’t know me, is Jake Bear, and the other instructor is Zack Bear. For the next eight weeks, you will learn everything you can do if you are attacked and need to defend yourself.”

****

The half-hour class was coming to an end, and Jake was going around to check on the women’s progress. At the moment, Zack was dealing with two of the short shorts women fawning all over him. He watched the groups he’d paired off practice, pausing to help position them better or show them a move up close.

Jake moved closer to his cousin’s woman, and his bear started to stir inside him, taking deep breaths in, like he smelled a pot of honey.

Jake focused to control his bear and was startled when his watch went off to tell him time was up. Heading back to the front of the room, he boomed out, “Attention. Everyone come back. Before you go, I’m going to test four of you.”

He pointed to a blonde in the front row, another blonde in the back row, and then a brunette in the middle. Jake searched around for his last victim, only to notice the little redhead sneaking to the door and slowly opening it. “The last lovely lady that will get to demonstrate what she has learned tonight is…the little redhead trying to sneak out the door.” He grinned as he watched the woman in question freeze, turn slowly around, and glare at him.

“I’m sure there are plenty of eager women in here willing to show you how well they have been taught. I’m just not one of them.” She looked around the room, coming to a stop on another redhead. “What about that pretty redhead over there with the shortest shorts I have seen, or in front, the woman with black skintight jeans?” She pointed to each of these women as she babbled on.

Jake saw Zack had moved towards her and was only a row away.

“I’m sure I will get a chance for those women to demonstrate another time, but today I have chosen you.”

He bit his tongue to stop the chuckle as she groaned, stomped her foot, and turned a death stare at Zack, who now stood next to her.

Jake smiled as she marched towards him mumbling. “Fine, I’ll show you what I learned. Then you can shove your ‘little redhead’ comment up your arse.” He’d never thought someone being so rude, could look so adorable and sexy at the same time.

Zack followed behind her and coughed to cover his laugh. Once she joined the other girls reluctantly, he started, leaving her to last.

After going through the other three women very easily, showing them better ways and answering questions, it was his little redhead’s turn. He paused at that thought, as he watched her storm up to him with a sweet grin on her face. He knew that grin from his sisters and cousins. That was the grin all men should be terrified of, but on her it just made him look forward to the lesson she was about to learn.

His bear growled, and his heart beat faster in shock when she got closer and her smell hit him. Now that she was away from all the other smells of sweat or perfume-covered females, her true fragrance was more pronounced. Honey and strawberries smothered his senses, telling him that she was special.

Her smile grew the closer she got, and he looked down into sparking eyes that seemed to hold all the secrets he searched for. A growl slipped from him when Zack come up beside him and patted him on the back.

“I’ll take this, cous’.”

“No, this should be fun.” Jake forgot about everyone else in the room and focused on the woman in front of him, who he now knew was his mate. “Turn around and walk away from me.”

He watched her spin and slowly walk away. Coming up behind her, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into his body. She stomped on his foot and elbowed his stomach with surprising force.

Grunting, Jake moved back a step but still held her as he spun her around and gathered her body to his. She gave a whine of frustration, brought her knee up, and hit her target. He groaned and let her go.

She winced. “I shouldn’t have done that, but no one calls me a little redhead.”

Not caring where he was any more, he grabbed her and lost his balance. They slid to the floor in a tangle.

A frustrated squeal left her as she landed on top of him. She whacked his chest. “You idiot, I said I was sorry.”

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