Page 27 of More Than I Can Bear

“Only if you like the triple butter flavour,” I said.

“Oh my god, where have you been all my life?” she asked, ducking under my arms and going ferreting around in my cupboards.

Waiting for you, I thought as I watched her search.

Chapter15

Adam

“What the fuck did you do to my bestie?”

Jack drove her finger into my breast bone the moment I opened the front door to let her in. A string of flashes went off as she rushed inside. Not that many, thankfully, because I didn’t have the kind of profile that warranted national news attention, but still. Having photographers camped out beyond our front fence was freaking weird.

“Adam, I swear to god…” she growled, marching inside and then turning to face me. “Is this why she took off like a bat out of hell? Did you…?” She paced back and forth, her lips working but no sound coming out. “Did you…?” She forced herself to stop, eyes wide but when I stepped closer she warded me off like I was a wild animal charging.

And that wasn’t that far from the truth.

“Did you rape Freya?”

“What?” I felt like I’d been king hit, stumbling back. “Fuck, no, never. I could never…” My hands slapped down over my guts, feeling my empty stomach lurch at the thought of it. “I could never abuse Freya like that, ever.”

“That’s what rapists say, right up until they face down a jury,” she said, staring at me flatly. “Men deny it all the time. You know that 97% of men who rape women get away with it, right? Right?”

“No, I didn’t know that and that’s seriously fucked, but—”

“So what did you do?” She walked right up to me, and if she was a bloke I’d assume this was the point where she’d take a swing, but instead she stood toe to toe with me. “What the fuck did you do to my best friend?”

“I…” How did I explain this? How did I make her see that I could never hurt her like that. The idea of forcing… My stomach lurched again, bile flooding my mouth. “I did something I didn’t intend to, something she should have consented to first.”

“You stealthed her?” Jack was like a riled-up cat, her fur fluffing up more by the second.

“What the fuck is…? Shit, you mean pulling off a condom during sex. No. No…”

God, I was tired. I felt a bone deep kind of exhaustion that wouldn’t be alleviated by sleep, only by making things right with my mate.

“Look, I’ve gotta show you something and you need to promise to keep it between us.”

We only shared our shifter status with those we trusted. And I trusted Jack. The woman was like a damn vault most of the time, so I had to hope that would still be true at the end of this. She frowned when my hands went to my shirt, ready to pull it up over my head.

“What’re you doing? If you’re about to show me some kind of STI or something, don’t. I’ll get the team doctor to look at you and then sue your arse for unwittingly putting Freya at risk.”

“I don’t have an STI, Jack. I’d need to have had sex with someonebeforeFreya for that to be possible.”

“You…” She gestured vaguely, finger travelling through the air on an erratic orbit. “You…?” This turned into a flick up and down, taking all of me in. “You…?”

“Come out the back,” I said. “I’ll be able to show you… Let’s just go in the backyard.”

We’d bought this block because it was a huge one by city standards, complete with large trees that provided an impressive canopy. That and the super tall fences gave us the privacy we needed for this. I slid open the back door, the bear stamping his paws in anticipation. He’d let me be in control and, as far as he could see, I’d fucked up everything, so he welcomed the opportunity to take the wheel.

“OK, so we’re outside, now what?”

“Just turn around. You’re not gonna want to see this part.”

Bear shifters in Australia didn’t get much of a chance to take fur. During footy’s off season, we went out to a shack we had in the middle of nowhere and let our beasts run free, and it was always a relief to let the other side of our natures free. But not this time. I heard the clack of Jack’s heels as she spun around and then I worked quickly, pulling off my clothes and sneakers, then letting out a long breath. Just a moment of cool air on overheated skin and then, this.

The bear whuffed, scenting the air and catching a faint trace of Freya on Jack. But it was stale and old and was quickly drowned out by the scent of fear as Jack turned around at the sound and her eyes went wide.

“Adam!” she yelped, looking around wildly, thinking I was somewhere else. “Adam! What the fuck?” She scuttled back, but she was moving too fast too soon, and her heel caught on the paver. Jack slammed down on her butt and gasped, “Oh my fucking god…” She scooted back on her bum, but we were there. We lowered our head, trying to make our massive frame smaller as we nosed forward. The tension leached from her body as she stared, then dared lift a hand. “Adam?”

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