More than an Otter (Shifty Book 5)

by Sara Summers

  “I’m going to head there tomorrow, Sav sent me the address. It’s only an hour from Shifty University, I guess, so that people can see both on one trip if they decide to.” I explained.

  “Alright.” Bree nodded again.

  “That’s pretty much all I know.” I shrugged. “Other than the soulmate thing.”

  “About that…” Grant grimaced. “I don’t know how to run a museum.” He said.

  “You have six months to learn.” Bree smiled.

  “You don’t have to come.” I shook my head, countering Bree’s words to tell him what I had decided while we’d gotten ready for dinner. “I can’t expect you to give up your life for a museum. If you don’t want to come, I’ll convince a human to take your place. We’ll pretend to be soulmates, and no one will know the difference.”

  “Except you.” Bree pointed out.

  “Right.” I nodded.

  Grant hesitated.

  “You don’t have to come.” I promised him. “I won’t be mad, and no one else will know the difference. You’ll be free.” I said.

  “I’ll still know where you are.” He told me, his voice serious. “No matter where I am.”

  “I can’t get rid of that.” I shrugged.

  “You’re soulmates, you have to at least give this a chance.” Bree protested, gesturing between the two of us on her couch.

  “I’ll come for a week or two before I decide if I’ll stay.” Grant finally decided.

  “And if you decide you need extra help, Emma and I can come whenever you want.” Bree offered. “You know my job here sucks.”

  “That would be great.” I smiled, grateful she was up for coming too. “I’ll check it out and then tell you when to come.” I decided.

  And so it was settled.

  Bree took Grant and I back to my parents’ house a little while later. When I realized it was only 6 o’clock, I had no idea what I was going to do all alone with Grant for the next few hours.

  Chapter 8

  When we got back to my parents’ house, I stood in the kitchen awkwardly for a few minutes. Grant was there too, but neither of us said anything.

  “I’m going to go up to my room.” I told him, then hurried up the stairs to get away from my soulmate.

  “This is not what I thought it would be like.” I muttered, grabbing my coloring book and markers from my nightstand.

  As childish as it sounds, I loved to color when I was feeling anxious. Seeing the pictures come to life comforted me somehow. I know it sounds strange, but it’s true. Coloring was relaxing

  I colored in a picture of the beach with the words, “Let it be” written in the sand, reminding myself that it was okay to be frustrated. I was allowed to be confused and hurt and worried by everything that was going on around me; life wasn’t easy.

  “Hey, Kennedy?” Grant knocked on the door, and my pulse skyrocketed.

  “Yeah?” I called back.

  I swear, he was trying to kill me with anxiety. It hadn’t bothered me as much in the past year as it had that one day.

  “Can I come in?” he checked.

  I bit my lip.

  “Sure.” I nodded.

  He opened the door, and I felt my cheeks warm up.

  Grant sat on the floor in front of me, crossing his legs to match mine.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “As okay as I could be, considering the situation.” I looked back down at my coloring book, forcing myself to continue to color and breathe and somehow relax.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” he sounded cautious.

  “No.” I shook my head, still coloring. “Not at all.” Talking about it would only make it worse, because I knew everything he’d say. He didn’t want to run a museum, he didn’t feel ready for me, he wasn’t sure if it was time for us to be together yet. I didn’t want to hear any of that, so I told him no.

  “Can I help you color this?” he checked.

  “What? No.” I looked back up at him, my heart pounding again. I cursed myself for responding so badly. I was in control of my life, not my anxiety.

  “Do you have anxiety?” he frowned.

  My eyes widened. People didn’t usually notice. If he noticed, I must’ve been doing an even worse job controlling it than I thought I was.

  “My mom has it, so I’m used to noticing when she’s anxious.” He hurried to explain.

  I calmed down a little. He wasn’t judging me for it, at least there was that.

  One point toward giving Grant a chance… about fifty points against it.

  “Okay.” I nodded. “Yeah, I do. It’s not usually a problem.” I probably could’ve said that nicer, but it really was his fault. If he would’ve just come two years earlier, or not come at all, or maybe called before coming and told me exactly what time he was getting there…

  You know, there were a lot of ways he could’ve done better. It would only drive me crazy to dwell on them, so I went back to calming myself down.

  “Sorry for making it worse.” He sighed. “This whole thing is a mess. If I had come after you two years ago, everything would be different.” He leaned back against my bed.

  He was dang right it would’ve. For one, it would’ve saved me plenty of mental distress.

  “Yeah.” I agreed. When he frowned, I felt obligated to try to cheer him up. “It could be worse, though.” I suggested. “You could’ve married your high school girlfriend. Then this conversation would really suck.”

  Grant grimaced.

  “You’re right, that would definitely have been worse.”

  I smiled a little. At least he could talk about it, that was another point for him.

  “You can color with this.” I handed him a marker. “But be careful, I’m picky.” I warned.

  “I can handle that.” He said, laying on his stomach so he could get close enough to the paper. “You like art?” Grant checked.

  “Yeah.” I nodded, still coloring in the picture. “Art is real. You can’t lie to a canvas, or a story, or a piece of paper. Art is the most honest thing in the world, and I love it.” I explained, my hand still sliding across the paper.

  “Huh. That’s cool.” Grant nodded. “What’s your favorite kind of art?”

  “Oh, I love paintings.” I smiled. “I love the layers, the blending, the ways that the colors lead people to feel certain emotions. Paintings are so full of symbolism and life.”

  “You’re passionate about them, aren’t you?” Grant wondered.

  “Yeah.” I nodded, the smile lingering on my face. “Do you like art?”

  “I don’t dislike it.” He shrugged, coloring in his side of the page. “I’ve never really been around anything artistic before, especially not during my time in the military.” He explained.

  “Oh.” I grimaced. “You’re not going to get deployed again, are you?” I looked up from the coloring page, bringing up just one of the thoughts that had me anxious. If my soulmate was going to leave for nine months (assuming we decided to be together) I needed to know like, two years early.

  That way, I would at least have time to mentally prepare for it.

  “No.” Grant shook his head. “Sam and I went out and came back together, and we were promised that we wouldn’t have to leave again after everything we saw.”

  “What did you see?” I was suddenly curious, abandoning my coloring page.

  “Nothing you want to know about.” Grant paused for a second, then went back to coloring. “Do you think we should put this color in those shapes?” he checked, pointing to the same star-like shapes he’d been coloring in.

  “Definitely.” I said. “Here, I’ll get the ones on my half of the page. You use this color in these checkered areas.” We swapped markers.

  “Was that a painting I saw in the back of your car yesterday?” Grant spoke up again.

  “Maybe.” My cheeks warmed again.

  “You’re a painter, aren’t you?” Grant looked up, giving me a wry smile.

  “Not
really. I try my best, but I’m not very good at it.” I admitted. “I have to trace something onto the canvas with pencil before I can paint it, so I’m definitely not skilled enough to be called a painter.”

  “If you use paint, I’m calling you a painter.” Grant told me.

  “Just because you call me it doesn’t mean it’s true.” I teased him. “My brothers have called me plenty of names. If what they said was true, I’d probably be dead by now.”

  “Nah, they didn’t mean it.” My soulmate brushed it off. “Are your brothers older than you?”

  “Yep, I’m the youngest.” I nodded, still coloring in stars. “They’re both living in Seattle with their wives and two kids each. What about you? Any siblings?”

  “Just one sister.” Grant nodded. I remembered him telling me about her; she had a kid. “She’s living with my parents again; her mate was a loser. He tried to fight one of the other otters in the pack and was killed.”

  “Oh gosh.” I grimaced. “The same thing happened to my friend, Merla, but she’s an eagle shifter.” I said. “I can’t even imagine that.” I admitted, picking up a new marker to start coloring something else.

  “I just can’t imagine getting mad enough to hit your soulmate.” Grant looked sick. “I mean, you’re supposed to take care of her. Obviously I’m not doing the best, but I could never physically hurt you. Just thinking about it makes me sick.”

  “Thank goodness for that.” I said, handing him a new marker. “Come on, we need to get this picture colored in.”

  Grant and I smiled at each other before going back to coloring, and I realized that he had calmed me down. I’d been anxious when he came into the room, but somehow, talking with him had taken that anxiety away.

  That was nice. Really nice.

  I didn’t let myself think too much about it.

  When we finished coloring, we went downstairs to grab dessert.

  “My parents always have ice cream.” I said, pulling the freezer door open. “Even while I’m at college, it’s always ready.” I grabbed the gallon container that my mom always had just for me. “Grab whichever one you want.” I gestured to the freezer, grabbing bowls and cones from the cupboard.

  I scooped some cookies and cream-flavored ice cream into a bowl for myself, then crumbled a cone on top the way I liked it.

  “You busted the cone.” Grant protested, when he saw me breaking it into pieces.

  “That’s the best way to eat it.” I smiled, handing him the scooper.

  He ignored the bowl, instead piling his cone three times higher than anyone could safely pile an ice cream cone.

  “Wow, you live on the edge.” I said, raising my eyebrows at him.

  “That’s the truth.” Grant nodded, sticking the ice cream back in the freezer.

  We sat on the couch and ate our ice cream, not touching but not as far apart as we had been earlier.

  “What did you think I’d be like, before we met?” I asked him, curious to know. He said he had seen me once before, so I knew he must’ve had some idea as to who I was.

  “I wasn’t sure. You were wearing a dance shirt, so I knew you must be into dancing. I thought that was cool. You were gorgeous, and that was plus.” He shrugged. “I guess I just thought you were an incredible girl who deserved someone a heck of a lot better than I was. That’s why I stayed away.” He explained.

  “Huh.” I nodded, spooning ice cream into my mouth. “Now what do you think?”

  “I think you deserve someone a heck of a lot better than me.” He said, “But I’m going to try to be good enough. If being with you means spending the rest of my life in a museum, I’m starting to think I could get used to looking at paintings all day.”

  “Sure you are.” I shook my head at him.

  “Really.” He grinned. “I never knew that I’d like coloring before, but you’ve already converted me to that and we haven’t even known each other for twelve hours. Think about how much more I’ll learn in the next twelve.”

  “I guess you have a point…” I nodded slowly. “So, how are we going to do this soulmates thing? Some people sleep in the same bed as soon as they meet, some people never sleep in the same bed… what are we doing?”

  “Whatever you’re comfortable with.” Grant told me. “I’m okay with anything.”

  I looked him up and down, trying to determine exactly what I would be comfortable with. It didn’t take long to realize that I would probably be nervous about everything, whether he slept in my bed or on the couch or in a dumpster ten states away. No matter what, I’d have to get over my nerves.

  “We might as well just jump right into it.” I decided.

  “Does that mean you want me in your bed?” Grant checked.

  “I guess it does.” I shrugged.

  The smile that took over his face was contagious, and I couldn’t hold back a smile of my own. Maybe being soulmates with Grant wasn’t going to be as bad as I had expected.

  Having another person in my bed was uncomfortable, but I hoped I’d get used to it. We were supposed to be together for the rest of our lives, after all.

  Chapter 9

  “Ready?” Grant checked.

  I yawned as I climbed into the passenger seat. Grant had volunteered to drive first, and I wouldn’t argue with that. After a long morning of packing up my life, I was ready for a nap.

  Bessie started on the fourth try, shaking as she came to life.

  “I don’t know how far this car will make it.” Grant warned.

  “She’ll be fine.” I leaned my head against the window. “It’s only two hours away.”

  I fell asleep against the window a few minutes into the ride, and didn’t wake up until my phone started ringing.

  “Hello?” I answered it, my voice and eyes bleary from the nap.

  “Hi, honey.” My mom said, in her usual happy voice. “How are you?” she asked.

  “Oh, um,” I looked over at Grant, the unromantic soulmate who I still wasn’t sure I wanted to be with. “fine.” I knew it sounded like a lie, but she would’ve realized something was up eventually anyway. She was my mom, she always knew what was up.

  “What’s going on?” yep, she caught on to my lies.

  “Well…” I looked over at Grant, who had a stony expression on his face. Yeah, things could have definitely been better. “Remember when we talked about my soulmate the other day?” I tried to phrase my words carefully so grant wouldn’t know how frustrated I had been after finding out he didn’t want me.

  “The loser?” My mom checked.

  “That one.” I nodded, looking over at him again. He was still stony, so that was good. “Well, he came to find me the night before last night.” I admitted.

  “What?” she demanded. “I thought he didn’t want you?”

  “Um,” I looked over at him again. Dang it, he looked even stonier than usual. That wasn’t good progress. “well, he didn’t feel good enough for me yet, that’s why he waited to come after me.” I explained.

  “That’s ridiculous.” Mom scoffed into the phone. “There’s no way to not be good enough for the other half of your soul.” She said, like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

  “I know.” I agreed. “How are the Bahamas?” I had to change the subject before she said something that screwed up what little chance Grant and I had to work it out. She was talking loud enough for him to hear everything she said.

  She told me about her vacation as we drove along the highway. We chatted for another ten minutes or so, until Bessie started screaming.

  “What’s going on?” I picked my head up, my focus switching to the car rather than my mom.

  “She’s angry.” Grant shook his head, pulling over to the side of the road. A quick glance at the clock told me we had only been on the road for an hour.

  He got out of the car, lifting the hood to check it out, blocking my view in the process. I slipped outside so I could see what was going on. When I did, I groaned. Under Bessie’s hood, every
thing was black.

  “What happened?” I gaped.

  “The black is just grease and dirt.” Grant rubbed a finger down some part of it and then showed me his blackened finger. “Other than that, there are a lot of things wrong with the car.”

  “She’s been dying for years.” I moaned, leaning against the passenger-side door. “Isn’t there something we can do?”

  “Nothing that will cost less than she’s worth.” He shook his head.

  “Then what are we supposed to do?” I wondered.

  “I guess we’ll have to swim.” Grant shrugged. He didn’t seem as upset by all of this as I was. I’d been driving Bessie since I was 16, so losing her was going to hurt.

  “What about all of this stuff?” I gestured to everything inside Bessie. She was full of everything that had come out of my room.

  “We’ll swim to my dad’s place and grab my truck. I’m from Oregon, so it’s not too far.” He suggested. “When I looked it up before I came after you, the map said it was about six hours away. We’ll swim down and bring my truck back up to get everything; we’ll need a car anyway.” He figured.

  I wasn’t really excited about the plan, but it was really the only thing we could do.

  “Okay.” I nodded.

  We could see water below us. I wasn’t sure if it was the ocean or bay, but the otter part of me would know as soon as I shifted.

  “I’ll text my sister to have her put some clothes out for us.” Grant said. He sent the text, and then we locked our phones inside Bessie for safe keeping.

  “Ready?” Grant offered me his hand to help with the rocky climb down to the water.

  “Ready.” I grimaced, sliding my hand into his.

  We hid the keys under a rock not too far from Bessie on our way down. Other than that, we were pretty much sliding down the sandy-rocky hill.

  It took five minutes to get down, and then we were looking out at the freezing water in front of us.

  “Don’t look.” Grant taunted, yanking his shirt over his head.

  “Right back at ya.” I shot back, pulling off my own clothes.

  He beat me into the water, but we shifted at the same time. The water that had felt chilly to my human feet was plenty warm to my otter ones, and with our fur to protect us, we dove into the water without a second thought.