Double Bear Trouble: Werebear BBW Menage Romance (Hockey Bear Season Book 1)

by Anya Nowlan

  And what did she really expect from them, seeing her for the first time after sharing a bed? They had never been shy with their words. Both of them had basically propositioned her right when they first met, yet she expected them to suddenly be all prim and proper?

  Her little pity-party was cut short when her phone rang, her boss’ name flashing on the screen. Putting on her best sick voice, she answered, just in case there was some kind of emergency to handle. Nothing short of that was going to get her out of the house today, not when she had ice cream in the freezer and a bottle of wine ready to go.

  “Yes?” she answered the phone, trying to sound weak and nasally.

  “Sorry to bother you when you’re sick, but I thought you’d want to know the Shovelers are announcing their roster tomorrow. I’ll shoot you an e-mail as soon as I know something. If you’re feeling better then, you can give the news to your clients yourself.”

  “Yeah, sure. Thank you for letting me know,” Chloe replied, feeling her head starting to spin at the idea of facing Dominic and Dante again. “I’m sure it will be good news,” she added, genuinely excited for her boys.

  No one deserves those spots more than them, she thought, pride mixed with a twinge of sadness.

  “Okay, get better soon,” Janice said, getting ready to hang up.

  “Wait,” Chloe interjected, her mouth working faster than her brain.

  There was something she wanted to ask Janice about, but she wasn’t sure if she should and if Janice would even know the answer. It had been burning a hole in her head for a while now. Her curiosity made her open her mouth, and she had to say something.

  “I was looking through some old files, and I wondered whatever happened to Katherine Fields,” she said, stumbling over her words slightly.

  “Katherine? Why do you ask?”

  “Oh uh… Just curious.”

  Chloe scrunched up her face, fully aware of how weird she was sounding. There was a moment of quiet from the other side of the line before Janice answered.

  “As far as I remember she left the company a little after she got married. Last I heard she had a kid on the way.”

  Well, there goes my excellent, totally unproven, Solomon-endorsed theory of Dante and Dominic plowing their way through female agents.

  “Thank you, Janice,” she said before hanging up.

  If she had thought she felt bad before, she felt downright terrible now. And through it all, Dominic’s words kept ringing in her head.

  You’re the one that’s not ready to change, not us.

  Thirty-Four

  Dominic

  The smell of bacon woke Dominic up. Stretching out his limbs, he noticed he definitely wasn’t in his own bed. His suit crumpled up on the floor, he had fallen asleep on Dante’s couch, instead.

  Yawning, he got on his feet and strolled over to the kitchen, finding Dante at the stove looking as sullen as ever. He wasn’t exactly in a good mood, either, but Dante seemed downright hopeless.

  “Morning, brother,” Dominic murmured, sitting down at the breakfast counter.

  Dante just grunted something in response before sliding a plate of bacon and eggs his way. Dominic ate it in silence, thinking about what their next move should be. Chloe made her feelings pretty clear last night, but Dominic wasn’t about to throw in the towel.

  What they had together was too special to let it slip away so easily. He didn’t know what had gotten into Chloe, but he was damn sure going to figure it out. A shifter wasn’t guaranteed to find his soul mate, which meant if you were lucky enough to stumble upon your perfect partner, you had better be grateful and hold on tight.

  Like Chloe had hinted at, Dominic didn’t have a reputation for being the committing type. Now he realized, it was just because he hadn’t found the right woman. Who could blame him for having some fun until she came along?

  Chloe could, apparently, he thought, chowing down on his last piece of bacon.

  “What are we going to do now?” he asked, eyeing Dante.

  His brother didn’t look like he’d gotten much sleep.

  “What do you mean?”

  “About Chloe?” Dominic specified with a sigh. “She’s obviously suffering from temporary insanity.”

  “You’re really going to make excuses for her?” Dante scoffed. “The way she talked to us, she’s obviously made up her mind about us. I should have known her affection wouldn’t last past Shifter Grove.”

  Dominic frowned. Dante had always been way too eager to tumble into despair.

  “I’m not making excuses. I’m mad as hell, and I can’t get the image of her walking away with Trent and Tyler of all people out of my head. But we can’t just walk away.”

  Dante threw up his hands in frustration. He looked about ready to start ranting and raving about how they were better off without a mate, anyway. Dominic knew his brother well, and he knew whatever he might say, he felt as strongly about Chloe as Dominic did. He would be too proud to admit it now, though.

  “She walked away just fine,” Dante snapped, busying himself with doing the dishes.

  “I get that you’re angry, but I think she got scared. This whole triad thing isn’t new to us like it is to her. We expected her to freak out, remember? Not to mention, dad’s going to kick our asses when we show up to the next family dinner without her. That’s reason enough to try and fix this,” Dominic joked, hoping to pull his brother out of the dumps for at least a second.

  “She’s really got us wrapped around her finger, hasn’t she?” Dante sighed, drying his hands.

  “She sure has,” Dominic grinned. “And it’s only a matter of time that she realizes what a mistake she’s made. I mean, I’m a total catch, and you’re alright, I guess. She’s smart enough to recognize that.”

  “Even if she does, you think she’ll get over the other stuff? I don’t want our relationship to be some dirty little secret. If she’s going to be ours, I want the world to know.”

  “I hear you on that.”

  It didn’t escape Dominic’s attention that not that long ago, he would have been horrified at a girl leaving her toothbrush at his place. Now all he wanted was to claim Chloe and never let her out of his sight, toothbrush and all. He briefly wondered if his brain was turning into mush or something, but decided that even if that were the case, he didn’t care.

  At least I’ll go to my grave with a smile on my face.

  “Hello? And what are you grinning about?” Dante asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

  “Just thinking about how great the make-up sex is going to be,” Dominic winked.

  “You are too optimistic for your own good,” Dante rolled his eyes. “What if you’re wrong? What if she never wants to see us again?”

  “Come on. You saw her last night. Before she went off on us like a firecracker on the Fourth of July, she was looking at us like she wanted to jump into our arms right then and there. She lashed out because she’s terrified of losing control. All we have to do is give her time to stare down the fact she can’t live without us, and she’ll come running.”

  Dominic put on a face that said he believed every word he was saying. While that was mostly true, he couldn’t help but have some doubt creep in. Chloe had been angrier than he’d ever seen her. And since both he and Dante had been a pain in the ass for her from the moment they met, that was saying a lot.

  So while the confident, self-assured side of him, which was very well-developed, told him she’d realize her mistake and everything would work out fine, there was a small part of him that wasn’t so sure.

  Chloe was definitely headstrong, and unwavering once she put her mind to something, seeing that she had risen to agent in record time. While those were admirable qualities, they did cause him to worry.

  What if she’s too stubborn to admit she’s wrong about us?

  Dominic Kenner wasn’t afraid of anything, but even he had to admit, the thought scared him a little. After last night, though, it was clear Chloe needed some
time to work things out for herself. He had to step back and let her do that, even if staying away from her killed him.

  Nothing left to do but wait, and hope she doesn’t throw everything we have away. For the sake of all our sanity, she better come to her senses soon.

  Thirty-Five

  Chloe

  Amy had rushed over as soon as she had caught wind that Chloe had taken a sick day, and was now sitting next to her on the couch, eyeing her with a worried look.

  “You never miss work. Did you see them last night? What happened? And let me just remind you I told you the whole ‘I need space’ thing was a bad idea. If I were you, I’d be getting as close to those men as humanly and physically possible.”

  “Yes, you have said that many times,” Chloe replied wryly.

  “Doesn’t make it any less true, dude. Now let’s hear it.”

  Chloe scrunched her face up, not entirely looking forward to the conversation she was evidently going to participate in.

  “I might have accused them of using me for sex and not caring about my career. I basically said they don’t trust me and that I don’t believe they’ve changed their playboy ways.”

  It all sounded a lot worse said out loud like that. Last night, the words had sort of just tumbled out in the heat of the moment. Now, she had way too much time to analyze every syllable.

  From the way Amy was looking at her, she was in even more trouble than she’d thought.

  “That’s pretty harsh,” Amy said, letting out a low whistle. “Do you really believe all that?”

  “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t,” Chloe replied, pulling her legs onto the couch they were sitting on.

  She had definitely believed it when she had said it, right? A tiger doesn’t change its stripes and all that. The same had to go for bears.

  “So it had nothing to do with you being afraid to put your heart out there and not trusting people?” Amy questioned, staring at her pointedly. “Or the fact that you’re scared you’ll end up like your mom, wasting your best years on a man who doesn’t give a shit about you?”

  “Now who’s harsh?” Chloe muttered, bundling herself up in her robe a little tighter.

  Hearing it all said out loud, she realized Amy was only voicing the thoughts she’d pushed into the back of her mind. And Amy knew her better than anyone, even better than she knew herself sometimes. The feeling that she’d made a terrible mistake started to creep in, wiggling its way under her skin.

  “And how do you feel about what you did now, Miss I-went-to-work-with-pneumonia-once? Pretty bad if you’re sitting here, still in your pajamas,” Amy remarked, clearly not letting her off the hook just yet.

  “I feel like crap,” Chloe sighed. “It could be the flu. But it doesn’t matter, anyway. Even if I overreacted, even if they really do want a real relationship with me, I can’t do that. I mean, a triad or whatever they called it? Not exactly a conventional arrangement.”

  “Chloe, how do you always manage to fixate on the irrelevant?” Amy sighed, shaking her head. “The only thing you should be thinking about right now is, do these men make you happy? And will you ever feel the way you feel about them ever again? Those are the things that matter, not if some prudes will clutch their pearls at you banging two men at once.”

  “Amy,” Chloe whispered, feeling herself blush.

  “Oh, come on. You’ve been double-teamed by a couple of professional athletes. Now is not the time to get all virginal on me.”

  Amy cocked a brow at her and Chloe could feel herself getting redder in the face by the minute.

  “You’ve always thrown yourself into your work, now I want you to think about what you want out of life. Sure, your career is important. But how much are you really going to enjoy this promotion of yours when you’re coming home to an empty bed, pining for those two beefcakes?”

  “First, of all, beefcakes, really? And second of all… I think you might be right.”

  “You know I am,” Amy huffed, masking her obvious surprise at Chloe’s admission easily enough.

  The realization hit Chloe like a ton of bricks. Amy wasn’t one to pull any punches, and that’s exactly what she needed right now. The truth was, she had never been happier than with those two jerks, sharing that house in Shifter Grove. Being with them felt exciting and safe at the same time. Looking back on everything, she felt sure they had actually opened up to her, let her in.

  And the moment we got back, I started pushing them away…

  If she was brutally honest with herself, she could see what everyone else had already figured out – she was scared. She’d let that fear overwhelm her, to the point she had grabbed onto anything that justified pulling back from the brothers.

  “I already know I’m right,” Amy continued. “The question is, now that you’ve figured that out, what are you going to do about it?”

  “I really screwed up, Amy,” Chloe admitted, feeling her heart start to hammer in her chest. “They’re never going to want to see my face again.”

  “So you’re going to be afraid again?”

  “No,” Chloe replied, the words rushing out as she straightened up in her seat.

  There was no way she was going to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. This time, she was going to push her fear of getting hurt aside. She would never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try and make this right.

  “Then what are you waiting for?” Amy grinned, raising a brow at her.

  Her body buzzing with newfound determination and hope, Chloe hopped off the couch, grabbed her keys and phone, and headed to the door. Suddenly, she felt there wasn’t a moment to lose. She had to win her boys back, and it was now or never.

  “Good talk,” Amy called out after her as she rushed outside. “I’m going to drink this wine now!”

  Okay, now what? Chloe thought, nervously jiggling her foot inside her car.

  The company had the brothers’ addresses on file, and she’d gone for Dante’s house first, because it was closer. Now, she was sitting outside his driveway, her stomach doing somersaults.

  I didn’t really think this through…

  Even if she got through to Dante, there was still Dominic to worry about. What if one of them forgave her and the other didn’t? That wasn’t going to work. She cared for them both, her heart would never be complete without them. Not to mention it would probably tear the twins’ relationship apart.

  But having gotten so far, she wasn’t going to give up now. She had resolved not to let fear make decisions for her, and she was going to get out of this car, damnit! Taking a deep breath, she stepped outside, the crisp air reminding her that in her hurry, she hadn’t even grabbed her coat.

  That was just another irrelevant detail. What mattered was that she was here, ready to admit what an idiot she’d been, and hoping she hadn’t ruined things with the twins forever. What she was about to do could very well cost her her job, but she didn’t care anymore. She was going to make the brothers believe they were what was most important to her, no matter what.

  Here goes nothing.

  Thirty-Six

  Dante

  Dominic was stuffing his face with Dante’s food in the kitchen, as he was wont to do, while Dante lounged around in the living room, feeling more bitter with every passing minute. He tried not to think about Chloe, but that was about as easy as nailing Jell-O to the wall.

  Both the brothers perked up as the doorbell rang, with Dominic throwing him a curious glance.

  “You expecting someone?” Dominic asked, already moving towards the door.

  “No,” he replied, brow furrowing. “Hey, this is my house,” he added, getting on his feet and rushing to walk past Dominic.

  His brother just rolled his eyes and stood off to the side while Dante opened the door. For a moment, he thought he might be hallucinating, seeing what he wanted to see. But then, in his dreams, Chloe wouldn’t show up on his doorstep wearing plaid pajamas, a robe, and nothing but bunny slippers on he
r feet.

  She looked herself up and down at his puzzled gaze, giving him an awkward smile.

  “I was kind of in a hurry to get here,” she said apologetically, in way of a greeting. “I have something to say to you. And to Dominic. But I guess I’ll start with you.”

  “I’m here!” Dominic called.

  Dante looked over to Dominic, who was standing just behind the door and wagging his eyebrows at him.

  “Told you,” he mouthed at him.

  “You can start with the both of us,” Dante sighed, reaching out and grabbing his brother, dragging him into view.

  “Hello,” Dominic said with a little wave, acting like he knew she was going to show up all along.

  “Oh. You’re both here. That’s great,” Chloe said, keeping the smile on her face even as she gulped at the sight of them together. “Not terrifying at all,” she added under her breath.

  “What did you want to say to us?” Dante asked, staying a lot more neutral than his brother, who was barely suppressing his grin.

  While he hoped Chloe was here to finally admit to her feelings and offer an explanation for her behavior the other night, he couldn’t be sure of that, and he’d rather not get his hopes up. She was still their agent, and there were a million reasons she could be here, at his door right now.

  Well, maybe not in the get-up she was wearing, but…

  Not to mention he was still angry at her. He had put himself out there, and she had chosen to push him away and groundlessly accuse him of things he was definitely not guilty of. So while he wanted to pull her close and kiss her, he also wanted to watch her squirm a little.

  “I wanted to say I’m sorry. For what I said last night, and for being a giant coward. I overreacted, and I said things I shouldn’t have said. I didn’t want to make myself vulnerable, because I was afraid of getting hurt. So I ended up hurting you, instead,” she explained, looking from him to Dominic.