Bear No Loss (9 page)
Authors: Anya Nowlan
He paused for a moment, tightening his grip a little on her and breathing a breath of relief when she actually met his gaze, tears shimmering in her eyes.
“But she said…” April whispered.
“Yeah, she says a fuckin’ lot,” he muttered darkly, shaking his head for a moment. “It’s all bullshit, okay? She told me that night when we were havin’ dinner that you collect hockey players, that you were only comin’ out here to ‘add me to your collection’ or whatever.”
“I’d never do that! I’ve never even dated a hockey player!” April gasped, looking as incredulous as he thought she would.
Regardless, a tiny pebble of uncertainty fell off his chest when he saw how shocked she was at that notion. He’d already decided that Nicky had to have been blowing smoke in his face, but hearing April say as much only confirmed it.
“Yeah, I figured. So I think she told you a bunch of shit that wasn’t true either. I don’t know what her motives are, but whatever they are, she’s destructive and fuckin’ malicious. Everything she’s told you about me I think you need to forget. And I’ll do the same, okay? Just… if you put aside everythin’ related to Nicky, we’ve had a good time here, right? I’ve never felt so good and so comfortable with anyone as I do with you, April. I don’t want this to end. I don’t want you to leave.”
His fingertips squeezed her hips, and he hadn’t really noticed when it had happened, but her hands were on his chest now. April was still shuddering from the cold and he pulled her tighter into his embrace, hedging his bets that she wouldn’t fight her way out of it. She didn’t.
“I don’t want this to end either,” she whispered after a moment, and Memphis let out a breath that he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “Why would she do something like that? Just lie like that?”
“It doesn’t matter, sugar. Whatever her issue is, we don’t have to let it affect us. I want you with me. I’ll do whatever I need to do for it. It takes a while with polar bears to realize this stuff and I know that it’s my own damn slowness to catch the drift here that brought us down this path, but I need you to know this, April. I love you. That’s not going to change. No matter what happens.”
The words spilled forth without Memphis having to doubt or second-guess them one bit. He knew in his heart he was speaking the truth. Her sweet mouth fell open a little and now the pain was gone from her expression, utter surprise taking its place.
“Memphis, I…”
“I don’t want you to say it back. I want you to say you’ll work on this with me. That you’ll give us a chance.”
The world seemed to stand still as he waited for an answer, and even when she smiled wide through the tears, he still couldn’t relax. Not until she spoke the words.
“I’ll stay. We can figure everything out. Together.”
Memphis grinned, victory and relief blooming in his chest. He picked her up, spinning her around as she braced her hands on his shoulders, giggling.
“Memphis!”
“What?” he asked, putting her down and then tugging her into a hug again. “A bear’s allowed to show his enthusiasm every now and then, you know.”
“Who am I to stop you?” April laughed, and Memphis kissed her, both of them smiling and the pain they’d harbored between one another slowly dissipating.
When their lips parted, Memphis looked down at her pretty face, beaming with pride that this gorgeous, loving, and special woman had decided to give him a shot. He wouldn’t make her regret it.
But he knew someone who was definitely going to regret fucking around with Memphis Corley.
***
Nicky Volley found herself getting the kind of treatment few people had deserved in Shifter Grove. The next morning, she’d been picked up at the makeshift bed and breakfast run by the Hamiltons, who had taken the liberty of packing her bags for her. Unceremoniously, she’d been shoved into a truck, driven to the airport, and Slate, the local pilot, had given her a special, private plane ride right out of Idaho, dumping her in a tiny airport in Minnesota where getting anywhere would be a hassle requiring traversing plenty of mountain roads.
By the time Nicky had managed to get back to Cheyenne, she would find herself without an apartment—as April owned the lease and Nicky hadn’t exactly been keeping up on the payments anyway—and a job. After a long talk with Memphis, April had admitted that there had been plenty of times she’d covered for her free-wheeling, heavily partying, conniving “friend,” and when all of those offenses had been piled into one neatly worded e-mail, Tarley Events no longer found itself needing her services.
Oh, and no NSHL game would welcome Nicky to the stands anymore either.
Memphis didn’t feel any better after having done all of that, but he felt like a little bit of justice had been put back in the world and at least
that
made him rest a little easier.
What made
everything
better, though, was the fact that April was still in Shifter Grove. And he’d never been so committed to making sure he wouldn’t lose something in his life.
EPILOGUE
April
“Memphis!” April shrieked, grabbing for her robe as the big bear of a man trundled through the door to her prep room, wearing one of his smug grins. “You’re not supposed to be here!”
Not that she wasn’t smiling. Or barely working hard at concealing her dress anyway. One of her bridesmaids, Cherie, came and covered her, glowering at Memphis over her shoulder as April put on the robe on top of the white and intolerably fluffy wedding dress. It was amazing and she loved it and it fit every daydream she’d had growing up on what her dress was supposed to look like.
“Memphis, she’s right! You’re not supposed to see the bride before the ceremony!”
“She’s already my mate and my wife,” Memphis said with a gentle roll of his eyes, stepping aside and opening the door to the three bridesmaids and ushering them out with a sweep of his hand. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of my woman’s pre-ceremony jitters. Git!”
“That wasn’t very nice of you,” April said with a grin and a shake of her head as Memphis closed and locked the door behind him, making it over to where she was standing in the cramped dressing room in two paces.
His arms went around her immediately and he pulled her to him, April giving in without a stitch of competition. She loved the way his strong arms flexed around her, and his scent still drove her absolutely wild. Just like it had more than a year ago when they met.
“It’s supposed to be
our
day, right? I think I’m supposed to be able to do whatever I want,” Memphis said with a chuckle, kissing her forehead softly. “I wanted to come see how you’re doin’ before I saunter up there and tell everyone once and for all you’re mine and mine only. You wouldn’t believe the nerve of some of these guys, thinkin’ that they could steal you from me.”
The last bit was said in a grumble, the grouchy voice he sometimes used when he was being both dramatic and playful. April poked him in the side and he gasped a sharp breath, looking down at her as if she’d mortally wounded him.
“You know no one would try and do that, silly,” she teased right back.
“I’m not takin’ my chances again,” he grumbled.
He squeezed her in a hug, exhaling as he dropped his chin on the top of her head, her long red curls set in a modest bun, adorned with pearl pins. They stood like that for a few moments, enjoying one another’s company and presence with the world quieting around them.
April had been in Shifter Grove since the previous year, only having left for a week or so to pack her things and get out of her lease once and for all. It was easier to leave Wyoming than she’d ever imagined. Thankfully enough, there had been no sign of Nicky, though April heard that last anyone had seen her, she’d been working as a sales girl at a dollar store and looking a bit worse for wear.
April had never been a vindictive person, but that bit of news may have made her smile a little bit too wide for a moment.
Of all the people in Wyoming, Sally had been the saddest to see her go, but after April told her about everything that had transpired, the older woman had given April her blessing and told her to “get in touch if you need a decent book bash!” Apparently she didn’t think anyone in Idaho could make a book launch party happen quite as well as she could.
And April had of course taken her up on her offer!
Her first novel was going to be released in two weeks, and while the wedding had been on the forefront of her mind along with Memphis, the book had been a close second. Shifter Grove had proven to be everything April had hoped it would—inspiring, welcoming, and serene. The words seemed to appear on the pages almost without any help from her at all and she couldn’t believe how well it all came together.
They say write what you know, and she’d done just that. A story of love riddled with problems and obstacles, with two people deserving of one another eventually finding their happiness. Just like she had.
“I love you,” April murmured, nuzzling against Memphis.
He looked so handsome in his suit, though they’d found it damnably problematic to find a tailor who could fit a suit on a guy as big as Memphis. Luckily enough, there had been plenty of guys and fresh wives in Shifter Grove who could give tips. Shifter Grove had seen its fair share of weddings as of late, after all.
“I love you too, sugar,” he said, tipping up April’s chin so they could peer into one another’s eyes.
She smiled softly, seeing his gray eyes glinting back at her, filled with affection. When he leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips, April got up on her tiptoes to meet him in it, purring as his tongue traced the outline of her lower lip.
“So, let’s go get hitched! The game with the Grizzlies is in two days and if we don’t hurry up, you might end up with a groom with a shiner on the wedding photos!” Memphis said with a grin, letting her go and taking a step back toward the door.
“Aren’t you the one holding us up?” she asked with a laugh.
“Me? Never!”
He flashed her a clever grin before opening up the door, spreading his arms as he met the glares of April’s three bridesmaids, their arms crossed over their chests.
“She’s all yours, ladies!”
“Get to the altar, Memphis,” Cherie sighed, pushing past him.
“Yes, ma’am,” Memphis said, throwing a wink at April before stalking off.
April could only shake her head and grin. She’d never known she could love someone as much as she loved him. And it was the happiest feeling she could imagine.
Don’t miss the excerpt for the third book in the series,
A Bear Goal
, on the next page!
Want more? Pick up one of Anya’s other Shifter Grove series:
Bear the Burn – First Book of Firebear Brides
Make Him Purr – First Book of Shifter Grove Brides
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A BEAR GOAL EXCERPT
“Hey, I hit harder than both of them, so you really want to go about insulting my family here, wiseguy?” she asked with a quirk of her brow, giving Heath the closest thing she had to an evil eye.
“Yeah? I wouldn’t mind seeing you get a little hot and bothered, I think,” Heath quipped back.
She held her breath, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t run the joke into the ground like she thought he would. But of course he did.
“Or a little bit ‘Heathed,’ if you know what I mean.”
His grin was so wide and self-congratulatory that Sable couldn’t do anything but groan and shake her head at him, wanting to choke the living daylights out of him and, oddly enough, climb him like a tree at the same time. It was becoming a real bother, honestly, because the more she looked at him, the better he looked. She loathed it.
“Really, that’s what you went with?”
“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it,” he said with a flourish, sweeping his hand along his toned, muscled body.
This book is out now!
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