Lowlander Silverback (Gray Back Bears #5)(36)

“I looked forward to work because there was always the chance I would get to see you.”

“No shit?” he asked, rubbing her calf again.

With a definitive nod, she said, “Zero shits.”

Kong took a bite of his sandwich and looked off into the woods behind Moosey’s. He gulped the food down and said, “Remember that guy who wouldn’t stop grabbing your ass a few months back?”

“Yeah, the tourist with the crazy eyes. That guy was a jerk. Thankfully he only came in that one night.”

“Because I followed him to the parking lot and just about knocked his eyes straight. Kirk had to pull me away before I really went to town, but I told the guy if he ever came back, I’d know about it, and then I’d find him. I hated that he’d ruffled you. I know you can take care of yourself, and I’ve watched you put drunk *s in their place so many times it’s not even funny. But I passed the office on my way to the bathroom to get myself under control, and I heard you crying in there. It gutted me. I went after him the second he left.”

She pursed her lips against the memory of that night. It had been one of the worst shifts she’d ever worked, and she hadn’t known it at the time, but Kong was right there with her. “I think you were mine way before last week.”

Kong licked his bottom lip and bit it as he nodded. “I’ve been yours for a long time.”

She ate for a while in silence, absorbing that eye-opening morsel of information. “So next time I’m working, are you going to ignore me?”

“Hell no. I hated having to do that before. I don’t have to do that anymore. I can even give you rides to and from your shifts if you ever want them. I close down the sawmill around six unless we have a big lumber order.” Kong leaned forward, elbows on the table as he clasped his hands over his plate. “I like this.”

“What?”

“Talking about our future. Of what our future could be. It makes things…easier.”

“What things?” she asked, confused.

His mouth twitched at the corner, and he relaxed back onto the picnic table bench. “This week has been brutal, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed right now. Thinking about our future reminds me of what I’m fighting for. It makes anything seem possible.”

“Okay,” she said with a frown. “Christmas.”

Kong grinned and tipped his head. “Easy. Spend them with the Gray Backs.”

“The first person you’ll call when we have our first baby.”

“My mom. She’s always wanted me to do this. It’s why she left our family group with me when I was little. She wanted me to settle down and fall in love the way it felt right to me.” Kong poked his sandwich with his plastic fork and slowed his words down. “She would like you. You’re strong and independent, and you care about people in a way that inspires other people to be better. You put others above yourself.” He looked up at her. “My mom is like that, too.”

“Are you worried about her?”

He nodded slowly as he clasped his hands in front of his face. “Every action I take has a consequence for someone I love.”

The sandwich she was munching on lost its flavor all the sudden and sat like a cold lump in her stomach. She pushed away the plate and reached across the table, rubbed her fingertips against his elbow.

Kong had said she was someone who put others above herself, but he didn’t see the same value in himself. He’d been doing that since Fiona had broken him. He hadn’t lived his life for himself at all. He hadn’t approached Layla for years, even though he had wanted her. Kong had lived an empty, hollow existence to make life easier for other people.

Kong didn’t see it, but she did.

He was the inspiring one.





Chapter Fourteen


“Put your bathing suit on, humaaan,” Willa sang from behind an oversize pair of red sunglasses. She was holding an erotic romance book in one hand, a towel draped over her forearm, and in the other a beach bag that was almost as big as her.

“I didn’t pack a bathing suit,” Layla said from the rocking chair on 1010’s porch.

“Well your big ol’ teats aren’t fitting in any of my extra small child-size tankinis. I’ll ask Georgia and Gia if they have spares. BRB.”

“BRB?” Kong asked through an amused smile.

“Be right back!” Willa called, her flip flops clacking loudly as she jogged away.

“Where are we going?” she asked Kong, who’d apparently already gotten the memo because he was wearing a pair of white swim trunks with a subtle, gray plaid print. His chest was bare, showing off all those scars she now found devastatingly sexy.

“We’re taking you to the falls.”

“The falls?”

“Bear Trap Falls, and you’ll be one of the few humans to ever see it. The river splits the territory line between the Gray Backs and the Boarlanders. It’s the best swimming hole in Damon’s mountains, and you deserve a day to just have fun.” His look darkened as he scanned the woods again. He did that a lot now. “We all deserve a break after the week we’ve had.”

“Eee!” Layla squeaked, clenching her fists and waving them in tiny circles with uncontrolled excitement. “I love swimming, and I love waterfalls, and I’ve heard of Bear Trap Falls but never thought I would get to see it.”