Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Jessica) BBW Bear Shifter Menage Romance (Hope Valley BBW Dating App Romance Book 8) Read Free Page A

the national forest?”
    “Yeah. How did you know?” She shrugged.
    “Just a lucky guess.”
    “I just bought a place actually,” Lucas said. Jessica’s stomach flipped.
    “So you’re serious about staying in Hope Valley?”
    “Absolutely. As soon as I arrived a few weeks ago, I just knew this was where I wanted to settle down and find a mate.”
    “And how about you, Christian?”
    “I’m still renting. I’m pretty sure I want to live here too, but I want to make sure before I commit.” Jessica nodded. Despite his dominant character, Christian had always been the more cautious of the two guys, always assessing a situation before forming an opinion or making a decision. “Where are you living?”
    “At Auntie Tamika’s, downtown. I’ll find my own place at some point, but her house is huge and she says I’m welcome to stay as long as I like.” She cleared her throat, becoming aware that they’d gone way off-topic. “Anyway, back to the app. So, when you’re done answering the personality questions here, you hit ‘process’, and the algorithm figures out which of the women on the app are most suited to you.”
    “Neat,” Lucas said.
    “It even gives you a compatibility rating,” she said, talking fast to conceal a wave of heat that had begun somewhere in her chest and was now tracing a path up to her cheeks. “Tamika always tells people to aim for a rating of 90% or better to give yourself the best chance of finding your ideal mate.”
    “How long does it normally take?” Lucas asked.
    “I don’t know. I think it varies. Some people seem to find their mate practically as soon as they fill out their details, while there are some that have been looking for months. You can’t rush these things, so Tamika says.”
    Just then the office door banged open and Tamika hurtled back in.
    “Over here,” Jessica called and she came over. “I’ve just finished signing these gentlemen up to Shiftr,” she said, watching Tamika’s eyes for signs of nerves, anxious that her aunt didn’t trust her. But Tamika looked delighted, her big expressive eyes shining with pride.
    “Excellent. I’m Tamika,” she said, holding her hand out to the guys. They stood up and shook hands. “I’m very pleased to meet you. Are you new to Hope Valley?” Christian and Lucas gave a quick rundown of their situation and Tamika’s grin became even wider. “Well, I’m sure that you’ll be very happy here, and it won’t be long at all before we find a very special lady for each of you.”
    They chatted a little longer, about their shifter families and Tamika’s background, and then they got up to leave. Jessica had drifted back to her desk while Tamika was speaking to them, feeling extraneous to the conversation. But as they left the office, she ran over and offered to escort them out.
    “Jessica! We’re hanging out tonight, right?” Christian said the second they were alone together.
    “Of course!” she said.
    “We’ve got the last ten years to catch up on!” Lucas added. “Let me give you my number, and you can tell us where’s cool to go.”
    “Great! See you around 8?”
    “Perfect!” they said in unison, then laughed at each other.
    “God. We’ll be finishing each other’s sentences before long,” Lucas said. “See you soon, Jessica. I can’t wait to hang out properly.” He pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tight again.
    “See you tonight, little one,” Christian said, hugging her too, his eyes bright with happiness.
    Jessica watched as they disappeared down the stairs, and as soon as they were out of sight, she collapsed against the wall of the corridor, pressing her hands against her pounding heart. She was weak and shaky with emotions she couldn’t begin to separate and name. Her boys were back. Her best friends. Her confidantes. The two people she was closest to, in the whole world. She’d missed them so, so badly over the years, but had never in her wildest dreams thought that