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

she’d see them again. The last couple of hours felt unreal. Lucas said that he thought he was dreaming, and that’s how she felt too. Like she was about to wake up in bed and realize that none of this had happened.
    She let out a long breath, which hitched in her throat. How many years had she thought about them; agonized over their disappearance; wondered if something terrible had happened to them? She’d had to pretend to herself, like everyone else did, that they’d just changed schools. But it hadn’t worked, and the pain of not knowing had been unbearable. One day they’d been hanging out on the cricket field at school, on one of those perfect English days that were all too rare, but all the more perfect for their rarity, trusting that time was infinite, and that they’d always be best friends. And the next they were gone, without a word.
    She’d underplayed how much the whole thing had affected her. She’d failed her exams, yes. But for a while she’d also fallen into a deep depression – grief, really – and hadn’t gone to school or even left the house for months. Her previously good relationship with her parents and teachers had become very strained, as she was furious with them, convinced that they knew more than they were saying. She’d been desperately lonely too. None of her other friendships came close to the intimacy she’d had with the boys. They’d been like the three musketeers, walking to school together, hanging out during recess and at lunchtimes, sitting together in class when the teacher allowed them to, then walking home together. They were a tight group that none of the other kids could penetrate. And then, overnight, all of that changed. Her phone never rang, and when she returned to school, she became a loner. She was a misfit, and that hadn’t mattered when she was with Christian and Lucas – they knew that they were lucky to have a real, genuine friendship, that wasn’t dependent on popularity. But when she was by herself, it became painful. She hung out with a couple of the other misfits, but they were superficial friendships, and they never went to each other’s houses, or chatted on the phone.
    She’d only been able to come to terms with Lucas and Christian’s disappearance from her life by convincing herself that they were dead. Or not dead exactly, but existing on another planet. And now it was as if they’d come back to life. And they’d become men. She could still see traces of the boys that they’d been, in Lucas’ ready laugh and the unexpectedly cheeky grins that Christian flashed sometimes, but their youthful looks had matured into masculine brawn.
    She was so happy to see them, to see how well they’d turned out, but there was another emotion bubbling beneath the surface too – something dark and negative. Was it anger, or something more like envy? She’d suffered so much not knowing where they were, and all the time, they were growing up together, having each other to rely on. She was ashamed to acknowledge it, but it was a tight, hard knot that sat deep in her stomach.
    She took a deep, slow breath and blew it out through her nostrils. She just needed some time to get used to things. That was all. And Tamika must be wondering where she was.  Pushing open the office door, she went back to her desk.
    “Jessica! I should leave you alone more often,” Tamika trilled, walking over to her. But when she saw the expression on Jessica’s face, she stopped. “What’s the matter, my dear?” Jessica shook her head.
    “Nothing. I just had a bit of a shock, that’s all. I actually knew those two guys from high school. We haven’t been in touch for years though, and I had no idea that they were bears.”
    “They were at school with you in England?”
    “Yeah. They’re both American. They lived in England from age five, but their parents took them back to the US in their teens.”
    “When they were starting to shift?”
    “I guess so.”
    “Were you