Read Gray Back Bad Bear (Gray Back Bears Book 1) for Free Online Page A

spaces. The dark in general. Stepping on hidden nails on the ground. Big dogs. Beavers, badgers, sharks, deep water, quicksand, the ridges in pickle slices, being ax murdered, dark parking lots, snakes coming out of the toilet, touching germy door handles after washing my hands in public restrooms—”
    “Okay, I take it back. You’re afraid of everything. Let’s get you over one of them, though.”
    “Bears?” she asked hopefully, folding her glasses carefully and setting them on her backpack. She wanted to see his animal.
    “No. Deep water.”
    “Oh, I’m not a strong swimmer.”
    “But you can swim, right?”
    “I can bob.”
    “Well, why did you want to go to the beach then? It’s a helluva lot more dangerous than a shallow river.”
    “I didn’t want to go to the coast to swim in thirty feet of water, Griz. I wanted to lay out on the sand and drink pina coladas with tiny umbrellas and feel fancy. And go hunt for seashells and dig up some clams, and fish off a pier, and eat really good seafood. The bombshells had other plans, though. Speaking of…since you denied my virgin cookies last night, which one of my friends are you going to bone first?” Jealousy unfurled in her belly as she thought of Matt kissing Brittney. She didn’t know why she’d just said that, and now she was fighting some epic heat in her cheeks, so she busied herself with taking off her thin cotton cover-up.
    But when she looked back at Matt, his eyes were zeroed in on her yellow and white tankini.
    “I told you it was hideous,” she groused, embarrassed. “Stop staring at me like I’m awful. I’m already self-conscious about being in a swimsuit.”
    “Well, you shouldn’t be.” Matt’s voice had gone husky. “Take those board shorts off though. You don’t need them.”
    Mouth hanging open, she looked down at her swim shorts that were two sizes too big. They made her feel skinny. “But…my thighs are—”
    “I swear to God if you say big , I’m going to dunk you in the river. Take ’em off, Nerd.” Matt turned and splashed into the waves, headed toward the waterfall. “Ain’t no one out here to see you but me, and we’ve already decided to stay friends.”
    “Then why do you care if I strip down to my bathing suit? Hmm?”
    Matt kept dragging his legs deeper and deeper into the water away from her and didn’t answer. The ripped muscles in his back flexed with every step, and the perfect curves of his taut ass were now nestled in the wet navy blue swim trunks that clung to his body. Holy Toledo, he was the brawniest man she’d ever been with. Err…been friends with. Another wave of confusion filled her. She had to keep her head around this man. He saw her as some amusing little buddy, and nothing more. Last night, she’d thrown herself at him, and he hadn’t taken the bait. She was more of a sleep-beside than sleep-with kind of conquest, and she needed to start learning her place with him now.
    It didn’t matter that she was harboring a teeny—miniscule really—crush on the mysterious, scarred-up bear shifter. He didn’t feel the same.
    Just friends. She could do this.
    Willa peeled her board shorts off, grateful she’d shaved her legs past her knees today, and double grateful for the hoohah waxing she’d let some lady in a salon do before she drove to Saratoga. She stepped carefully out of her flip flops. Tiptoeing gently, she called, “Are you sure there’s no glass in here? Fear number one hundred eighty-one. Fear of cutting my feet on glass.”
    “Stop being a pussy,” Matt called without looking back at her.
    “Okay, but that doesn’t really answer my question.” She took another tentative step onto the sandy bottom, and then another.
    “Nerd, this isn’t a public beach, and bears take care of their territory. Now come—” Matt shrieked, and his arms flew into the air just before he splashed violently under the waves.
    “What’s happening?” Willa screamed, running through the lapping