Double Bear Chase: Werebear BBW Menage Romance (Hockey Bear Season Book 3) Read online

  Seventeen

  Hanna

  Hanna sat at the large wooden table in the living room of the Caldwell home, running her fingers along the edge of it. It looked handmade, with nicks and marks from being well-used and well-loved. She smiled to herself, thinking of all the memories this house had to hold.

  The house looked impeccable, and she suspected Garret was doing his best to keep it just like it was when his wife was still alive. The place was tidy and cozy, with a rustic, romantic vibe. She had spotted a family picture on the mantle before, with the brothers wearing graduation caps.

  This was a true family home, and she couldn’t help but feel utterly comfortable here.

  That was in no small part due to how welcoming Garret was being. He had pretty much taken her under his wing as soon as she’d gotten into his car, and he was being utterly delightful. Plus, he was giving her some very valuable information on Foster and Finn.

  Hanna was aware that Garret’s warm attitude toward her might have less to do with her in particular and more to do with having a woman in the house again. She could understand him maybe wanting to distract himself from the painful memories all around him by having some fun at his sons’ expense, and entertaining Hanna.

  She didn’t mind. In fact, she was having a lot more fun than she had expected. With her plate piled high with steak and potatoes, she almost choked on her water when Garret suggested he could bring out the baby photo albums.

  “Please, dad. I’ll never touch your scotch again, I promise,” Finn pleaded, looking downright mortified.

  “Is this about you being a chubby baby?” his father asked, making Hanna giggle into her napkin.

  “Spirits above…” Foster muttered to himself from the other side of the table.

  “This is great. Tell me more,” Hanna said, grinning when Garret winked at her.

  “Don’t encourage him!” Finn exclaimed, eyes widening.

  “Why not? Isn’t this a therapeutic expedition? For observation purposes?” she asked, throwing the brothers’ own words back at them.

  Finn and Foster shared a look that said they were regretting all the decisions they had made that ended up with them in this point in time. Hanna couldn’t really feel sorry for them.

  After all the innuendos and dirty jokes, she deserved to have some harmless fun. It wasn’t like Garret was exposing some great personal secrets about them. Just some silly stories and slightly embarrassing childhood photos.

  They’re probably worried Garret will ruin the macho-man image they have both created for themselves, she chuckled.

  “You could show us in a better light, you know,” Foster grumbled.

  “What? I’m telling it like is,” Garret shrugged, looking as innocent as possible. “You might be badass hockey players now, but you weren’t always. I’m only helping your therapist get a fuller picture of you two.”

  “And it is greatly appreciated,” Hanna replied.

  Looking from Garret to Finn and Foster, the family resemblance was pretty clear. The jawline, the cheekbones – that was all from Garret. Except for the blue eyes, though, as Garret’s were brown. That particular trait had to be from their mother.

  She knew it had to be tough, looking into your kids’ eyes and seeing a reminder of your dead spouse. Yet there wasn’t any pain in Garret’s eyes when he looked at his sons, only pride and love.

  He did look slightly tired, though, but she didn’t know enough about the man to make any conclusions about that. All she knew for sure was, this was a father who truly cared about his sons.

  “You really lucked out with this therapy thing, huh?” Garret commented, looking at Foster and Finn. “Smart and beautiful and laughs at my jokes. What else could you ask for?”

  “Oh, stop it,” Hanna replied. “You’re making me blush.”

  At least now I know where the boys get their charm from, she thought, amused.

  “I’ll go get the wine,” Foster sighed, pushing himself away from the table and making his way to the kitchen.

  “So, have you always lived in South Dakota?” Garret asked.

  “No, I only recently moved there from Florida, actually,” she replied.

  “Really? What made you leave?” Finn asked, just as Foster returned with a bottle of Chardonnay.

  “Wanted a change of scenery,” Hanna shrugged, hoping there wouldn’t be many follow-up questions.

  “Did you work at a center like the one in Sioux Falls?” Foster asked, opening the bottle and filling her glass.

  “Something like that,” she replied curtly, not wanting to go into any details.

  If she revealed she’d left behind her own practice, that would raise too many questions. Who would leave something like that behind to move to South Dakota and pretty much start from scratch?

  Someone afraid for their life, that’s who, she thought, working hard to not let the bitterness she was feeling show on her face.

  Garret must have picked up on her unease, as he quickly chimed in, changing the subject.

  “Now how about those albums?” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

  Finn groaned audibly while Foster grabbed his glass and filled it almost to the brim. They all brought their glasses along as Garret gestured for them to go sit down on the couch while he went rummaging around in some cabinets.

  Foster and Finn nestled in around her, obviously taking pleasure in making her uncomfortable with how close they were sitting. Hanna was determined not to let them see how nervous having them near made her, especially not in front on their father. She finally had the upper hand, and she wasn’t about to let that go.

  Let’s see how smug you are once the baby pictures come out.

  Their broad shoulders bumping into hers, Hanna remained as calm and unaffected as possible, even as their musky scent swirled around her, sending heat coursing through her. She still remembered the comment Finn had made about telling their father she was their girlfriend. Thinking of it now, it only added to how flustered she was becoming.

  Having dated a shifter, she had some idea of how their relationships worked, but two guys sharing a girlfriend? That was new territory for her. She had thought they were the types that mate for life, with some force greater than themselves telling them when they’ve found the right person.

  It all sounded a little hard to grasp to her, but she knew most shifters took the whole finding their soulmate thing very seriously, so she had always stayed very respectful of that. Vince had never claimed she was his mate, and she wouldn’t have believed him if he had. Their relationship was more based on bad decisions than fate, in her opinion.

  I feel like I’m missing a piece of the puzzle here, she thought.

  Could there be some connection between what Finn had said, and the way she felt so drawn to both of the brothers at the same time? It seemed to be too much of a coincidence for that not to be the case. Whatever the answer to that question might be, she couldn’t let this chemistry between them get the best of her.

  Good thing I’m going to be staying under the same roof with them then, she thought sardonically. In the guest room right down the hall from them. What a great idea.

  I’m not going to be staring at the ceiling, thinking about if they sleep in the nude or not. Why couldn’t Shifter Grove have hotels? she sighed to herself, with Finn and Foster grinning at her like they were in on a secret she knew nothing about.

  What have I gotten myself into?

  Eighteen

  Finn

  Finn watched helplessly as Hanna ‘awwed’ and giggled at the pictures Garret was showing her. This was not why he’d wanted her to come along. But then again, why had he wanted her to come along?

  After Foster brought it up, agreeing with his brother had been more of an impulse thing than a calculated decision. On some level, it had felt important that she come here, and see the place he and Foster used to call home.

  It oddly did feel like they were introducing their new girlfriend to their dad
, like he had joked earlier, even though he knew that was not the case.

  It sure felt great, having her here, though, even despite the embarrassment Garret was determined to rain down on his sons. The house still felt empty without mom here, but Hanna was a good distraction from that. For dad as well, it seemed. He had taken an immediate liking to her, which made Finn happy, for some reason.

  Hanna was pressed between Finn and Foster, with Garret having pulled up a chair and sitting opposite them, flipping through the pages of an old, somewhat discolored photo album. Luckily, the pictures of them as babies, then kids, and then awkward teenagers was coming to an end, with the pictures now of them more or less like they were today.

  “Wait, what’s that?” Hanna said, pointing to an image of Finn and Foster on a frozen lake, surrounded by children.

  “Oh, that’s the little project Finn and Foster have been working on. They spend their off-season here, training kids that are interested in hockey. They buy equipment, rent out the rink and everything, out of their own pocket,” Garret replied.

  Finn suddenly felt uncomfortable. He hadn’t even been aware he had been photographed during one of their training sessions with the children, let alone that his parents had the picture.

  Coaching the kids wasn’t something he or Foster liked to publicize. It was something they did because they liked to do it, and they had always avoided drawing attention to it.

  “I didn’t know you did that,” Hanna commented, looking from Foster to Finn.

  “To be fair, there are a lot of things you don’t know about us,” Finn replied.

  “Yeah, like how Finn is a huge Dungeons and Dragons fan,” Garret interjected.

  “Dad!” Finn exclaimed.

  “Wait, like the… board game?” Hanna asked, completely ignoring him as he turned to his father.

  “It’s not a ‘board game’,” Finn started, but Foster didn’t let him finish.

  “Yup. He and his high school buddies would sneak down into the basement and stay there for hours. I was afraid they were doing drugs or something, so imagine my surprise when I saw them huddled around that game, talking about trolls and treasure and whatnot,” Garret replied.

  Foster was openly laughing now with tears in his eyes. Finn shot him a deadly glare, but it had no effect. But when Garret turned to him next, he shut up quickly.

  “And Foster. Voice of an angel, this one. Never did understand why he quit choir. He was great in that Christmas play they did. I might even still have it on VHS.”

  Now that wiped the smile off of Foster’s face.

  “This is like a whole new world,” Hanna whispered to herself, clearly enjoying every bit of this horror show.

  “Maddie would use every excuse she could to get him to sing…” Garret said, turning wistful.

  He had always called their mother Maddie. Finn had realized embarrassingly late his mother’s full name was Madeline. But then again, she was always just ‘mom’ to him.

  The mood in the room changed in an instant, with dad’s smile looking sad all of the sudden. He flipped to the picture of Finn’s high school graduation, with him and Foster in the middle and mom and dad on the sides.

  Mom was so beautiful, with her long brown hair in loose curls, wearing that blue dress she loved. She never got tired of telling both Finn and Foster how proud she was of them. What Finn wouldn’t give to hear that one more time…

  “You look like a very happy family,” Hanna commented, gently placing a hand on Garret’s arm. “Those smiles can’t be faked.”

  “What a nice thing to say,” Garret replied, coming out of whatever memory he had been lost in. “Dessert, anyone?” he asked, suddenly shifting gears as he got up and walked to the kitchen.

  “I’m sorry if I did anything to…” Hanna started as soon as he’d left the room.

  “No, it had nothing to do with you. He gets that way sometimes. There are so many memories here,” Finn replied, looking around the room.

  “He’s trying to put on a good face for us,” Foster commented.

  “Memories aren’t bad,” Hanna remarked. “Not if you don’t dwell on them, at least. And there’s no shame in being sad.”

  “He’s just trying to be strong for us,” Finn replied.

  He tried to think back if he had ever really talked to his dad about mom’s death, but couldn’t recall. That day when he and Foster flew here was mostly a blur, with the earth knocked out from under his feet. And after that, the funeral was hard enough to deal with even without trying to put what he was feeling into words.

  Maybe he should have tried harder. Because now it was starting to feel the whole male side of the Caldwell family had swept their grief under the rug, and it was coming back to bite them in the ass.

  Garret walked back into the living room as Finn was pondering this, holding small bowls in his hands.

  “Ice cream?” he asked, handing one of the bowls to Hanna.

  “Sure,” she smiled back.

  Finn couldn’t help but think about how he’d like to throw his arm over her shoulders and pull her closer, pressing their bodies together and kissing the top of her head. All of them snuggled up on the couch like that, it just felt like the next logical step. It was way too easy to forget she was their therapist and nothing more.

  She can’t be anything more. I’m in no place for a relationship.

  Yet he could already imagine how easy it would be to fall into something more with her. There was this comfortable feeling between all three of them that often made him forget the professional boundary that separated them from Hanna.

  It could never work out between us, he restated to himself, sounding even more unconvincing. Right?

  Nineteen

  Hanna

  The night had wound down, with Hanna yawning on the couch while Foster and Finn were reminiscing with their dad. Empty ice cream bowls were scattered on the coffee table in front of her, and the wood in the fireplace had burned down to smoldering charcoal.

  “Alright, time to turn in,” Garret said, noting how her eyes were starting to flutter shut.

  “You’re right,” Foster replied, rolling his shoulders.

  “I’ll clean up, you go and get settled in,” Garret offered, picking up the bowls.

  “I can help,” Hanna quickly chimed in.

  “You’re already helping,” Garret answered. “Now go and get some rest,” he said in a tone that didn’t invite any arguing.

  Hanna dutifully got up and headed for the stairs, with Foster and Finn following.

  “That guest room has always been a little drafty, hasn’t it?” Finn was saying to Foster.

  “Yeah, I remember something about that. My bedroom doesn’t have that problem, though.”

  “Neither does mine,” Finn quickly added.

  “Seriously, guys?” Hanna asked without even turning around as she climbed the steps. “You think that’s going to get me into your bed? A drafty room? I’m actually kind of disappointed by your lack of creativity,” she remarked, holding back a smile.

  “Can’t blame a man for trying to cuddle up with a beautiful woman,” Foster replied.

  “Sure, I can,” she said, reaching the door to the guest room. “Good night,” was all she said as she stepped inside and pulled the door closed after her.

  Truth was, she didn’t need an invitation to already be thinking about climbing into bed with Foster or Finn. That thought had been stuck in her head pretty much since they arrived at the house, much to her dismay.

  Back pressed against the door, she listened to their steps as they both went into their bedrooms. Her heart was pounding for no apparent reason. She was already used to the men hitting on her every chance they got. But now having them so close…

  I could just open the door and walk over to either one of them, step inside their bedroom…

  Thinking such thoughts was a dangerous path to go down, so she quickly focused on unpacking her toothbrush and getting ready for bed. Falling asl
eep as quickly as possible suddenly seemed like a great plan.

  Looking back, she should have known the brothers wouldn’t leave her alone in her dreams, either.

  It was barely light out when a soft knock at the door woke Hanna up. She was confused for a moment, startled by the unfamiliar surroundings before remembering where she was. Pulling on a robe, she rushed to open the door, smoothing a hand over her hair as she did.

  It was Foster on the other side, smiling at her disheveled appearance and somehow looking even better than she remembered. He looked invigorated somehow, and his tone was excited when he spoke.

  “You up for a little trip into town?” he asked, keeping his voice low as everyone else was probably still asleep.

  “Right now?”

  “Yes, now. You can count it as a session. Get ready, I’ll meet you downstairs,” he said before turning and leaving, not even giving her a chance to reply.

  Okay. Guess I’m going into town then, Hanna shrugged to herself.

  She actually would like to see more of Shifter Grove. They drove through the small town so quickly she’d barely had a chance to absorb anything. And if she were being totally candid with herself, the thought of spending some time alone with Foster was exciting. Terrifying too, but mostly exciting.

  What am I even thinking? It’s just like another therapy session, only not in my office. There’s nothing to be excited about, she told herself as she pulled on jeans and a t-shirt before quietly opening her door and making her way downstairs.

  Foster was already waiting at the door with car keys in hand.

  “Come on,” he gestured, opening the door.

  Hanna felt almost giddy as she passed by him and walked to the truck. She didn’t even know where they were going exactly, and she didn’t really care. Tall pine trees shot up all around them, with a small dirt road leading away from the house and onto the main road leading into town.