Bear Your Teeth (Alpha Werebear Paranormal Shifter Romance) by Lynn Red Page B

semi-move in the same day. So, she thought extenuating circumstances meant she deserved a little pampering.
    And anyway, there was a lot of cologne drool all over her, and that wasn’t going to fly. When she’d scrubbed and scalded herself pink, her naked skin was even more sensitive to the prickling, chilly cold rush of air she felt when she left her steam room.
    But, God did it ever feel good. Being in a new place, clean and refreshed, surrounded by crazies that made her sister look at least sorta-kinda normal? Rika took a deep breath and scrubbed her mop of hair dry-ish with one of the towels she dug out of her sister’s linen closet. It usually took two to get her hair dry, but tonight? She just didn’t care.
    She had determined, decided, that she was going to give life two days, maybe three, to get into some kind of a routine. She’d figure out what she could do around town, figure out if she could maybe get a job if she wanted to stay.
    Showers were the place where Rika made decisions, and when she had an uninterrupted hour? She made lots . She even came to the conclusion that she wasn’t going to hunt down Thor. They were both grown-ups, she’d reasoned. They both had their baggage and their bullshit. It wasn’t her place to run after him and harass him into a relationship, and anyway that probably wouldn’t work out very well in the long run.
    “Nope,” she said to herself, as she double-wrapped the towel around her body and stepped out into the hall. She almost forgot she was only wearing a towel and there was a stranger in the house. You know what? I’m wearing a towel, I’m not naked. What the hell do I have to worry about? New place, new life, right?
    She took one confident, self-assured, partially-dripping step toward the living room and immediately retreated. Okay, maybe baby steps into a new life. Baby steps are always good .
    Rika was partially horrified to find that the PJs her sister tossed to her as she was getting ready for her shower turned out to be fuzzy, purple, and matching. Worse yet, the pants had overly cute hippos on them, and declared “someone’s sleepy!” which is just a great first impression to make. She took a deep ‘what the hell’ breath, and resumed her walk through the living room. She had an apartment, yeah, and so it didn’t much matter who this guy was or what he thought of her, but...
    I’m gonna rest for a couple days, and then I’m going to get on with life. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. And why am I so nervous? Must be the exhaustion talking, or maybe the tail end of my slight intoxication?
    She sighed heavily and decided that she was just being an idiot. Paprika ran through a checklist in her mind.
    Courage? Gathered. Hair? Sorta tamed. Hippo pajamas? Equipped . Acting like a giant idiot? I—
    “Rika?” her sister’s voice came in loud and clear, probably because at some point in this panic attack extinguishing exercise, she had come to the bathroom. “Hey, I got someone for you to meet. He’s, uh,” seeing her sister’s apparent anxiety, Petunia changed courses. “You okay?”
    “I’m just tired, I think.” Her hands were shaking. The bags under her eyes stretched past her nose. “Just tired and... and...”
    It all came rushing out at once. “I thought it was for real this time. I thought this was it, and then he just vanished! He just fucking ran away! I kissed him and he kissed me back. One time he chased me through the woods and we had, uh, a little thing and,” she sniffed deeply through her nose, surprised at how stuffy she’d gotten in the last eight seconds.
    The chair in the living room creaked. Someone stood up – whoever the stranger was, Petunia’s new fake boyfriend-cum-roommate was about to figure out that her sister was the real basket case. She sniffed hard and rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to control herself. “I’m just tired and I kept pushing this out of my mind, convinced that it