Free A Burn To Bear (Fire Bear Shifters Book 3) by Sloane Meyers Page B

they give you trouble, you come to me.”
    This assertion was met with howls of laughter from the men, including Hunter and Trevor, who had come out to join the group.
    “Look who’s getting too big for her britches,” Trevor said. “I’d like to see you take on any of us for real.”
    The teasing and ribbing continued as Zach started handing out the food. River smiled over at Luke, who reached out and squeezed her hand. Any last bits of nervousness floated away, and River sighed happily as she watched her new friends laughing and eating. She could definitely see herself fitting into this lively crew.

Chapter Nine
    Over the next week, River spent all of her free time with Luke. It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed the all-consuming rush of a new relationship, and she was loving the feeling of being head over heels for someone again. As she got to know Luke better and better, she realized that her snap assertion that they were incompatible had been completely wrong. Although Luke wasn’t a book lover like River, he shared a lot of other common interests with her. They enjoyed cooking together, and they had similar tastes in movies. And Luke was just as excited as River was for long walks on the nature trails near Red Valley. The pair spent hours walking and talking, discussing everything from the meaning of life to which brand of ice-cream was really best. No subject was too deep or too silly.
    And yet, River couldn’t shake the strange feeling that Luke was holding something back from her. Every now and then, he would clam up and look uncomfortable. River was at a loss as to what was bothering him. To her, everything seemed to be going so perfectly. The deep connection she felt to him only grew stronger and more intoxicating.
    Exactly a week after she had first met Luke’s crew, she came back for another cookout. Like the week before, the evening was filled with plenty of good-natured teasing, and plenty of good food. After she couldn’t eat another bite, River lay in the grass near the picnic table, looking up at the stars and listening to the sound of laughter echoing through the still night. Riley and Charlotte came over and lay next to her, and the three of them started chatting about holiday plans. It felt weird to discuss Christmas when the weather was still so warm, but December was only a few weeks away.
    In the middle of Riley’s discussion of her plans for The Sweet Crust’s holiday menu, a loud, squawking beep started echoing across the lawn. Riley groaned, and Charlotte sat straight up in an instant. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Ian, who pulled a radio out of the back pocket of his jeans.
    “Boise, this is Burning Claws Base,” Ian said into the radio. River slowly came up to a sitting position, and was surprised at the serious expressions on all of the crew’s faces. She had never seen them be so quiet when they were all hanging out together.
    “Burning Claws, we’ve got a small fire down south of L.A. we need your help with. It’s still really dry down there, and we had another lighting storm.”
    “Roger that,” Ian said. “When’s pickup?”
    “5 a.m. tomorrow morning. We’re sending a Twin Otter aircraft,” the voice on the radio replied. A collective groan came from the crew when they heard the time. River looked over at Luke, but his expression was neutral and hard to read.
    “We’ll be ready,” Ian said, and then looked up at the crew. “You heard them. Start getting your gear together.”
    Riley and Charlotte got up, and started helping to clean up the remaining food from the picnic table. Everyone on the crew sprang into action, clearing food and throwing out the beers they had been in the process of drinking. River sat on the grass, unsure of what to do. She would have been happy to help clear the food, but there didn’t seem to be any more room in the crowd.
    Luke came over and sat on the grass next to her.
    “So, you probably gathered that we’ve just