Free Winston (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 3) by Becca Fanning Page B

I’m good,” Delphine said, hovering. She wasn’t sure what she should be doing, exactly.

    Custer turned to look at her. “Sheets are clean. I’ll try to be quiet.”

    “Thank you,” she said, and walked stiffly to the bed. She sat on it, trying to convince herself that getting under the blankets wouldn’t be horrifically awkward. It was anyways, but at least Custer wasn’t looking.

    “Lights to fifteen percent,” he said, and the lights immediately lowered. “Is this okay?”

    “Yes, thank you,” Delphine said.

    She meant to stay awake and think what had happened over, but her body had other plans. Her carefully monitored sleep cycle had been thrown completely out of whack and her tiredness was catching up to her. Being on an actual mattress didn’t help. She decided that she’d sleep now and wake up early to process then. Instead, she slept for what appeared to be twelve hours and spent the day so groggy and tired she was a bit suspicious she’d been drugged again. She ate and talked with Custer and did nothing productive, like nothing had changed from two days ago. The next day was no better. The others seemed to be trying their hardest to keep her away from their planning, which was fair but meant there was nothing for her to do. She ended up, once again, trailing after Custer like a puppy. The experience was neither as boring or as frustrating as it should have been.

    Finally, they reached Saltos. All members of the crew met in the cargo bay.

    “Alright,” the captain said, all other chatter fading away. “Here’s what we’re going to do: Hyde, you need to go meet the man whose info I sent you. Make sure he knows exactly what happens if he tells tales out of school. Rick, Zosha, we need to stock up on supplies as long as we’re planet-side. Having an extra person means food disappears faster. Shocking, I know. A list has been forwarded to you. Custer, Delphine, you’re trawling for information. It should be easy, they were apparently pretty infamous around here. Me, Annie, and Dom are going to stay with the ship. We all have work we can do while we’re waiting. Everyone got it?”

    “I’m sorry,” Hyde said, “did you just say we’re sending Delphine out of the ship? Without the collar?”

    “She knows what to look out for, Custer isn’t one of her main targets, she’s pretty sure we’re all going to get killed by her coworkers anyways, and she deserves it after the week she’s had,” Ingram said in the tone of a man who’d been on the receiving end of those very arguments. “That okay with you?”

    Hyde snorted. “Whatever. Just don’t come crying to me when Custer gets his ass killed.”

    “Noted,” Ingram said. “Any other complaints?”

    “Here’s hoping I don’t regret this horribly,” Ingram said, rubbing a hand over his face. “Just know, if we end up swarmed by security, mercenaries, or angry small business owners, I will shoot both of you.”

    “Duly noted,” Custer, giving a half-hearted salute. He turned to Delphine. “You ready to go?”

    “Of course,” she answered.

    “Great. Remember: everyone needs to be back to the ship in two hours. If, for whatever reason, you can’t make it in time comm one of us. Now, get out.” The captain turned and started talking to Annie in a low voice. She flipped her hair back and smirked at him. Delphine doubted they’d get much research done.

    “So I was thinking,” Custer said, drawing her attention back to him, “that we could hit the square. There’s usually an outdoor market on weekdays, and the stalls have some interesting stuff. After that, there’s a pretty decent bar around here. I doubt you’ve ever gone bar crawling during a mission, which is practically a crime. Plus, information.”

    “That sounds…” Delphine paused searching for a word to capture the warm, fluttery feeling in her stomach. She couldn’t find one that could properly convey it. “…fun.”

    Custer smiled, the same