Chris Goes Bear Watching 🌶️🌶️

HELEN

~Click!~

The door swung shut behind us.

“After you,” Chris gestured for me to lead the way.

My footsteps echoed on the polished concrete floor. Two long walls stretched ahead of us, with artwork hanging at regular intervals and black benches running down the middle of the room.

The student gallery was essentially a wide hallway in one of the administration buildings. It was intended to show off Boulder State’s finest artists to potential students.

I was kind of proud to have my artwork shown here.

“Wait,” he said, and grabbed my arm. “Let me find it.”

Chris grinned and took off down the hall. I watched as he checked out each painting, trying to suss out which was mine.

It was kind of silly, sneaking in after hours. It felt dangerous...and fun.

Now Chris was moving from painting to painting, stopping before each one and pretending to inspect it before shaking his head and running to the next.

I laughed at him. For the first time in a good long while, I was actually enjoying myself.

“Found it!”

Chris was standing a little way down the hall, a shadow covering his face. I couldn’t make out his expression. But I knew he was staring at my painting.

And staring intensely.

“It’s amazing,” he said as I approached.

“I’m pretty happy with it,” I said.

“You really saw this?”

“Yeah…” I glanced over at Chris, who was staring at the face of the bear. His expression had changed. His jaw was set, and his eyes were gravely serious.

“Where was this?”

“There’s a lake, it runs through the valley. Basically dividing the Bear Creek area in half. There’s a path you can take from the main road, it’s mostly hidden by blackberry bushes but not impossible to find.”

“~Interesting~…” Chris reached up and looked like he was about to touch the painting.

“What’s interesting?” I felt awkward, as if I was disrupting him from whatever connection he’d made with the picture.

“Huh?”

Chris snapped out of his trance-like concentration and laughed.

“Oh…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I just meant...the way you use color. It’s interesting.”

“Thanks.” I blushed.

He turned and looked at me then. His eyes seemed to be searching my face for some hidden truth.

“You’re really talented,” he said, and took a step toward me.

Before I knew it, his hand had taken mine and our faces were inches apart.

“Maybe one day you can take me to the spot where you did this painting.”

“I don’t know…”

Chris took my other hand and moved closer still.

“I’d ~really~ like to go with you.”

My eyes kept darting to his lips. Full and moist. His hands felt warm in mine, and I didn’t mind when he edged even closer.

His mouth found mine, and we kissed. Softly at first, then harder as our bodies folded into each other.

My tongue played with his as he ran a hand through my hair, gripping the back of my head and kissing me more intensely.

~This makes sense.~

~This is who I SHOULD be kissing.~

Suddenly I was hungry for him. My hands found their way under his shirt as he pressed his body close to mine.

I could feel his excitement firming up inside his pants.

Grabbing me in his arms, he moved us to one of the benches in the middle of the hall. Chris lowered me down and then found his way on top of me.

Running my hands along his jeans, I could feel his solid thigh muscles working. All those hours on the squash court had paid off. His chest pressed into mine. My hands dug into his back.

Without hesitation, Chris undid my jeans and slipped them down over my knees. Cool air on my ass turned me on, and I felt myself getting wet.

Chris’s face came back to meet mine, and he kissed me again, his tongue moving around my mouth like he owned the place and his fingers starting to play with the thin fabric of my panties.

I wanted him to tear them off me.

I started to moan as he slipped his hand under the silk and found my mound. My breaths turned to quick pants as he continued to toy with my pussy.

“Do you like that?” he asked.

“Yessss…”

“Do you want more?”

“Mmhmm.” I bit down on my lip and groaned.

His fingers slipped inside me as he began to kiss his way from my cheek to my ear, breathing warm air into my ear as his nibbled at the lobe.

I began to feel a warm sensation on my neck. The heat began to grow until it felt like I was burning.

~What is that?~

Chris’s kisses began to move further down and onto my neck. I felt his hand gently moving aside the collar of my blouse, giving him access to more skin.

The burning sensation started to hurt…

~Oh shit!~

The mark!

The bite mark on my neck was burning me like a cattle prod.

I couldn’t let Chris see it. If he saw the mark, he would freak out or ask questions that I wouldn’t know how to answer.

Plus, I was beginning to think the longer this went on, the more the mark would hurt.

I pushed Chris off me before his mouth reached the burning spot on my neck.

He couldn’t have seen it. I was too fast.

~Could he?~

“Whoa!” Chris put his hands up like he was being arrested. “Everything okay?”

“I think…”

~What can I say?~

~What would even make sense?~

“I just think this is too fast. There’s a lot going on right now. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

I knew he didn’t mean to, but Chris couldn’t help looking disappointed.

I pulled on my jeans and tried to apologize.

“Chris, I’m sorry. It was really great, but I... I’m just not ready.”

“Yeah, no, I get it.”

Chris was trying not to make eye contact. I started to freak out that I’d just lost the last person who still liked me.

“I’m really, really sorry.”

I knew I shouldn’t have apologized so much. It’s a woman’s right to change her mind. But I just couldn’t stand the thought of Chris hating me too.

“Hey.” Chris reached out and put his hand on mine. “It’s okay, really. I understand.”

He squeezed my hand reassuringly and then started for the exit.

“Come on, we should get out of here.”

I stood up and watched as he walked back down the gallery. My hand reached up and found the mark on my neck. I was wearing a loose button-down and there was no way it wasn’t exposed.

I just hoped Chris hadn’t seen it. He hadn’t said anything about it, which was a hopeful thought. I didn’t want anyone else thinking I was a weirdo.

***

I woke up to a knock on the door.

After four days of sleeping alone in my dorm room, I was starting to get used to it. Which is why it took me by surprise when the knocking stopped and the door opened.

“What’s going on?”

Emma was standing in the doorway with an apologetic look on her face and a Starbucks cup in her hand.

“I got you a pumpkin spice latte. Can we stop fighting now?”

Emma knew pumpkin spice was my favorite flavor, but they usually only sell it in the fall.

“How did you get that?” I was wide awake instantly, trying to figure out how she had conjured this magic trick.

“Remember that barista I hooked up with at my party?” She winked at me and my heart melted. “Ass, grass, or pumpkin spice—no one rides for free.”

“Is that where you’ve been staying?” I asked.

“There were ~a few~ guys who owed me favors.”

“Oh, I’ve missed you,” I spluttered.

Instantly, tears started trickling onto my sheets. Emma put the coffee down and jumped into bed with me. She wrapped her arms around me and I felt like I was home.

“I’m sorry I reacted the way I did,” she said.

“I’m sorry I accused you of telling Brittany.”

We squeezed each other as tight as we could. I could smell the coconut oil in her hair.

“I think I just went a little crazy knowing everyone thought I was a freak. But I know...I ~know~ you would never go behind my back like that.”

“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have made you feel freaky in the first place.” Emma nestled into me the way only she knew how. “I was a bad friend.”

“I was a bitch.”

“Yeah, you were a little.” Emma looked at me, smiling, and I grabbed a pillow to hit her.

Having successfully defended my honor, I asked, “Can I have my coffee now?”

Emma laughed and got up to hand me the cup of pumpkin spiced goodness.

“There you go, chica.”

She got comfortable again as I took a sip.

“I need to tell you something.” I scrunched up my face and looked at Emma.

“I kind of hooked up with Chris last night.”

Emma’s eyes went wide.

“No! But that’s great!”

“I don’t know. I mean it’s not like I owe Sam anything, but it still felt like...wrong...” Without even noticing, I started to rub the mark on my neck. “It felt dishonest.”

“Chris is a nice guy. At least, when he’s not dating Brittany he’s a nice guy.” Emma was looking at me determinedly. “You don’t owe that mountain man anything.”

I was starting to feel like Emma had a point.

I already knew that there were so many obstacles to overcome for Sam and I to work. I hated feeling like a pariah on campus, and it’s not like I’d heard from him since I’d left. Maybe it wasn’t worth all the trouble.

And last night had felt nice. At least until the mark had started to burn.

“I have liked Chris for a while…”

“Exactly! You’ve been crushing on him for years.” She was smiling now, as if she were imagining our bright future together. “You should go for it!”

“You think?”

“Yeah, that’s the kind of boy you want to go for.”

~Is it really that simple?~

~Could I just let Sam go so easily?~

“Now tell me all about it. Where did you hook up?”

A buzz from my sheets interrupted me before I had a chance to answer.

Looking at my phone, I fell silent.

“What? What is it?” Emma asked.

“It’s a text from Sam…”

Sam

Hey gorgeous! 🐻

Helen

Hi

Sam

Long time no see.

Helen

Yeh

Sam

Guess where I am right now?!

Helen

Sam what’s going on?

Helen

Where r you?

Sam

Look outside ur window!

Helen

WHAT?!