Page 12 of An Omega Fox for Walker (Beartastic Summer of Love #4)

Fennec

Eddie must’ve really loved s’mores. He wasn’t wrong about that love, not at all, but another night of chocolate and marshmallows seemed a bit overboard.

Not that I was complaining.

But I was hesitating to go. Not because of the chocolate. Never because of the chocolate.

I was torn about Walker, and spending the day thinking on it had only left me with a level of remorse over wasting a day that could’ve been spent with him.

A lot of my feelings about Walker stemmed from guilt. I didn’t want to use him. We both knew I was only here for a week. So anything we started here would be short term. Very short term. I wasn’t that person, the one who had a fling on vacation and then went home and never thought about it again.

The other thing? I was afraid I was getting too attached to Walker.

I wanted to bring home some cute souvenirs from this trip, not a broken heart. Going back was going to be hard enough.

In the end, I decided to go to s’mores night. Life was too short to waste any more time without Walker. Even if it was a short time, I would treasure every moment.

I’d arrived and grabbed some goodies to start making my s’more when a warm hand grazed my lower back. “I was hoping to see you tonight.” His voice washed over me, and instantly I was glad I’d come tonight.

“Same here,” I said over my shoulder.

“Want me to roast your marshmallow again? I am the best at it.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “So modest. But yeah, you are the best at it. Thank you.”

I sat on one of the Adirondack chairs and waited.

Pretending to set up my graham cracker and peppermint patty, because adventurous, I watched Walker.

He smiled at others while he rotated the marshmallow over the edges of the fire, where the embers were.

And I had a perfect view of his ass. He turned and winked as I checked him out. Shoot. I’d been caught.

You know what? I didn’t care.

“See something you like?” he asked, coming over to squat in front of me and slip the perfectly toasted marshmallow onto my graham cracker.

“Yes. The marshmallow.”

Walker threw back his head and laughed. “The marshmallow is stealing all of your attention. I’m jealous.”

“Are you?” I asked.

He nodded and sat in the chair beside me. “Absolutely. By the way, that combo is fantastic.”

“Let’s see.”

The rest of the night, we talked and laughed at stories being told around the fire.

A monkey shifter told some wild stories.

He had everyone’s attention with his tales of tails.

As the night waned, people got up to leave.

Yawns resounded around the fire and, soon, only Walker and myself lounged in front of slowly dying embers.

“What do you think about a walk along the beach?”

I sighed, nodding. “Yes, please. I need to walk off some of those s’mores.”

“Nah. You deserved all those treats. I get the feeling you don’t treat yourself much. Is that true?”

Walker surprised me by taking my hand in his as we made our way to the lake and began walking the edge. The sand was still warm from the summer sun, on the bottoms of my feet. The sounds of the waves lapping at the sand calmed me, but not as much as the bear’s touch.

“I was torn about coming tonight.”

“Why is that?” He tugged on our hands, bringing us to a stop.

“I’m leaving in a few days. I don’t want you to think I’m using you as a vacation fling.

I feel guilty about it. We both know this is temporary.

” I also felt like I was using him for another reason.

Before, when we kissed, I felt the whisper of my fox again.

And then tonight, I felt him again. Nothing substantial, but everything in me knew that Walker being around drew out a reaction from my fox.

Maybe wishful thinking, but all I could do now was wish for my animal to return.

“I’ll take whatever you choose to give me, omega.”

“It’s only a couple of days,” I said, fighting the tears. I was so emotional about Walker. Even thinking about leaving here, and him, felt like mourning.

I hadn’t been this sad since the accident, and that was saying something.

“Then we soak up these couple of days. No more being torn. Let’s spend as much time together as we can.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I never want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I’m sure of it. Besides, I’m a big boy, and I know what I want. Come on. Let’s walk before I decide to take you somewhere else.”