Frustrated and tired, I reach for a glass of water and sip. Then I look over at my cats.
“At least I tried?” I ask, but they don’t say anything. They just look at me like I’m crazy, and I kind of feel like I am.
Finally, I head upstairs to my bedroom, plug my phone into the charger, and go into my bathroom. I start the shower and let the water just pour over me.
Tomorrow, I tell myself, things will be different.
Tomorrow.
When I get out of the shower, I check my phone on a whim and find that I have a match with a bear.
Interesting.
I’ve never dated a bear before. Other wolves? Yes. Foxes? Sure. Hell, I’ve even dated an eagle, but a bear?
I don’t know why, but it’s just never happened. Not that I’m opposed to bears. I’m not. Not by any means, but there’s something a little bit intimidating about bears. As a wolf, I’m fast and I’m sleek and I can sniff out just about anything, but a bear is...just big.
Bears are strong in ways I can’t possibly imagine, if only by their brute force.
And there’s a bear who wants to talk to me.
“You can do this,” I tell myself. Tonight is all about second chances, and third chances, and moving forward. Tonight is about forward motion. I can’t let myself get stuck in the trap of believing that I’m never going to find someone. Isn’t that what Foxy was talking about? She doesn’t want me to be trapped.
So I open up the app.
Since we’ve matched, there’s an option to chat now. We still can’t send pictures. That sort of thing is supposed to come later, I guess, after we’ve met in person. I’m a little surprised to see that there’s a message for me.
BEAR: Good morning, Miss Wolf.
It’s not a great line, and it’s not really enough to catch my interest, normally, but hey, maybe it’s this guy’s first time on the app, too.
WOLF: Hello, Mr. Bear.
I pause a minute before adding.
WOLF: What’s a girl have to do to get a bear hug around here?
Instantly, I can see that he’s typing.
BEAR: Careful, little wolf. You don’t want to tease bears you’ve never met.
WOLF: Maybe I do.
BEAR: Why would a pretty little wolf do a thing like that?
WOLF: It sounds like fun. Don’t you like teasing or being teased?
BEAR: That depends.
WOLF: On what?
BEAR: On whether it’s with the right person.
I stare at my phone for a long minute. Okay, so maybe this conversation is going a little differently than I expected. I’m not really sure what I thought I was getting into. I guess I figured we’d have a polite conversation about our hobbies or our jobs. Not that I would ever admit what my job is. There are so few bars around that it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out who I am.
WOLF: And what makes someone the right person?
BEAR: I know we all have our own ideas, but for me, it would be someone who is kind and caring.