Ryan watched his brothers with his two nephews and tried not to let any feeling of bitterness come over him as he took in their obvious happiness. After all, he’d been overjoyed when he found out he was going to be an uncle. He’d scented it on Janna before anyone else, and had had to wait until she told her husband and the rest of the family.

Truthfully, Kylie already felt like a part of the family. She’d been at both weddings, often came over to be with Janna and Leslie, and had been a part of the group since the boys first came to the lodge.

Now he knew that he wanted to make her even more a part of the family, and suddenly she had a problem with it. He sighed deeply as he sat on the couch between his brothers, who were in chairs on either side of him. Riley was burping Riley Jr. and Ryder was holding Jace in his arms and looking at him like he still expected him to break at any moment.

Since they’d all been pretty close in age, only a few years apart each, he guessed they’d never really gotten the experience with babies that bigger families did. Riley had taken to fatherhood with a goofy, light-spirited joy that was almost too laid back.

Ryder had been almost paranoid of the little person invading his life, but Ryan could see the love and protection shining from his brother’s eyes very clearly. They loved their sons.

And he, as uncle, loved them fiercely as well. The next generation. They wouldn’t know if they could shift until they were older. He hoped they could, hoped they’d be able to run with him in bear form and let him teach them about bear ways. But as he watched them, he couldn’t help thinking of a little blond version of his own with Kylie’s calm blue eyes. The thought made his heart clench inside his chest and he lifted a hand to rub it. When he realized what he was doing, he set it down.

“Want to hold him?” Riley asked, holding out his son. Riley Jr. was beautiful, with his mother’s brown curls in a short fuzz over his head, a little button nose, indented lips, and chocolate brown eyes. He looked at Ryan with a calm, serene little face as he was placed in his arms, and Ryan felt his heart melting and oozing out all over the floor at the tiny warmth in his hands.

How could he love his nephews so much already? Riley Jr. hiccuped and flailed out a hand, and Ryan caught the little fist inside his hand. It fit right inside because it was so tiny. As he looked down at Riley Jr. and Riley Jr. Looked blearily up at him, he thought nothing could be more perfect.

Then Junior’s little mouth pursed, and he threw up all over Ryan’s lap. Ryan eyes widened and I looked to his brothers for help. All he got was laughter, as Riley stood up to get a burp rag and came back to hand it to Ryan and take Junior. Ryan shook his head as he wiped goo off his leg. It’d been worth it to hold his nephew, even if the little tyke was sort of a vomit machine.

He eyed Jace, wondering if he’d have any luck there, but Jace looked back at him with cool blue eyes that were just a little lighter than his dad’s. Though he was only two months, he was already the opposite of calm little Junior, and he gave Ryan and everyone who wasn’t his parents an imperious, cold look that said he wasn’t interested in any of them.

It made Ryan laugh, and the noise made Jace’s little face crumple just before he let out a howl and Ryder had to stand and rock him against his shoulder. Jace was a crier, and had been a bit difficult for his parents at times.

Did babies always look this tiny, or was it just because he and his brothers were huge? Either way, he kind of wished he had one also. It’d be fun to have three little cousins running around together. Even if he kind of hoped for a girl. One that looked just like Kylie.

He let out a sigh and rested his chin in his hand as his brothers took care of their kids.

“Hm, now that’s the sound of a man with lady troubles,” Riley said, turning to him as he burped Junior over his shoulder. “How are things going with Kylie?”

Ryan shook his head. “I don’t know. Good, I thought. I mean, when she came to see me after the accident, I figured she’d forgiven me for leaving. But I guess it was wrong.”

“Women don’t like being abandoned,” Riley said.

“I didn’t abandon her,” Ryan said. “I went back to my career. We weren’t together.” But the more he said it, the more wrong it felt. He shouldn’t have left. He shouldn’t have gone to that stupid competition in the first place.

“It doesn’t even look like you believe that,” Ryder said astutely. “So what happened? I thought you were just teaching her to snowboard.”

“Did you know she had a prosthesis?” Ryan asked, looking up at them. “I didn’t, not until she came to tell me to pull my head out of my butt and get back out there.”

“Not too out there, I hope,” Riley said. “I don’t want you risking another injury, or looking like you’re risking another injury.”

Ryan shook his head. “No. I’m staying on the bunny hills. But did you know about her?”

Riley shook his head. “Leslie never mentioned it. I guess it’s Kylie’s to talk about, you know? It’s not who she is, it’s just something she deals with.”

“I know,” Ryan said. “But I think it’s damn impressive how she handles it. Doesn’t let it define her. I was more of a baby over just missing a competition.”

“Hey,” Riley said. “That’s an insult to babies. Riley Jr. would never have acted that silly.”

“Right,” Ryan said with a grin. “He would have just barfed.”

Riley frowned. “This is true. He’s a barfy little guy. But we love him anyway. Don’t we?” He proceeded to baby talk to Riley Jr. In a way that Ryan would have found gross not too long ago, but now just found a bit sweet. He wanted his own to baby talk to. And the one woman his bear wanted was too stubborn to come around. He’d need to give her more time, but he didn’t know how to wait, now that he knew she was the one. He wanted to just claim her and be done with it.

“So what happened?” Riley asked again. “You keep avoiding answering.”

Ryan sighed. “That’s because I don’t know exactly what happened. I don’t even know when or where my bear decided on her. I don’t know if I’ve been ignoring it from the start, or if something happened recently.”

“You’ve been ignoring it from the start,” Riley and Ryder said together, looking at each other in triumph.

Ryan waved a hand. “Fine, fine. I’ve been ignoring it from the start. And that’s making it damn hard to convince her now that I really do like her. That it has nothing to do with my accident, and I’m sorry for leaving. But after I made love to her—”

Junior let out a little burp as Riley tapped his back a little harder, and Riley turned to Ryan in shock. “What? You what?”

Ryan scratched his head and looked away. “Um, we sort of…well it was supposed to be a one-time thing, but then—”

“But once you’ve been with your mate, you know damn well it can’t be a one time thing,” Ryder said, sitting again with a calmer Jace in his arms.

“Right,” Ryan said. “Now it’s gotta be a forever thing. But she doesn’t trust me. She thinks I’m brain damaged.”

Riley barked out a laugh. “Well, doesn’t anyone who doesn’t know you’re a bear think that? I mean your brain literally was damaged by your fall. And it shouldn’t be healed now. Even for a shifter, it shouldn’t be healed. Say, do you think you have an alpha power?”

“Maybe.” Ryan shrugged. “But anyway, what do I do now?”

“Send her some flowers,” Riley said. “Get on that now.” Ryan raised an eyebrow, and Riley pulled out his phone and tossed it to him. “Now.”

“But, we just—”

“Right, and you’ve got a hell of a lot of romancing to catch up on, so I’d start this instant. Just smother her with love. It’s the only way you’re going to overcome all those memories of rejection in her mind.”

“I agree,” Ryder said. “You have to be every bit as aggressive about pursuing her as you were about avoiding her. Or it won’t work.”

“What if I do all of that and she just thinks I’m a stalker?”

Ryder and Riley looked at each other and then back at him. “It’s not stalking when the woman likes you back. That’s called dating.”

“But what if she won’t go on a date with me?”

“Send more flowers,” Riley said. “And pray.”

Ryan let out a sigh. “Right. I’ll need it.”

“Well, can you think of something else she might like?” Ryder asked. “Maybe instead of showering her with flowers, you could mix it up by giving her a thoughtful gift. One that says you’re in full possession of your faculties, but you are also crazy about her and know her better than she thinks you do.”

Something else she might like? He thought about it as Ryder and Riley continued to stare at him. “Actually, I just thought of something.” He stood and placed kisses on the heads of each of his nephews and then went for the door. “I’ve gotta go get something ready.”

“In the meantime,” Riley said. “Send flowers.”

“Will do,” Ryan said, waving at them before he closed the door. As he headed out into the snow, toward the path that led to the main lodge, he thought out his plan. It’d be perfect.

---

Kylie was putting on her sleeve so she could put on the socket for her prosthesis when a knock sounded on the door. Riley had gone above even what she’d been promised and had set her up in her own little private cabin. It was the perfect size and she was enjoying every bit of what was now a vacation. She guessed Ryder and Riley were just really grateful that she seemed to have pulled Ryan out of his funk.

She stood and pushed her sleeved residual limb into the socket and listened for the rush of air as the vacuum sealed. Then she pushed once more to get the last of the air out. The vacuum would keep her foot locked to the bottom of her leg by the socket. She pulled on a sock to cover the gap and stood to go to the door just as another knock sounded against it.

Whoever was there was pretty impatient, and she had a good idea of just who it was. Of course, he wouldn’t even give her a day to get settled in before showing up. It was just yesterday morning that they’d made love. And then he’d sent flowers later that morning, and now he was probably right outside her door. She peeked through the window next to the door and saw him standing there, looking handsome in his snow coat and a tight pair of designer jeans. He was holding a huge package in his hands and seemed to be glowing from the toes up.

So just why was he in such a good mood this morning?

He whistled to himself as he waited, and she finally let out a groan and swung open the door, sort of fearful to find out what was in that gigantic package. As soon as the door was open, he pushed his way in, giving her a jovial smile and dragging the package with him.

She had no choice but to move out of the way, so she did, allowing him a wide berth as he walked into the house. “What is that thing?” she asked.

He gave her a mischievous smile and wiggled his eyebrows. He set it on the floor in front of the bed and gestured for her to come sit down. “Now you can sit and unwrap it and see for yourself.”

“I don’t need to sit,” she said, folding her arms and coming over to rest on the bed just the same.

“Yes you will,” he said. “You’ll need your strength to use my present.”

Her eyebrows went up. He couldn’t have. He’d already used his connections in the snowboarding world to help her order a prosthesis and boots that would allow her to snowboard. If this was what she thought it was, it would be too much.

Still, she unwrapped the paper and pulled it down to reveal a huge cardboard box. She gave him a questioning glance but he just looked innocently away. She had to admit it was cute how excited he got about giving gifts. This new, smothering-her-with-affection Ryan was definitely preferable to the old, intent-on-rejecting-her Ryan.

She tore open the cardboard flaps at the top and lifted the box to slide whatever was in there onto the ground. A long, black nylon bag rolled out. At the sight of black fabric, she couldn’t help thinking about the scarves he’d used to tie her, and her cheeks flamed in response. She got on the ground to unzip the bag, and gasped when she saw what was inside.

“You got me a snowboard?” she asked, pulling it out onto the rug. It had gorgeous bindings accented with gleaming silver, with large, high quality foam straps that would hold her boots in securely. She had her own boots but she’d been renting the board and bindings each time they went. It was getting old, but she knew nothing about picking out a board.

It meant a lot that Ryan had done this for her. After all, it felt a little like she was being accepted into his world as a permanent fixture. His snowboarding world at least.

But could she accept such a big, generous gift? She ran her hands over the smooth surface of the board. It was white, with vibrant graphics of flowers and splashes of water, and had kind of a surfer motif to it. She studied the sides and admired the layers of plastic and wood that made up the board. It wasn’t that long, about as long as her rentals, and curved up at the ends like all boards did. But it felt different. Special. Hers.

She picked it up and hugged it to her, even if it was a little awkward that it was kind of sharp on the edges and the bindings were flapping everywhere since they were open.

“Want to go use it?” he asked quietly. She could tell he was pleased she liked it, but was trying to stay calm about it. His hair was done today, tousled perfectly into blond tufts. His tan face looked more relaxed than she’d seen it in a while. Maybe even since she’d seen him. For whatever reason, he’d really enjoyed getting her the snowboard.

He knelt on the floor with her. He was much taller than she was even when kneeling, and she felt tiny in his presence. But his strength, his height, his magnetic presence, was reassuring somehow. She always felt safer when he was around.

“I got one that’s perfect for a beginner, but will still give you a smooth, stable ride when you’re ready for steeper terrain.” He stood and reached out a hand to help her to her feet, and stood the snowboard in front of her. “Perfect height. Since you’re new, I went with one right about chin height. Mine is closer to my nose height, but the longer and stiffer the board, the harder to control.”

He turned the board away from her and flexed it against the ground gently. “It’s not too stiff, but it’s not so bendy that you’ll rattle on flat areas or at high speeds.” He gave her a grin. “And of course, I went with the prettier graphics, and a killer brand.” He held it out to her. “What do you think?”

Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes and she smiled and looked away until she composed herself. He studied her curiously, as if worried he’d offended her. She waved a hand. “I don’t know anything about what you just said. But this is so thoughtful. One of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever been given.”

“More thoughtful than anything Taylor has given you?” he blurted out. Then his eyes widened, as if he hated himself for saying it, and he clapped a hand over his mouth and turned away. “I’m sorry, it’s none of my business. I don’t know why I’m so damn jealous.”

She couldn’t be angry with him when he was already angry with himself, so she simply set the board down on the ground and came over to hug him from behind. He inhaled in surprise and turned to face her.

“So you like it?”

“Like it?” she said. “I love it. I can’t wait to use it. But…”

“But what?” he asked, looking her over.

“I don’t know. I don’t want things to be awkward between us. I don’t really know what’s going on.”

“Well, that’s perfect, because I don’t either. So why don’t we just go up and have some fun on the slopes and not make it more complicated than it has to be?”

“As friends?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Sure. As friends.” He put out an arm for her and swiped her snowboard off the ground. “Shall we go?”

She laughed. “Sure. Just let me get my boots.” She ran and did so, excited to just get up on the snow with him and enjoy a day of not thinking about what had happened yesterday morning.

She could do that, right? After all, how much trouble could they get into while simply snowboarding?