Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (8 page)

As she drove away in her truck, her tummy fluttered with excitement at the cunning plan she was hatching.

*

Raven couldn’t stop staring at Timo’s profile. Her brain was trying to process everything that Lauren had just told her, but it was so much to take in. Timo lived in Hope Valley, and he wasn’t really a stripper. And he wanted to be with her. It was like a dream come true, but she felt like she wouldn’t be able to believe it until Timo was standing in front of her, telling her that she was the one he wanted to be with. She flitted around the cabin and the patch of lawn, impatient for Lauren to call her, and she kept taking her phone out and looking at his profile.

“How gorgeous is he?” she said to Caitlyn, sitting down next to her on the porch.

“Let me see his photos again.” Caitlyn took the phone and swiped left on his photos. There was a close-up of his handsome face, his brown eyes so deep and intense. It was followed by a series of full-body shots. There was one of him standing in a forest – probably this forest – Raven realized with a little frisson; one of him carrying a wooden beam; one of him cooking food on a barbecue, and one of him having beers with the guys, all of them looking like they’d just completed some physical labor.

“Yup. That’s the guy I remember on stage,” Caitlyn said. “He’s so hot.” The last photo was not of him but a bear – a huge bear, with silver-hued fur, standing on its back legs and looking into the camera curiously.

“Interesting,” Caitlyn said.

“It is. Funny, that bear actually reminds me of him a bit. There’s some kind of underlying resemblance.”

“There is! I didn’t see it at first, but now you mention it –”

“Hey, what’s this?” Raven cut in. “There’s a green dot at the top of his profile that wasn’t there before. What does it mean?” Caitlyn looked closely.

“It means he’s online now!” she said, and they both shrieked.

Several hours earlier

Timo lay on the bed of a budget motel on the outskirts of Russellville, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling fan as it clunked with a dull whine. Raven was nowhere to be found. He’d walked every street of the town – literally walked along every single strip of sidewalk, to the point where he felt like a street mapping vehicle, and he hadn’t been able to pick up her scent. As he’d pounded the baking streets, day after day, there had been moments when he’d thought he’d caught a whiff of her, but then it was gone again, drowned out by the stink of hot tarmac, industrial chemicals and fast-food outlets, and he concluded that he’d imagined it. He was so desperate to find her that his nostrils were conjuring up her scent. He’d tried talking to the locals, lots of them. But they weren’t friendly. He hadn’t picked up the impression that anyone knew her, but he also sensed that even if they had, they wouldn’t have given out any information to an outsider.

He felt sluggish and exhausted. Living so far away from nature wasn’t good for him. It drained his energy. His bear was curled up in a ball inside him, as if it was trying to block out its surroundings. At first, it had been eager, full of energy at the prospect of finding his mate, and it had encouraged him to keep up a fast pace, but now they were back at the motel, and Timo had acknowledged to himself that Raven wasn’t there, it was being grouchy. Absently, he counted the flakes of paint on the ceiling.
What do I do now?
he wondered. At the thought, his bear pricked up its ears. It kept urging him to find somewhere where he could shift and go for a run. But there was no wild green space for miles. “I’ll have to wait till I’m back in Hope Valley,” he muttered, and his bear lay down again with an exaggerated yawn.

The thought of going back to Hope Valley empty-handed filled him with gloom. He had to find her, even if it was to be told that she wasn’t interested in him. He just had to know. He took out his phone and looked at the map app yet again. If he stared at it much more, he’d be able to draw a picture of it from memory. He worried at a ragged fingernail. He must have been mistaken about Raven naming this town. He tried speaking the names of the neighboring towns out loud. None of them felt familiar. His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he needed to find someplace cheap where he could buy a steak tonight. He couldn’t survive another day without a decent hunk of meat. He tapped on the internet browser app to look for restaurants, but at the same time a text message appeared. It was from Lauren. His brow furrowed. He didn’t hear from her very often. He opened it:

Timo, go on Shiftr and remove the location filter. Then tell me what you find!

Huh?” he muttered. He started to tap a reply, and another message appeared:

Trust me on this, Timo. Just do it!

He laughed. Lauren was nothing if not feisty. Although, who knew what she wanted. He was about done with Shiftr and all those 82 or 85% matches that never worked out for him. He located the little orange paw print app and tapped it, then went right to the filters and removed ‘location’. Then he tapped ‘put in order of compatibility’, and ‘update’. Then he laid the phone on his chest and waited until the app pinged, telling him that it was ready. Halfheartedly, he picked it up and looked at the screen. And he dropped the phone in surprise. It bounced off the bed and hit the floor. He dived off the bed and snatched it up, anxious that something had been pressed. But no, she was still there. He tapped the thumbnail of the woman with the 100% compatibility rating, right at the top of the list. It was her. Raven. He gave a shout of joy that made the walls ring, and his bear roared.
I’ve found her!
  He zoomed in on her photo. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. She had these little freckles on her nose that he hadn’t seen in the dark, and her skin was lovely and translucent. He swiped left on her photos, but there was only the close up. It didn’t matter. He’d had intimate knowledge of that deliciously curvy body. He became aware of his cock straining against the zipper of his jeans as he recalled their incredible mating. His bear scrabbled at his insides, telling him to stop wasting time.
Right. I need to find out where she is.
He scrolled to the bottom of her profile to see if she had her locator switched on, and when he saw the name of the town, he almost dropped the phone again. “How is she in Hope Valley?” he muttered. His bear purred. “You’re right. I need to send her a message.” He thought for a moment, wishing Lauren or one of his clan was here to help him with the words. He wasn’t good at this stuff. Eventually, he wrote:

Hey, Raven. Looks like you couldn’t stay away from Hope Valley?

Bare seconds after he hit ‘send’, the app’s message alert pinged. Adrenaline jolted through his veins.
It’s from her!
It said:

The definition of irony: me being in Hope Valley and you being in my home town ;)

Timo gave a shout of laughter. He was starting to remember her sassy humor.

Well, I was just passing by, and I thought I’d check it out,
he typed.

“Really?”

He swallowed.
Maybe humor’s not my thing. I’d better just be honest.

T: No, of course not. I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since we met. I’ve been looking for you ever since the tour finished. I’ve walked every single street of this town, trying to track you down.

R: Wow. I’m blushing here. I didn’t expect to see you again, but I haven’t been able to forget about you either.
Timo’s heart thudded and his bear purred in satisfaction.

T: Are you coming back to Russellville soon? I’d like to have the honor of taking you out on a date. A real date with dinner and dancing, and anything you want.

R: That sounds lovely, but I don’t have any plans to come back.

T: Oh. Why?

R: Because I’ve moved to Hope Valley, silly!
His bear let out a roar of joy.

T: Wow. Are you serious?

R: Yes : ) I’m sitting in the national park right now, outside a cabin that I’ve just rented out, and I have a feeling that you don’t live too far away.

T: I don’t! I live right in the heart of the park. So maybe we should have that date somewhere a little more local?

R: Haha, yes, let’s.

T: How about tomorrow night?

R: My diary’s looking clear right now.

T: Great. I’ll pick you up at eight.

R: I’m staying in the rental cabins on the east side of the park. The one with the green door. If that’s not enough information, can you ask Lauren to explain?

T: I think I know it.

Timo had a good idea where she lived, but he knew that he’d be able to scent her the moment he entered the forest.

R: I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow, then. Maybe we can swap stories about my hometown.

T: I’d like that.

R: Haha, I wouldn’t. I’ll see you then xox

T: I can hardly wait to see you, Raven xox.

Timo let out a long breath. And then he leapt from the bed as if he’d been electrocuted. It was a long, long way back to Hope Valley, and there wasn’t a minute to waste. He grabbed his things and threw them in his duffel bag, then he hurtled to the reception and checked out. Another minute later, he was in a taxi, heading to the bus station. On the way, he looked at the bus connections. And he repressed a howl of frustration. The next possible set of connections wouldn’t get him back to Hope Valley for more than forty hours.

“Can you stop for a moment?” he called to the taxi driver. Hesitantly, he searched for a flight website instead. Bears didn’t fly. They were creatures of the earth and needed to keep their feet on the ground at all times. But if he took the bus, he wouldn’t get to see Raven tomorrow, and he’d probably have to wait another 24 hours. That would be unbearable. The website told him that there was a flight leaving in two hours from an airport that was 30 minutes way from his current location. There was nothing to think about.

“I’ve changed my mind. I need to go to Hudson airport instead,” he told the driver.

Timo clung tight to the armrests as the plane took off, certain that it was going to plunge straight back to the earth again. His bear whimpered and yowled in terror, and he pressed his lips together to keep the sound in, and tried to send it calming thoughts.
It’s worth it; I’ll be seeing Raven, my mate, in less than a day,
he reminded it.

Before long, the plane leveled out and his stomach unknotted itself. Air stewardesses started walking up and down the cabin, offering food and drinks to the passengers. He took a beer and it helped to take the edge off his nerves. He occupied his mind with thoughts of Raven. He couldn’t wait to spend time with her, to get to know her better. He wanted to know everything about her. He knew she was passionate and feisty, but he felt like he’d only scratched the surface and that hidden depths lay beneath her sweet exterior. He imagined them lying in bed together after mating, her snuggled into his arms, telling him all her secrets.

An hour and a half after takeoff, his stomach lurched again and his ears began to hurt. He shook his head violently. It was an awful sensation.

“Are you ok, sir?” a passing air stewardess asked him.

“I feel like I’ve got a wasp buzzing in my ears or something,” he grunted. She suppressed a small smile.

“Is it your first time flying in a plane, sir?” she asked.

“Yup. And hopefully my last.” She smiled again, kindly.

“It’s normal to feel some discomfort in your ears as the plane begins its descent. Try chewing some candy.” She passed him a couple of pieces. “Just hang in there, we’ll be on firm ground very soon.”

“Thanks,” he said.

The next minutes dragged on and he felt like his eardrums were going to burst, but at long last, the plane bumped onto the runway and his bear purred in relief, causing the people in the row in front to jump and whip their heads around to look at him. Timo closed his eyes. He didn’t care. He was on firm ground again, and only an hour from Hope Valley, where he’d be meeting Raven in less than a day.

As he waited to get off the plane, Timo switched his phone back on. There was a message from Connor:

Hey, Big guy. Just wondering how you’re doing so far away from home and how the search is going? The clan misses you! I also wanted to let you know that we’re doing a final show in Hope Valley tomorrow night. We’ve been holding off as we were hoping you’d be back by then, but tomorrow is the last slot the town hall has available for us for a few weeks, and we didn’t want to disappoint all those ladies who keep asking when it’s gonna be ;) It’s a shame you won’t be there, but we’ll just have to cope without you! Catch you soon.

Timo gnawed his bottom lip. He would be back in time to do the show, but only because he was flying back to see Raven. What should he do?
Go and see your mate,
his bear urged him, pushing at his skin. But he couldn’t let his clan down. They were all in this tour together. He couldn’t stand the thought that they’d all be working while he was having fun. He’d have to postpone with Raven. But after waiting to find her for so long, he also couldn’t stand the thought of waiting another day. What a dilemma. He hated being stuck in situations like this, where, no matter which option he chose, he’d end up upsetting somebody.

A thought struck him as he walked out of the airport and took a long, grateful sniff of fresh air. He could ask Raven if she’d mind having a late date that night. He slapped his hand across his forehead. He was such a simple bear. Sometimes, the most obvious thing was the one he thought about last. He tapped the orange paw print app on his phone and messaged her, asking if she’d be willing to have dinner at 9.30 tomorrow night.

Outside, he climbed into a taxi and spread out on the back seat, watching the scenery speed by for the next hour.