A Bridge to Love by Lee Colgin

Author:Lee Colgin [Colgin, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NineStar Press, LGBTQIA+, wolf shifters, Paranormal, seasonal, Troll, Holiday, sweet, friends to lovers, slow burn, christmas
Publisher: NineStar Press
Published: 2020-12-06T18:30:00+00:00

Folding another handful of raisins into the batter, Toby glanced over at Surry, Timothy’s mate, who awaited his reply. She’d had enough of Toby’s moping and had told him as much, then demanded to know the cause. When a pregnant woman corners you in her own kitchen, you answered.

“I’ve done something stupid, and I feel bad for it.” Toby stared into the mixing bowl rather than look Surry in the eyes.

“Tell me what you’ve done,” said Surry as she rinsed the dishes in the sink. “I’m sure it wasn’t so awful that a heartfelt apology won’t fix things.”

Toby wasn’t so sure, though he had to talk to someone. He’d been so lonely keeping his feelings to himself. “Do you remember Arlo?”

Surry arched one brow without moving the other, a trick Toby had always found amusing when she did it to Timothy but not so much when she aimed the expression at him.

“The troll you speak about as if he hung the moon?” she asked. “The same troll with blue eyes and black freckles who guards the bridge at Elk River but no longer asks you for tribute. That Arlo?”

Had he really been so obvious? Toby gave a little shrug. “The very same.”

She rolled her eyes. “And?”

“I’ve fallen for him,” Toby admitted. A glance to Surry revealed she’d figured that out long ago. “But it will never work.” Toby went on to explain what had happened on his last visit. Though embarrassed, he told her about the leaf pile, the kisses, and all the things Arlo had confessed to wishing for afterward. “You see? He wants a life I cannot give him, and I only want him to be happy. So I must stay away.”

“And you have not seen him since?”

Toby continued to stir the batter needlessly. “No.”

“But Toby, it has been weeks!” Surry knocked him playfully over the head with her dishtowel. “Arlo won’t understand why you haven’t come to see him. You’ll have hurt his feelings.”

Toby’s shoulders sank with guilt. “I know. I feel terrible, but I don’t know what to say.”

She put her hands on her hips and huffed. “Have you tried, ‘I’m sorry’?”

Toby stared at her. Apologizing occurred to him regularly, he’d even tried to work out what he would say, but having come to no clear decision, he’d put it off.

Surry continued, “Do you want to stay friends?”

“Of course.” That much he knew for certain.

“Then you must go back and explain.” Surry gentled her voice. “If Arlo is as kind as you say he is, he will understand.”

“I know, but first I want to think of a decent tribute, make it, then figure out what I’m going to say and how to say it. Then maybe I can go see him.”

“You’re overcomplicating this.” Surry took Toby by the shoulders and turned him away from the mixing bowl to face her. “Plus, I suspect you may be wrong.”

“That’s the problem.” Toby met her steady golden-brown gaze. “I was wrong to kiss him.”

“No, I mean you may be wrong about what he meant when you spoke afterward.

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