Page 31 of The Beta's Blind Date

Almost.

Then all those reasons come flooding back into my mind, flashing through it like a slideshow on speed, and I remember. I remember why I can’t give in, why I don’t want a mate. I remember what is at stake, what there is to lose if I let myself have her.

I can’t let myself have her.

“But I’m going to grab my sweatshirt and a few other things from my car first. My ass is freezing!” she adds, pointing at her car over her shoulder, pulling me from my thoughts.

“I need to pull my car around anyway,” I say with a chuckle.

“Okay.”

“Okay,” I reply.

She walks away, and I stand there like a dumbass, watching her. Watching her as she walks, watching the stretch of her legs and the slight shake of her hips with each step she takes, watching her tight ass and the way her leggings hug her curves just so.

And even though we’re going to see her again in less than five minutes, my wolf whines in my head as she continues to move further away from us.

“Goddess, mutt, will you just chill?” I grumble under my breath, tearing my eyes from Taryn so I can get my car from the garage.

The urgency of my wolf pushes me to move faster than I want to, and my old, restored, red Mustang pulls up in front of the packhouse in almost no time at all. Taryn is waiting, an oversized white hoodie covering her workout gear and a small dark pink purse on her shoulder.

While part of me is bummed she’s covered up the tight-fitting top that hugs her toned muscles in all the right ways and shows off that sliver of skin I kept thinking about accidentally-on-purpose touching the entire time we trained earlier, there is a larger part of me that is relieved. And my wolf is pleased as punch.

He doesn’t want anyone else to see what lies underneath that baggy sweatshirt since she doesn’t have a mating mark. And I don’t need the temptation. Resisting her is difficult enough as it is. At least this way, her gorgeous body isn’t on display for my eyes and wolf to get distracted by.

“Sweet ride,” she says as she hops into the passenger seat and buckles up. “Did you restore it yourself?” she asks, running her hands over the dark leather interior.

“Sort of.” I pull away from the packhouse and drive towards the road. “My dad actually restored it first, when I was a kid, and I helped him a little. I re-restored it when I graduated high school. It was… my graduation gift to myself, I guess.”

“Very cool.” She gives the car’s interior another appreciative once over, her hands continuing to stroke the leather.

I wish it was my skin under her hands instead of the leather.

My foot slips on the gas at that unwelcome desire. To cover it, I rev the engine a few times, then zoom down the road towards the city. She grips the edge of her seat but gives a delighted laugh at the sound and the speed.

I slow down almost right away, though. As much as I would love to show her how fast this baby can go, there is enough snow dusting the ground that it isn’t a good idea. I shouldn’t even be driving my Mustang in this weather, but I’ve borrowed Wesley’s truck too many times the last few weeks, and my uncovered Jeep isn’t a better option either. I could have used one of the pack’s vehicles that are equipped with proper tires and gear, but I didn’t want any other wolf’s scent on or near us.

I mean, my wolf didn’t want that. And even though I am rejecting her, I have to do some things my wolf wants so I can keep him appeased. For now. Once she’s rejected, once the bond severs, then it won’t matter.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” she asks, settling back against the seat.

“Let’s get our food first, Cadet,” I say, shaking my head. “Food always makes bad news better.”

“You mean cookies make bad news better,” she says, her lips twitching and her eyes flicking to me.

I sigh, but my lips twitch, too. “Yes. I mean cookies.”

“I have a question,” she says, angling her body towards mine.

“Yes?”

“What are all these rules you have? The ones Sebastian said you’d eventually break.”

I grimace and look down for a moment. “No kissing, no sleepovers, no pack members, and no mate,” I say, ripping the Band-Aid off and ticking them off my fingers as I go.

“No kissing?” she asks. “Like, no kissing at all?”

I blink. Not the rule I would have assumed she’d fixate on. Then again, nothing about her has been what I expected.

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