Page 65 of The Beta's Blind Date

Dominic doesn’t acknowledge her, but Dawson’s lips twitch, and his eyes light up for a moment as he nods at her before going back to his angry beta face. “Outside!” he says. “Time to train!”

I stand from my stool and move with the others, but Dominic steps in front of me. “Can we talk? Please?”

“I have training to go to,” I remind him, gesturing at the door.

“I already told Dawson and Conor that you’ll be late.”

“Even before you asked me if I wanted to talk?” I say, crossing my arms. “I guess that shouldn’t surprise me.”

He sighs and rubs his face, his shoulders dropping and his spine curving. “Taryn, please. I’m trying to apologize,” he mutters.

I swallow and look over his shoulder where Dawson stands in the doorway, his eyes on Dominic and me. His brow raises. I nod at him, and he leaves, the door slamming shut behind him.

I stare at Dominic again, my arms still crossed, waiting. Blake’s fingers drum on the countertop behind me, her plastic water bottle crackling as she plays with the lid and the label.

Dominic’s eyes flick to her and his mouth opens, but she cuts him off. “Well, I have somewhere to be so I can do something important, so I will talk to both of you some other time. You know, when I’m back from wherever I’m going and done with whatever it is I’m doing while I’m there.”

The kitchen door opens and shuts, and her footsteps fade. Dominic’s eyes move back to me as he takes a breath. “I am sorry. I’ve been an ass to you. I shouldn’t have banned you from warrior training, and I shouldn’t have commanded the pack to not help you prepare for your challenge.” He strokes his jaw, his hand on his hip, and I wait, brows raised. “Hell, I shouldn’t have made you start from the bottom of the ranks when you first moved here. I don’t know why I did. I can’t even remember why, and it’s bugging the shit out of me.”

“You were just doing what you thought best for your pack.”

“That’s a terrible excuse. Other alphas have done far worse for that same reason,” he says, and I press my lips together. “I lifted the alpha command on the pack. And you’re welcome in the warrior sessions whenever you want. Even more than twice a week.”

“Thank you.” I blow out a breath and my head tilts to the side, eyebrow raising. “You’re not just saying this to keep me from going to Crescent Lake anymore, are you?”

He crosses his arms, mirroring me, and shakes his head, a small laugh leaving him. “No, Taryn. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do.”

I nod and reach to touch his arm. “Seriously, thank you.”

“I really am sorry, Taryn. For everything.”

He holds my gaze, and I swallow, staring back at him. We stay like that, my hand on his arm, our eyes on each other, and for a moment, like a break in a violent storm, he’s the male I fell for, the male I spent most of my days with and almost every night with. He’s the male who occupied all my thoughts and fantasies, the male I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with.

But the space in my mind and my heart he left behind is filled again. Piece by piece, Reid has taken over, leaving no room for anyone else. Even though he’s off limits, even though he doesn’t want a mate, he’s all I can think about. He lives rent-free in my head and my heart, and I’m unsure how to cleanse him from my system.

What happens when the challenge is over? When I’m a warrior here, and he’s the beta there, and we have no reason to see each other anymore? Will I forget about him? Do I even want to?

Dominic uncrosses his arms and puts his hand on my shoulder as he walks away, giving it a squeeze like he used to do when we were a thing. “I’ll see you later, Taryn,” he says as he exits the kitchen.

I stare after him as he leaves. The door swinging on its two-way hinge mimics the tug of war in my heart with every day that passes, with every moment that pushes me closer to saying goodbye to Reid.

Chapter 23

TARYN

Mymindisinturmoil when I show up at Crescent Lake in the afternoon to train with Reid. He dominates my every thought, and it’s difficult to focus on anything else.

Him and his blue eyes and his cheeky grin and his chiseled muscles. Those powerful, warm arms that embraced me against his solid chest all night, holding me with tenderness. The same arms that pummeled a male into the ground, breaking his nose and jaw and taking him out of commission for the competition he was participating in, all because he said nasty shit about me.

He’s a drug, and I’m an addict, waiting for my next hit, my next high. Even though it will leave me feeling emptier when it wears off. Even though it might kill me when I can’t have any more of him.

I don’t say a word to him as we stretch on the training field. I didn’t say hello to him when I walked up. I dropped my bag on a table, pulled my jacket off, and started in on the stretching routine he’s been having me do every day this week.

He walks around me as I stretch, taking precise, even steps while observing me. He’s silent as well, taking a cue from me or perhaps picking up on the tension beneath the surface of my calm exterior.

Once I’m warm and loose and finished with the cycle of stretches, I grab my water bottle from my gym bag and sip at it, my eyes closing. I lower the bottle and Reid is there, hand stroking his chin, watching me. He takes the bottle from my hands and sets it on the table, moving in close so he can speak without others overhearing.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

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