Page 60 of How to Lose a Pack in 10 Dates

Her eyes meet mine. “I know.”

She leans in then and presses her lips to my cheek. It's just a brush of a kiss; a silent and fleetingthank-you, but I feel it like a brand.

“You know,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. “You didn’t answer my other question.”

“Which one?”

“When’s our next date.”

Her mouth opens, then closes. “You know, now that I think about it… you don’t really seem like the dating type.”

I shrug. “Maybe I am now.”

She goes quiet, chewing her lip and tracing her nail along the condensation on her plastic cup. I lean back in the booth and stretch my arm across the top of it, watching her.

Wes didn’t want to do the app. He said it was dumb, that it would never work.

So naturally, I voted to sign us up.

At first, I figured we’d get a few decent matches. Maybe flirt, maybe fuck, maybe laugh when Wes inevitably got paired with someone terrifying. I thought it’d be fun. Agame.

But then I sawher, and everything stopped feeling like a game.

The match percentage was almost comical—something out of a fantasy or a glitch in the system. Wes lost his shit when he saw her profile. He acted like it was a threat, but I saw a fucking miracle; and I’m not about to walk away from that just because he’s too scared to deal with it.

“So. You gonna come back to the gym?”

She gives me a flat look. “Do youwantto kill me?”

“I want totrainyou.”

“You want toruinme.”

“Same thing,” I grin. “But I’ll take you out after, so it balances.”

She pretends to think it over, reaching for the last chip and dunking it dramatically in the salsa. Then—eyes wide, voice sugar-sweet—she asks, “Are you and Cam still serious about that whole… me staying at the pack house thing?”

I pause, tension rising. “We aredead serious. Come on, Aimee. You know that.”

She bites her lip. “I just… I don’t know. I really want to stay, and give this a real shot,but…I don’t want to push Wes too far. He looked like he was barely tolerating me the other day, and if I start showing up around the house…”

She trails off with a helpless shrug, and I lean forward.

“He’ll deal with it.”

“Jace…”

“No,” I cut in. “You don’t worry about him. You want to come stay, you come stay.I’llhandle Wes.”

Her brows lift. “You’d do that?”

“I’d doanythingto make sure you’re safe and close to me,” I tell her, and fuck, and I mean it. Every word. “You’re matched to us. Tome. You think I’m just gonna let you wander off?”

She stares at me for a beat, then tilts her head. “You’re very intense, you know that?”

“Good.” I lean back again, picking up my water bottle. “Youdeserveintense.”

“Well… I appreciate it.” She smiles, soft and coy. “And... I’ll think about it.”

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