Page 23 of The Beta: Part Three
“Jonas. We're leaving. I don't care what you think or what you say, but I will not allow you to antagonize or upset my omega any more than you already have.” Then he turns away from Seth's father and moves me with him, using his body to block me as we walk out the door.
We don't wait in front of the restaurant for the valet to bring the car. Devon tells them to meet us around the corner, and he grabs my hand to pull me down the sidewalk. My teeth are still chattering and my breath is short. I don't understand why I'm having this reaction. My phone starts dinging notifications right before Devon's rings. He answers it with a gruff, “everything's fine.”
I only hear half of the conversation, and I don't want to let go of Devon's warm hand to dig around in my bag for my phone.
“She's alright....yeah....Jonas was at the restaurant....no...I know...I know...I'll ask.” He turns back to me just as we reach the corner, “do you want me to take you back home?”
I hope my eyes aren't as wide as they feel. I don't want to go back home like this. It will freak everyone out and they'll blame Devon. He really didn't do anything wrong, it wouldn't be fair. And the questions and fussing...no. I don't want to go home right now. I shake my head.
He nods once, “no, she's not ready to come home...I don't know, I'm looking at her right now. She's a little shaken up, but she's okay...no, I don't think so.” He touches my cheek with his other hand, then my forehead, “maybe a little...I'll keep an eye on it...she's going to be fine...I've got her...yeah, I'll let you know...okay. Bye.”
“Reid thinks you're having a panic attack. Corso thinks you're in shock. Alex thinks you need a drink. Jasper, Nathan, and Trent want me to bring you home. What do you want? That's what we'll do. All you have to do is tell me.”
I think they're all right, but I still don't want to go home. “I'm fine.”
“No, honey, you're not. But you will be. Let's get out of here. This isn't the place for us. I wanted to take you somewhere special and nice, you never got all the omega pageantry and I wanted you to have just a little of that. But you don't like that stuff any more than I do.” He wraps his warm, nearly hot, hands around my biceps and holds them firmly, keeping eye contact, until our car pulls up to the curb. Then he puts me into the car. He even buckles my seat belt for me.
Devon pulls into the street, I don't know where we're going. It doesn't matter. My teeth won't stop chattering, and he keeps glancing over at me. This is fucking awful. “I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me right now.”
He snorts. Then a laugh barks out of him that makes me jump. “Absolutely not. Don't you dare apologize for this, or any of the other things that are not, in any way, your fault. None of this shit is your fault, Talia. Us treating you like shit when we got you wasn't your fault. Mecontinuouslybeing horrible to you wasn't your fault. You were a perfect beta, you didn't deserve any of that shit. Jonas and Seth being shit isn't your fault. Fucking Jay and Derrick weren't your fault. What those rogues did sure as fuck wasn't your fault. And this reaction that you're finally having because of all of that shit, isn't your fault either. I honestly don't know how you've held it together this long. You might have cried a little bit after I got water everywhere and with the coffee thing, but this,” he motions to me in general, “is the reaction you should have had a couple months ago. You scare the hell out of me, you know that?”
“I...what?” I stammer. It sounds like he's yelling at me, but his words don't match it.
“You scare the shit right out of me, Talia. I don't know what to do with you. You can take on any one of us, and I don't mean sex. But you seem so fragile sometimes. You're not afraid of a single fucking thing, but then you have this kind of reaction to Jonas Pratchett trying to force an apology, that he doesn't fucking deserve, on you and all I want to do is wrap you up and protect you from the whole goddamned world. I thought you were going to take Jasper from me, but you were never going to do that, and now I have both of you and I'm fucking terrified. I am unbelievably and incredibly grateful that we have a bigger pack now. You and Jasper are going to need every single one of us to keep you safe. My god, I have no business having you out right now with just me to protect you. I'm so fucking stupid and careless. Jesus. I'm taking you home.”
That's a lot for him to unload, and even more for me to process, but Ireallydo not want to go home cold and shaky, with my teeth chattering from nerves. “Please don't take me home. Not yet.”
He shoots me a quick look then puts his eyes back on the road, “where do you want to go? I'll take you anywhere you want. Just tell me what you need and I'll make it happen.”
“Chili fries.”
“What?”
“I need chili cheese fries.”
I grab onto the door handle as Devon swings us around in an unexpected u-turn.
“And shots. And horrible music.”
He doesn't look back over at me, but he does smile and reach over and grab my hand. He holds it all the way to the seedy little bar on the outskirts of the city, then he tells me again to not open the door again.
The music playing in the bar assaults my ears in the best way when I step out of the car and take Devon's arm when he offers it to me. I'm still shaky, but my teeth aren't chattering as much anymore. Someone lets out a whistle as we walk through the door, but Devon glares around the bar, which ensures the end of that. He leads me to a booth and motions the waitress over to order us a truck load of chili cheese fries and a round of shots.
“This music seems horrible enough to me. How about you?”
I nod my head and look around. I've never been here before, but it's obvious that Devon has. He's tipped his chin up at several guys, including the rough-looking bartender.
“I like it,” I say. I do like it, and it is pretty terrible. Sometimes you just need a jukebox blaring an awful mix of country and classic rock to help you feel better. The food and shots arrive and I feel even better. These fries aren't as good as the ones at Danny's Bar and Grill, but they're still amazing.
“Do you have any idea what I ordered us at the other place?” Devon asks before he downs his shot.
I shake my head and throw back my own shot, enjoying the burn down my throat. It takes a few minutes, and several fries, for me to realize that one shot is having an effect on me.
“You've got to be kidding me. This isnota perk.”
“What? What's wrong?” He looks genuinely confused.
“One shot,” I glare at the empty glass. “One fucking shot and I'm already feeling it. This is some omega bullshit.”
