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As she gently opened them, her eyes widened. “Cullen! This place is fancy…” She trailed off, rummaging through the bags.

“I didn’t know what kind of chocolate you like, so I got a bit of everything, and I heard the dark chocolate could be good for headaches. Now, I don’t know if that’s a medical fact or just what people say because they want chocolate when they have a headache, but I thought it would be best I get it.”

“You bought so much,” she whispered as she stared at the goodies.

“Well, I owe you an apology.”

“What for? You’ve done several asshole things in the last few weeks.” She grinned at me as she spoke.

Clearly, she wasn’t going to let me off easy.

“The whole accusing you of being a stalker?”

Bethany bit her lip thoughtfully. “Though your logic was fucked up, I can understand why you did that. Whereas other things you’ve done are just cruel. You told me I looked like a cheap whore…”

My face was probably bright red. I was usually so much more confident. Talking to one sickly omega shouldn’t have been as painful as this was, but Bethany had a way of putting me through the wringer.

As she spoke, she pulled out the chocolate, oohing and aahing at the various options as she inspected them. Totally unaware that I was mentally warring with myself as I tried to figure out how I could properly apologize for everything.

“I didn’t mean it. I…let’s just say, the things I said that night had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. You looked stunning.”

Bethany nodded. “I know I did. I’ve been saving that dress for a date, and unfortunately, I ended up going on a date with an alpha that smelled like raw meat.” She shuddered. “Maybe dating isn’t in the cards for me for a while.”

I swallowed. Should I encourage her to date, tell her that she’s beautiful and any guy would be lucky to have her? Or should I let her think that dating wasn’t for her just so I didn’t have to watch her with other men?

One thing was for sure: I was going insane.

“From what my staff told me, he’s a bit of an asshole. Word has it, he pulled theI forgot my walletmove with several women.”

Bethany’s nose scrunched adorably. “Well, in that case, maybe I dodged a bullet.”

“You can slap me again, if you want.”

She grinned. “I’ll remember that the next time you piss me off. It’s kind of hard to be angry, though, when I’ve got this much chocolate in front of me…oh! Raspberry white chocolate. This looks amazing.”

“You need real food as well. What do you want?”

“There were these garlic and herb lima beans on the menu at the restaurant. I was going to order them before you so rudely interrupted my date…”

I burst out laughing. “I’ll have them whipped up in twenty minutes.”

“I can get used to this service.” She giggled, popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth as I turned to leave. “Though, Cullen,” Bethany called out around a mouthful of chocolate as I reached the door.

“Yeah?” I turned back to look at her, and she was smiling sweetly at me.

“You ever call me a whore again, and I’ll take a crowbar to that pretty car of yours.”

Chapter 17

Beth

“Take it easy. I mean it,” Gideon said as we pulled up outside my dorm.

“I will. I promise.”

I didn’t promise him how long I would take it easy for. The rest of the night seemed like a good amount of time before I went to my morning class.

Gideon frowned. “Maybe you should have stayed at the pack house.” His gaze was piercing as I squirmed in the passenger seat.