Bennett - Milly Taiden Page 0,39

driver’s seat, and they were off. The drive into the next town over wasn’t too long. They only had to get onto the highway and drive like a shot.

“Okay, Ben. You need to relax,” she chided. “I can feel the stress coming off of you. Do you not trust me to bring you someplace fun and safe?”

“Honestly? I don’t know why we had to leave the house.”

Dakota felt her cheeks heat. “Look, the whole mate thing is kind of weird if you’re not used it. I sprung it on you after turning you with the serum. I figure we’re mates, but we should…” She broke off. The idea had sounded so much better in her head.

“That we should date?” he offered.

She could have kissed him for understanding what she couldn’t say. This mate thing was very cool if he was able to basically read her thoughts.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“It’s a wonderful idea.”

He grabbed her hand and placed it on the center console. She stole a peek at their joined fingers, and her heart fluttered. She didn’t even mind driving with just one hand.

It didn’t take very long to get to the college campus and find the fraternity house that had a party going on. It hadn’t been much of a gamble. She knew enough about college that at least one house would have a party on any given night. Kids were weird like that.

Especially under the crushing pressure of having to get good grades and find a career before they really knew who they were. She had experience in that domain.

“What is this?” Bennett asked as she parked the car.

She turned in her seat and gave him a big smile. “Well, I thought since you never got to experience a college party, you should.” She shrugged because now that she was saying it out loud, she felt like it was the lamest thing ever.

Bennett’s grin slowly turned into a wide smile. “A college party, huh? What does that entail exactly?”

“Well, from what I remember, loud, shitty music, cold and questionable pizza, bad beer and lots of drama, weird one-night stands. But there’s dancing and drinking games. You should at least go to one rager in your life. It’s a rite of passage you should have passed a long time ago, especially with all of those degrees you have.”

“Let’s get back to the weird one-night stand comment.” He looked down to where their hands were connected.

“I’ve had a few. No shame. We all make mistakes.”

“Indeed.”

Well, to be honest, that comment had been a test. Bennett had passed with flying colors, not that she ever doubted that he wouldn’t ace any test she threw at him. He was a good man, and he wouldn’t go all apeshit on her for not being a virginal little thing who blushed at the sight of a penis.

That so wasn’t her.

Hand in hand, they walked through the front door of the party. The music was so loud, it made her top vibrate against her skin. Bennett seemed to be soaking it all in. At least he didn’t seem to think this had been a bad idea.

Dakota was definitely regretting it. She had forgotten about the weird smells of bad pot and cheap liquor. She grabbed a few bottles of beer off of one huge table and motioned for Bennett to follow her. They walked down the hall until they came to a considerable supply closet. It was brilliant. She was going to help him a go to a college party and play his first round of seven-minutes-in-heaven all in one night.

She might not be so dumb after all.

“Cheers,” she said, knocking her beer against the one she had given him. “Fair warning, it’s very hard to get drunk as a shifter. Fast metabolism and all.” To prove her point, she chugged the contents of hers.

She laid it out on the ground. She spun it with some force, making it spin. It stopped between them.

“What would happen then?” he asked, playing into the game.

“Well, you’d have to kiss whoever the bottle was pointing to.”

“But what if I only wanted to kiss you?”

“Then you would be shit out of luck.” She gave him her best smile, meaning for it to be wanton and sexy.

It must have worked because Bennett grabbed onto her leg and brought her closer to him. His lips were right there. She could see the dimple of his chin, and she had this urge to nibble it. Instead, she reached out her hand and let