idiots. I mean, she makes me so nervous sometimes, but if I admit it, she thinks it's cute. Fucking cute, right?" He laughed once. "I dunno. It's like all the games don't matter to her. She's not like most girls because she's a woman. And yeah, maybe we're out of our league, but she doesn't seem to mind. So, treat her like a partner, not a conquest, I guess."
I just stared at him. "When did you become the smart one?" I joked.
"No fucking idea," he admitted. "I just know that I don't want to screw this up, so I guess I'd rather look stupid than risk it."
"She's not going anywhere," I pointed out.
He gave me the dirtiest look ever. "Doesn't mean you'll be included in her love life, though. She's here for Ian and Lane right now. They put in the effort. You two? You're so used to picking up Ian's scraps that you think that's all there is, but I'm willing to bet, now that she's turned her attention on you, you've realized that you like it. You don't wanna be the leftovers anymore, right?" So he pointed at the door. "The answers you want are lying in your bed, and if you don't want her there, send her to mine."
I pushed myself away from the wall. "You're pushing a little too hard, Seth."
But the little fucker just moved to face me. "This isn't about your pride, Pax, or Trent's ego. It's about her. I get the impression that this is very much an all or nothing deal in her mind, so don't you dare fuck this up for Lane. We all know that Ian would skin us before putting him through losing her."
I paused, checking my urge to show my dominance. "You're right," I admitted. "Sorry, man."
Seth just slapped my shoulder. "All good. I'm also willing to fight for her." He looked over at Trent. "Pretty sure you're there too."
Trent just pointed at me. "I go with him."
So Seth smiled. "Figure your shit out, Pax."
"I'm fucking trying," I hissed. "But don't you get it? You keep talking about only having one long term relationship. Us?" I gestured to Trent to make it clear exactly who I meant. "We didn't have any. We were Ian's betas by the time we could walk. The only relationship I've ever had was Karen and a few one-nighters. I have no fucking clue how to keep from screwing this up."
"Tell her that," Seth said. "She gets that we're wolves. She knows that we didn't grow up the same way she did."
"She's willing to say what she wants, too," Trent added.
"Yeah," I mumbled, leaning back against the wall. "Shit. Screwing her? That's easy. I know how to make her feel good. Protecting her? Same. I can kill anyone who tries to hurt her. Making her happy, though?"
"So we need to spend more time with her when we're not naked," Trent decided.
I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Guys, we're going to need some kind of schedule, because we can't take over all her time."
"That," Seth said, pointing at me. "That's how you impress her. Thinking about her time? Being considerate like that? She'll notice."
Which made me realize I wasn't as bad at this as I'd feared. I'd been thinking about this relationship in terms of impressing her and seducing her. What I needed to do was care about her. To be considerate. Shit, and all of that sounded just like how I treated these guys.
"We just need to treat her as if Ian picked up a female beta," I said. "Part of the team." Then I began to smile. "And she wants to be a wolf."
"Uh huh," Trent said. "That's why she wanted to go without condoms."
Seth chuckled at me. "Sometimes, Pax, you're a fucking moron, man."
"Fuck off," I laughed. "That thought actually went with the other, about treating her like a beta." I leaned my head back against the wall. "I have never liked a woman this much, guys. I just want to listen to her talk all day long. I could sit in that office and watch her on the phone. I'm actually more worried about fucking her simply because I don't want her to think I'm just in this for a piece of ass, and I've never been like this before."
"You have a crush," Trent teased. "Seriously, man. That's what this is."
"Shit, I stopped crushing on girls when I was in high school."
Trent just lifted a brow. "Yeah? Because thinking about her all