10. Ben #3
Were my wife still alive, I was sure down to the very marrow in my bones that she would want only good things for Giselle.
Millia had always been kinder and more insightful than I was.
So, even though I was a bit emotionally conflicted about being on a date with someone else, I could at least take solace in the fact that I was helping carry on my wife’s legacy.
“Thank you,” I said once the song was finished.
Giselle sent me one of those incredibly sweet smiles that I was beginning to realize came quite naturally to her.
“I think I’m ready to drive.”
“You think?” she said almost teasingly. “That might be something you want to be pretty certain about.”
I supposed a teacher was still going to be a teacher, even if she was the most charming and beautiful teacher I’d ever met.
“I am ready to drive now.”
“Awesome. I gotta admit, I’m actually really hungry for once. Normally, I’m too busy to remember I have an appetite, but right now, I’m pretty aware.”
“Well, let’s get you fed then.”
With that goal in mind, it was much easier to abolish the last dregs of my hesitation. I pulled away from the curb, ready to go on my first date since I’d lost the love of my life.
I was still pretty nervous, but I probably couldn’t fuck it up any worse.
Always a silver lining.
“You’re kidding me,” I said as I sipped at the dark lager. Human alcohol didn’t really do anything for me, but that was fine. I definitely didn’t want to be inebriated after what had already happened. No, I wanted to be on my best behavior and turn the date around for Giselle.
“No, I am absolutely not kidding you,” Giselle said, smiling from ear to ear. “Legitimately, she was absolutely certain that it was my job as a first-grade teacher to potty train her child.”
I shook my head. The entitlement of some parents. “And this was during your first year?”
“Yep. I do feel bad for their kid, because she had a good heart, but it was clear that the household was not healthy for her.” That smile I was rapidly growing addicted to faded a bit.
“As a mandated reporter, I had to say something about it. Her daughter was at risk of repeated UTIs from sitting in a soiled diaper all day, and honestly, not potty training your child once they reach elementary school is pretty extreme—if there are no medical reasons or developmental delays involved, that is. They were assigned a caseworker, and she got help, but unfortunately, she was removed from our district so I never got to follow up on that.”
Even in a restaurant full of delicious scents, I could pick up on the changes in her pheromones.
She was truly still concerned and upset about a student from a couple of years ago.
That proved to me that she put her money where her mouth was.
My son wasn’t any sort of exception, nor was he receiving special treatment—Giselle valued each and every soul who passed through her class.
Man, maybe more shifters should go to human schools. Although, I had a distinct impression that most teachers couldn’t hold a candle to the woman sitting across from me.
“You did the best you could by her. You got her the help she needed, and maybe even got her mother to realize that she was neglecting her daughter terribly. You may never know the why, you may never know what even happens after, but you know you did everything you could.”
Giselle glanced down, her cheeks coloring pink. “That’s very kind of you to say.”
“I just call ’em like I see them.”
“Yes, I got that impression during our first meeting.”
“You did?” That certainly surprised me. I’d been such an anxious mess, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d come off as a jerk.
Then again, if I’d been a jerk, Giselle wouldn’t have asked me out.
I knew some people who loved to fix people who were broken, but Giselle didn’t seem like the type.
Which was why nothing could ultimately happen between us.
Hopefully, we would have a great time tonight, and I would do my best to make it incredibly special for her, but in the end, I was irrevocably broken.
She deserved so much better.
“Of course! I?—”
“Thank you for being patient, I had a ten-top who took forever to decide what they wanted to actually order. If you guys have made any decisions, I’d love to start you off with some appetizers,” our server said.
“No worries,” I said. There had been quite a wait after she’d brought my beer and Giselle’s lemonade and water, but if she hadn’t said anything, I wouldn’t have even realized.
I guess I’d been so wrapped up in hearing various tales of Giselle’s experience as a teacher that I’d completely lost all sense of time.
But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. Considering how the night had started, things were going much better than anyone could reasonably expect, let alone me.
“I’d like to begin with your appetizer flight,” I said, pointing to a sampler plate on the menu, but they’d named it something fancier to make it sound more high-class.
Granted, it wasn’t exactly mozzarella sticks and chicken wings.
It had half a dozen fresh oysters, coconut shrimp, caviar en croute, and the odd one out, truffle and wagyu eggrolls.
I was game to try it. “Would you like an appetizer, Giselle?”
“Huh, oh no, I’m fine. Still struggling with a little nausea.”
“I understand. You’re more than welcome to sample everything on my sampler. It’s in the name, after all.”
“Technically, the name is a flight,” our server corrected with a wink. “And do you know what entrées you want, or do you need a moment?”
“I know what I want now,” I said with a grin. I had looked up the menu ahead of time to make sure I’d have good fare. I wasn’t the pickiest eater, but since it was the first time I’d gone out in over a year without the kids, I wanted my stomach and taste buds to enjoy it. “Do you need more time?”
“Uh, you go ahead and order, and I’ll be ready by the time you’re done,” Giselle said, eyes glued to the menu. With someone else, I might have thought they were upset, but her scent and heart rate told me she was excited about what she was seeing.
My wolf loved the ego boost. Despite the hiccup of my panic attack, he felt like we were succeeding at being a provider. Eh, animal logic.
“Okay then.” I turned my attention back to the server.
“I’ll have the tomahawk steak with a baked potato, all the fixings, and I’d love an extra side of the grilled asparagus with it.
” I’d made sure to eat before I picked Giselle up as I knew ordering enough food to actually satiate me would look pretty suspicious.
While I was out of the seemingly endless hunger and voracious appetite that came with being a shifter in their twenties, I was still a wolf.
My caloric needs were three times that than a male bodybuilder when I was trying to maintain my physique, which was pretty much the state I was in.
I wasn’t planning on adding more muscle mass, because it took too much effort.
Shifters were naturally stronger than humans, so the workout had to be all the more intense to get any sort of gains.
Normally, I would always have the lady order first, even if it was a little old-fashioned, but I wanted Giselle to see I wasn’t concerned about money.
I could have told her money was no option, but that would’ve been too braggadocious.
I suspected that even if I told her anything on the menu was fair game, she’d still be polite and order something budget-conscious.
Sure enough, I heard a slight uptick in Giselle’s heartbeat. For all that she was sweet and gentle, she was also quite keen. I suppose she had to be with twenty children in her custody five days a week.
“Goodness, there are so many amazing things,” she breathed. “I’m caught between a couple.”
“Then order them all,” I said. She looked at me like I’d grown another head, and our server chuckled slightly. “I’m serious. If you can’t decide, then don’t.”
Giselle was blushing again, and it was difficult not to lose my train of thought.
My wolf preened at the idea of thoroughly providing for her.
He and I had failed at protecting our own, so he was starving for the opportunity to take care of someone.
Especially someone like Giselle, who was so valuable to the community, even if I got the impression that she didn’t realize it.
“I couldn’t possibly eat all that,” she murmured, a pinch of embarrassment in her voice. My wolf rumbled at that, displeased that we were stressing her.
“You don’t have to,” I said in what I hoped was a soothing manner.
Both Millia and Natalie had told me I could be far too blunt.
I didn’t mean it a grand majority of the time; I really did often just mean what I said and only said what I meant.
“Box it up and take it home. You’ll have leftovers for the weekends, so you can concentrate on getting ready for the school week.
Just make sure you eat anything with greens first. They tend to get slimy. ”
I hadn’t learned that until the past year.
Perhaps it sounded crazy, but I’d never had leftovers.
So imagine my surprise when I’d served Junior a leftover chicken finger sub and accidentally gave him a slimy, soggy sandwich.
Of course, Junior had been sweet about it, but I’d felt like such an idiot.
“A-are you s-sure?” Giselle said, her ears bright red now. “I don’t want to be… uh…”
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re stuck between, and I’ll tell you what’s what?” our server said helpfully. Shit, I had completely forgotten she was there again. Strange how easy it was to forget the rest of the world when my attention was so thoroughly concentrated on Giselle.
Giselle pointed to a few items, and the server gave her opinion. Much to my satisfaction, she ordered three dishes. It looked like it took her quite a bit of effort, and I was strangely proud of her.