CHAPTER 122: CELIBATE.

She watched his cheeks crimson, his hold around her loosening a bit as he tried to control the flood of foreign embarrassing feelings that coursed through him.

"Tristan." She called, getting his attention. "Look at me."

"I’m looking at you." He managed to defend, despite the thundering palpations in his chest.

"Yours eyes are on me, but your mind isn’t." She pointed. The look in his eyes told her that she’d finally gotten his full attention. She searched his eyes and face for possible emotions he was expected to feel.

Luckily, she couldn’t find any regrets or anger. Just embarrassment.

"It’s okay to be vulnerable, Trist. You’re an Alpha. Not God." She pacified, cupping his chin with her palm.

He swallowed silently, not knowing what response to give.

Seeing his speechlessness, she stood on her tippy toes, kissing his lips plump warm lips softly and briefly before he could lean in. "I think I love that voice better than your normal one." She said softly against his lips, her gaze leaving his eyes briefly to his lips before going back to her normal height.

"Let’s have breakfast. I’m so hungry." She said, threading her fingers between his.

"Yes, ma’am. You still owe me information." He added, leading her through a hallway beside the stairs into the living room that opened into a relatively large dining room, and into a smaller dining area in the kitchen.

She ran her fingers on the pristine marble counter top, chuckling lightly to herself at how she had once thought only celebrities owned such properties.

"Like what you see?" He asked, placing their take-outs on the small dining table, heading to the in-built refrigerator to take out orange juice.

"Definitely. I could sleep on these." She said placing her palm flat on the cold counter top.

"Yeah, that’s not happening." He chimed, opening a cupboard to take out glasses.

"Didn’t say I was going to. I said I could." She snapped, pinching his side, huffing when he didn’t flinch.

"Didn’t ask, don’t care." He said, pecking her cheek as he placed the glasses on the table.

"Your kitchen’s nice. Although, I don’t think I would be able to reach those cupboards." She said, pulling back a seat and sitting on it.

"I think I have a small stool that can remedy that. But, why would you need it when you have me." He teased, winking as he took a seat opposite her.

"Uhh.. didn’t ask, don’t care." She quipped, sticking out her tongue like a kid briefly before pulling the bag towards her.

"Minx." He muttered, rolling his eyes. "So, what other thing have you heard? You’ve been stalling." He chimed with accusation in his tone, his arms folded across his chest.

"I haven’t." She denied, sharply, pulling her own meal towards her. "I was just waiting till we got here." She added.

"And why is that?" He asked, taking a huge bite of his meal.

"Because, it’s juicy." She quipped, sporting a mischievous grin.

"Juicy?" He asked, looking at her in disbelief. "I’m the most boring triplet. None of my friends have let me forget that." He informed kindly.

"You kinda are." She said chuckling. "I barely heard anything juicy about you. Except you’re broody and always busy, and that your winning card is that you’re a bit taller than your brothers."

"Mmm." He hummed, shrugging. "Can’t blame them. I’m not exactly outgoing."

"Or you just feel you’re too busy to be going out." She said, causing him to look up at her, his gaze suspicious. "What?" She asked, leaning back in her seat.

"Don’t ’what’ me. You’re trying to read me." He stated, taking a sip of his orange juice.

"Well, can I?" She asked, not attempting to deny.

"No, you can’t." He said at once, not wasting a breath.

"Why?" She whined.

"Why?" He asked. "Why would you? Why do you want to?"

"Because, I feel there is more to you than everyone knows and sees." She said earnestly, letting her honesty and concern seep into her voice. "Probably more than you even know. You’re so busy taking care of things around you, you do not think of yourself, and the things you might want to do. That’s what I think." She said in a tone of finality, her eyes not leaving his.

He sighed shakily and deeply, realizing he was sitting before another Theodore, except this one was more honest and straightforward with her reading.

He thought of what to do. Give in to her reading, or back up. He was still curious to know what she’d heard that was juicy.

"You’re free to read me, but only after you give me the information I want." He said, softly, his gaze lowering to her lower lip that was tucked between her teeth, before lifting to meet hers. "I advice you stop that now, Princess." He admonished, his tone deeper than before.

Swallowing, she heeded to his words, sitting up in her seat as she blinked away the haze that had clouded her eyes for a second.

"Okay then. Here it comes." She said clearing her throat, as she shifted in her seat. "I heard you were celibate."

Tristan paused chewing at her words, staring blankly at her for a few seconds. Her mischievous look was forced to morph into one of confusion and worry.

"What’s..." She was cut-off by Tristan who cackled uncontrollably, bits of his food spluttering from his mouth unto the table.

His shoulders shook uncontrollably as he tried to hold down his laughter so he could swallow the food in his mouth. When he was down to took little sips of his orange juice to secure his food I his oesophagus, before letting it all out.

Bethany sat quiet, watching him intently as he laughed openly before her, that vulnerable crack she had seen earlier, making itself known again. The crack was bigger this time, causing her heart to flood with warmth.

She put on a small smile on her lips as he came down from his high slowly, beads of tears at the corner of his eyes.

"I’m so sorry for messing up the place. I’ll order something else for us to eat." He tried to pacify, doing his best to sound as serious as possible despite the amusement that coated his features intricately like a face mask.

"It’s okay. I can cook something." She said, shaking her head lightly.

"Oh. Better." He said grinning, causing her to give him a look, before rolling her eyes, pulling their now contaminated food towards her, piling them back into the bag they were pulled out of.

"So start talking, you man child. Your little drama just made my interest spike."