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“The shower is free.”

“Here is the food. I’ll be back in a minute. I’m just going to clean up quickly.”

He felt nervous, and Grim didn’t recall ever feeling nervous in his life. He stripped down, stepped into the shower, even as the water fell down freezing cold, potentially freezing his balls off, but he didn’t care.

Once he was showered he wrapped a towel around his waist and swore. “Fuck.” He’d been trying to be quick, and in doing so, he’d left his clothes in the bedroom.

Stepping out into the main bedroom, he looked over to Betty, who glanced down the length of his body, immediately averted her gaze, and he saw the blush staining her cheeks. There were moments like these when he was curious if she was a virgin. It couldn’t be possible, it made no sense.

Unless she was. There were no men in her life, and according to her aunt, she didn’t have a social life.

“I forgot my clothes.”

She laughed, and it sounded a little nervous, perhaps even a little breathless, or was he imagining that last part? There was no way he could be imagining that, could there?

He went to his drawer and pulled out a pair of sweatpants, but he didn’t opt for a shirt. Grim changed into the pants, dried his hair with a few quick strokes of a towel, and then tossed that into the laundry basket in the bathroom.

Betty was still on the edge of the bed.

“Do you want to eat on the bed or on the floor?” he asked.

She looked at him, and he saw her cheeks were a nice glowing red. “You tell me, this is your room.”

“On the floor. Not going to lie, but crumbs in the bed are a pet peeve.”

She laughed. “Duly noted.”

They slid onto the floor beside his bed, and he picked up what looked like a skull, and broke it apart to find some kind of red filling in the center. The food was good, but he had a feeling if it was left to Betty, it would be amazing. She bit into what he now knew was a pizza skull.

“Did you enjoy tonight?” he asked and gritted his teeth, because he knew how to make small talk, yet it was like he didn’t know a fucking thing, and it pissed him off.

Betty chuckled. “Yeah, I did. It was a lot of fun. That was my first time bobbing for apples. It’s a lot harder than it looks.”

“It’s fun.”

“You do it often?” she asked.

“Most Halloweens. It’s just fun.”

“Do you usually play for fun or is it a competition?”

“Sometimes it is for fun. Other times it’s a bet.” He didn’t think it was right to tell her that in previous years, the winner got sex with a woman they wanted within the club. Obviously, not an old lady. It is why, most of the time, the taken men didn’t participate. Unless, it was with their own woman.

In fact, he couldn’t recall in the last few years if Doc, Savage, or Razor had taken part. Mac usually did, but when he was with Eden, he’d never taken the relationship seriously.

“You’ve never been to a Halloween party?” he asked.

“This is my first one.”

“Well, I hope it wasn’t a disappointment.”

“It wasn’t.” She laughed. “It was so funny. I was so nervous even bobbing for those apples. I was afraid of drowning, or I don’t know...”

He loved the sound of her laughter; it was so infectious. She really was a beautiful woman.

They finished their food and then made their way onto the bed. He put the empty plates near the door, and he’d deal with them the next morning.

Once they laid on the bed, he turned toward her and reached for her hand. “Have you always wanted to cook and write cookbooks, and do what you’re doing?” he asked.