Page 23 of The Feral Alpha

“Do you remember what ice cream tastes like?” Olson asked Rex quietly, leading him by the forearm to the coolers. “There’s several different flavors. You can pick one, or two, or three. Whatever you want.”

Rex looked down at the colorful tubs, his green eyes roving over them.

“This one here is chocolate fudge,” Olson said, starting at the very corner. “And the next one is vanilla...”

Rex didn’t seem to recognize any of the flavors. With a sigh, Olson looked up at Mrs. Bentham. “Um, if it’s not too much trouble... Can Rex sample a few flavors? Not everything. I think it might overwhelm him. But he hasn’t had ice cream in a while, and... I think it’d be nice to give him a refresher.”

Mrs. Bentham brightened. “Of course!” She studied Rex and scooped some ice cream onto a wooden spoon. “This is vanilla, dear.”

Rex stared at the spoon she held out. Olson accepted it with murmured thanks, lightly grasping Rex’s arm. “Here, take this.”

He tried to wrap Rex’s fingers around the spoon, but Rex looked at him blankly.

“This is a spoon,” Olson said. “And this white blob here is ice cream. We only eat the ice cream, and not the spoon, yeah? Like this.”

He put the spoon into his own mouth, to show Rex how to drag the ice cream off. Then he opened his mouth, showing Rex the ice cream in there.

Rex leaned in as though transfixed.

“Eat,” Rex said. And he closed the distance between them, his lips parted as though he was about to lick the ice cream straight out of Olson’s mouth.

Oh, gods! Olson flushed bright red, shoving his hand against Rex’s chest. “Rex. We eat things off spoons,” he said a little desperately, knowing full well Mrs. Bentham was watching. “Not off people.”

“Off Olson,” Rex rumbled.

“Oh, gods,” Olson whispered, his ears also burning. He turned to Mrs. Bentham apologetically. “I’m sorry. Maybe this was too soon. We’ll come back another day—”

She looked from Olson to Rex, and shook her head with a smile. “It’s no hindrance at all. Here.”

She got another spoon and scooped another sample of vanilla. “Rex? Is that your name?”

Rex eyed her warily.

“This is for you,” Mrs. Bentham said, shaking the spoon at him.

Slowly, Rex took the spoon from her.

“We say ‘Thank you’ when people do nice things for us.” Olson nudged Rex. “Say ‘Thank you’ to Mrs. Bentham.”

“Thank,” Rex said. When Olson nudged him and repeated his words, Rex said, “Thank you.”

Olson grinned. That seemed to make Rex smile, too.

Rex eyed the ice cream sample he was holding. And he reached over, popping the spoon into Olson’s mouth. “Eat.”

Olson could’ve fainted from embarrassment. “Rex,” he groaned. “That was supposed to be for you. To taste the ice cream!”

Mrs. Bentham was laughing.

Rex frowned. “Olson eat.”

“I get plenty! You have not had ice cream in a while!” Olson turned helplessly to Mrs. Bentham, who handed him a third spoon with a larger chunk of vanilla ice cream on it. “I am so sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Mrs. Bentham nodded at Rex. “It’s now my mission to make sure that young man knows his favorite ice cream flavor.”

Olson sighed. There really was no other way to get this done. He stepped up close; Rex’s gaze darkened as he watched Olson.

Olson pressed his fingers to Rex’s soft lips, easing his mouth open. He pushed the vanilla ice cream inside, gently nudged Rex’s mouth shut, before pulling the spoon out. “Eat that.”

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