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poker is being held at Corey's." Ethan grinned at hearing that.

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    "You think I'll get an invite?" he asked teasingly.
    "I doubt it, not from Corey at least, but you can come as Ben's and my guest, if you like." Tommy waggled his brows at Ethan before he turned back to the contents of the fridge.
    "I would be honoured," Ethan laughed. "Thanks for the info. Hopefully I can start to wear him down by Monday."
    "Good luck."
    Ethan left Tommy just as the man started to pull out left-over Chinese containers and set them on the bench.
    Ethan went back to his office, placed his phone on the desk, and got to work. He'd already taken enough time off this morning that he felt slightly guilty. Ethan had been hired to do a job, after all, and even with Ben currently not in the office, Ethan still had plenty to do.
    His phone proved to be a major distraction though, as Ethan found himself looking over at the damn thing every few minutes. It got to the point that he had to put it out of sight to hopefully get some work done.
    His mate was constantly in the back of his mind though, no matter where Ethan's phone was. However, he did finally manage to get a few good solid hours of work done. He'd been in contact with several packs across Australia, as per Ben's request. Ben wanted an update on all

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    the packs around the country and also wanted to start enforcing non-discrimination laws in all packs.
    Ethan knew what Ben wanted to do wasn't going to be easy. There were bound to be a lot of Alphas out there that were old, stuck in their ways, and also in their beliefs.
    Ethan knew not every pack had problems, but there enough out there that did. Hopefully in time, things would get better.
    Ethan looked down at his watch and realised it was coming up on one o'clock. His stomach rumbled with the need for food. Ethan stared at the drawer he'd tucked his phone in and wondered if he should give it a try.
    He shrugged, figuring there was no time like the present. Ethan picked up his phone and opened his messenger app.
    Would you like to have lunch with me?
    He sent it.
    Ethan placed the phone on the desk and tried to get back to work while he waited for a response. He didn't have to wait long, thank God.
    Who is this?
    Oh, stubborn man. Ethan smiled. He could almost picture Corey's thin-lipped grimace as he had typed that response.
    Who do you think this is? Ethan chuckled to

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    himself.
    I have no idea.
    It's your mate. Now, would you like to have lunch with me? Ethan highly doubted Corey was going to say yes, but he had to start somewhere.
    I don't have a mate.
    Even though Ethan could understand what Corey was going through, he hadn't expected those words to hurt quite as much as they did. He knew he needed to win Corey over and convince the man he wasn't going to hurt him.
    Yes, you do, you sexy, stubborn, pain in the ass.
    I'm not a pain in your anything.
    Not yet anyway. Ethan had hope for the future though.
    I hope you will be shortly. Would love to feel you in my ass. Ethan knew he was pushing it a little but wanted Corey's thoughts on him.
    Please don't message me again.
    Ohh… Ethan grinned wickedly. Looked like he'd gotten to his mate after all.
    So I take it that's a 'no' for lunch then? LOL. He couldn't help himself. Ethan waited but no response came within five minutes, so he sent one final message.
    Talk to you later.
    He knew Corey had asked him not to message him

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    anymore but hopefully this might start to prove to his mate that Ethan planned to stick around, no matter what Corey said or did.
    Feeling upbeat, despite his mate refusing his lunch request, Ethan stood and tucked his phone in his pocket. He went to his room and picked up both his keys and his wallet.
    Every lunch time over the past week, Ethan had been taking a drive around Atherton to familiarise himself with the town he now lived in. He also found himself stopping in to