beta
for those who are confused:
he basically says, in the first part of the chapter that he got close to Courtney (got in her good graces) and made her open her boundaries bit by bit until she was comfortable enough to bite the bait (embrace her dominant nature for the first time)
it doesn't have to imply that he's manipulating her but he's not exactly innocent either. but because he's drawn in such a way that people are assuming he's that was ig