Page 33 of Alpha Theo

I shrug. “Maybe. It’s worth looking into, at least.”

He blows out a breath, eyes trained on the ceiling again. “I’ll bring it up to the guys at our meeting next week, see if we can come up with something.”

I nod, a silence settling between us. I pick a piece of lint off of my sweatshirt, fidget. My wolf keeps trying to push forward, crazed to be in Theo’s proximity. She likes him. Jury’s still out on whether I do.

I still can’t figure him out. I feel like I keep getting little glimpses of who he really is behind his prickly exterior. I’m not sure if there’s a good guy lurking somewhere in there underneath his bad boy persona or whether I should take him at face value. Either way, I’m keeping my walls up for now, remaining cautious about letting him in.

“When do you wanna get on the road tomorrow?” Theo asks, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He’s got the cord of his headphones wrapped around it, still plugged in.

“Doesn’t matter to me.” I look to the phone in his hand. “What have you been listening to?”

He grins, flicking his head to beckon me and patting the spot beside him on the bed.

I hesitate, watching him unwind the cord from around his phone.

His eyes meet mine again and he sighs, shaking his head like I’m being unreasonable. “Oh c’mon, kid. I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

I take a deep breath, leaning forward onto my palms to crawl up beside him. Then I flip around and stretch my legs out, leaving a couple feet of distance between our bodies and leaning back onto the headboard to mirror his position. It shouldn’t feel as awkward as it does, but I’ve never been in this position before- laying next to a guy in bed. My body feels stiff, uncomfortable.

Theo slides one of the earpieces of the headphones into his ear, leaning his head toward me and handing me the other. I take it, leaning in a little so it can reach my ear, too. He swipes a few times on his phone, hits play, and I hear the first few bars of ‘Hey Jude’ bythe Beatles.

My eyebrows shoot up and I peer over at him. “The Beatles?” Definitely not what I expected.

He throws a thumb in my direction. “Your shirt today.”

The guy’s certainly observant.

I smile, turning away from him and resting my head back against the headboard again, pressing my eyes closed.

As the familiar song plays, my body begins to relax. I hum along to the chorus. The music takes the edge off, and before long, I slowly start to lose myself in it.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Theo

It’s dusk by the time we roll back into the six-pack territory, the sky darkening as I pull up to the gate of the squad complex to drop Brooke off.

“Need help with your bags or anything?” I ask as I throw the Jeep in park.

“Nah, I’m good,” she sighs as she drags her bare feet off of the dashboard, slipping them into her sneakers on the floor below and unbuckling her seatbelt.

I don’t know why I even asked, like I’m trying to be a gentleman or some shit.

Brooke hops out of the Jeep and opens the back door to haul her bags out. I turn over my shoulder to watch her as she slings her backpack over one shoulder, duffel over the other.

“Coming out tonight?”

“Not sure,” she breathes, holding onto the back door of the Jeep. “Gotta see what my friends are up to.”

If I know anything about the squad, it’s that the newbies never miss a night out.

“In that case, I’ll see you there,” I grin, tossing her a wink.

Brooke rolls her eyes, pushing the door closed.

I wait a few seconds before I pull away, watching her reposition her bags on her shoulders and start for the gate. Once she passes through, I pull back on the road, heading to Gray’s to drop off his Jeep.

Even though I’m tired from the drive and staying up too late last night, I’m not about to miss a Saturday night out at the Goldenleaf bar, either. The place is always packed, the alcohol flowing, the patrons ready to let loose and get a little wild. It’s the highlight of my week.

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