Page 37 of Alpha Theo

“Strawberry daquiri,” she grins.

“Right.” I turn back to the bartender and throw a thumb over my shoulder to Carly. “What she said. Gray’s tab.”

The bartender nods, walking away to make Carly’s drink while I collect the whiskey shots off of the bar, carrying two in each hand.

“Thank you!” Carly beams as I spin around with them.

“No problem,” I mutter, forcing a wry smile as I head back to my table with the shots.

The whiskey splashes my palms as I carry the shots to the table and set them down. Gray’s missing- he must’ve gone off to find Fallon- but Brock showed up and is sitting in his usual seat. The guys groan when I arrive, eyeing the shots reluctantly.

“C’mon,” I urge, doling them out. I raise mine, looking from Jax, to Reid, to Brock. “To having a good fucking night.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Jax chuckles, lifting his whiskey shot.

We all tap them on the table, drink them down. The whiskey burns, but it’s a good burn.

I slam my empty glass on the table, slide back into my seat. Take a swig of my beer. Try to ignore the fact that Brooke’s standing at the bar flirting with Connor.

What does she see in that guy, anyways?

I’m annoyed every time he makes her laugh, every time she touches his arm. My wolf gets agitated when their group hits the dance floor and the two of them start dancing together.

I chat with the guys, try not to look over my shoulder every two fucking minutes to see if they’re still dancing. I don’t know why it irritates me so much; why I can’t just ignore them. My wolf keeps pushing forward, thrashing around in my chest.

After awhile, I see Brooke and Carly break away from their little group, heading back up to the bar.

“More shots?” I ask the guys, rising to my feet. Again, I don’t give them a chance to protest- I just turn around, make my way through the crowd to the bar. My eyes are glued on the exposed skin of Brooke’s back the whole way there.

I prowl up behind her, leaning down to speak in her ear. “Hey,” I say, my voice low, fingertips grazing the exposed skin of her back. I feel a weird zing like static electricity and yank my hand away. She must feel it too because she jumps a little, startled, whipping around.

“Wha… oh, hi,” she breathes, eyelashes fluttering as she looks up at me.

Carly grins over at me from her spot beside Brooke as the bartender sets down two drinks, sliding them toward the girls.

“Twelve fifty.”

“I’ve got it,” I say quickly, pulling my wallet out of my back pocket.

“You… don’t have to do that,” Brooke mutters, shifting uncomfortably.

I retrieve a twenty, slapping it down on the bar top. “I want to.”

We just stare at each other for a moment- the sounds around us seem to fade as I look into her big blue eyes, sparkling with the silver shimmers of her wolf.

“Thanks, Theo!” Carly chirps, and the moment’s lost.

Brooke’s eyes dart away.

Carly grabs for the daquiri, starts sipping it greedily.

Brooke reaches for her drink, raising it to her lips as her cheeks flush pink. “Thanks.”

I nod, watching her take a sip. “Wanna dance?”

I’m not much of a dancer, but I’m also not about to sit on the sidelines and watch her dance with fuckingConnoragain.

She swallows, eyeing me suspiciously. I waggle my eyebrows.

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