Page 60 of Alpha Theo

I don’t stick around to find out. I start back down the hallway, clearing out of there before Fallon can get to Gray’s office and tattle on me.

I should probably get over to the IT unit and get everyone’s daily report, but I need to clear my head. I leave the complex instead, get on my bike, and head for Pine Mountain.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Brooke

“Sup, nerds?” Theo greets as he walks into the IT hub on Friday afternoon, flashing that charming smile of his.

I hear titters of laughter from some of my colleagues- they take Theo’s greeting as being funny, jovial, rather than as an insult. Over the past few weeks, we’ve all gotten used his presence around here and everyone seems to like his visits. The guys think he’s cool- they idolize him, want to be friends with him. The girls have all fallen for his good looks and charisma- they flirt with him shamelessly.

I was the last holdout, but I find myself smiling when I look up to see him standing in the doorway, his big, bulky stature taking up most of the doorframe. Who would’ve thought that Theo’s afternoon appearance in the IT hub would become my favorite part of the day?

I used to dread that cocky greeting, bristle when he planted himself beside me to chat. Now I’m finding myself looking forward to the screech of chair legs across the floor and the sight of those big motorcycle boots thrown up on the corner of my desk.

I had fun with him on Wednesday. Alotof fun- but when he didn’t show up in the hub yesterday, I immediately started overthinking every detail of our little ‘anti-date’. The more I tortured myself with speculation as to whether I did something wrong or off-putting, the more I began to realize that I’ve already let Theo in too much. In spite of the walls I erected to protect myself and keep him out, he’s somehow wormed his way in and taken up residence. That silly childhood crush is back in full force, making me swoon over the handsome, unattainable alpha.

I’ve gotta turn it off somehow.

I mean, I’m not foolish enough to think we could ever be together. He’s definitely not the ‘relationship’ type of guy- and even if he was, I’d never be able to trust him. Girls throw themselves at Theo constantly, and he isn’t exactly known for turning down their advances.

I’ve seen the kinds of girls that Theo goes for, too. They’re gorgeous. When he does settle down one day, he’s gonna wind up with some bombshell, not a computer geek.

Still, I find myself watching him as he makes his way around the hub, gathering report from the others. I smile inwardly when he grabs a chair from the conference table and drags it over, plopping down on it and shrugging out of his leather jacket.

“Hey kid, ya miss me?”

Yes.

“What?” I laugh, turning to peer over at him as he leans back, kicking his boots up on my desk. His shirt rides up and I get a glimpse of those hard abs. My wolf starts rattling my cage.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t notice that I wasn’t here yesterday,” he smirks, tossing his jacket over the back of the chair.

I shrug. “Must’ve been too focused on my program.”

Theo’s unbothered by my aloof response. He reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small bag of pretzels. “Well you can blame your sister, she fucking accosted me in the hallway outside of Gray’s office yesterday.”

“Who, Fallon?”

Those mischievous hazel eyes lock with mine. “You got another sister? You’re not secretly a triplet or something are you?” He tears open the bag of pretzels with his teeth.

I roll my eyes, returning them to my computer screen. As he starts crunching beside me, though, my curiosity gets the best of me and I swivel my chair to face him.

“What’d she want?”

Theo shrugs his shoulders, still crunching away. “Warned me to stay away from you,” he says, mouth full of pretzel. He swallows. “Apparently someone told her we’ve been hanging out.”

I scrunch my nose, tucking my hair behind my ears and shaking my head. “I didn’t tell her that, I just said we were friends.”

He pops another pretzel in his mouth, shrugs again. Crunches.

I blow out a breath. I haven’t told Fallon any details about me and Theo, just that we were becoming friends. I wasn’t planning on telling her anything more until I sorted out some of my conflicting emotions about it all. And even then, I don’t know if I will, because I know how it looks- like I’m some stupid, naïve girl who thinks she can reform the bad boy.

“Well… what’d you say?” I ask cautiously.

Theo swallows, fishing another pretzel out of the bag and flashing me a smile. “I told her you can make your own decisions about who you want to hang out with.”

A loud laugh escapes my lips. “Really?”

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