Page 64 of Alpha Theo

Shelaughs.

She plants her hands in the mud behind her, throws back her head, and lets out a loud, full, beautiful laugh.

I freeze, staring at her, completely in awe as she tilts her head down again and turns to peer over at me.

“What’s so funny?” I ask as my face splits into a grin.

“This is ridiculous!” she exclaims, bringing her hands up in front of her and trying to fling the mud off of them.

“It’s just a little rain,” I tease. “C’mon.”

I find my footing, reach down to scoop her up off of the ground and plant her on her feet. She steadies herself, tries to lean back and shake her hair out behind her to get it out of her face. Speckles of mud dot her cheeks- it must’ve flung back at her while she was trying to shake it off her hands. She catches me staring at her again.

“What?”

I chuckle. “You’ve got mud on your face.”

“Oh yeah?” she arches a brow, blue eyes mischievous. Then she darts out a muddy hand, smearing it across my jawline before I can dodge out of the way.

I stumble back, laughing. “Hey!”

Brooke smirks. “Now you’ve got mud on your face.”

Where have I heard that before?A song from Brooke’s playlist pops into my head- aQueensong.

I look down at the muddy path, singing under my breath. “Mud on your face, ya big disgrace.”

I glance back at Brooke and her eyes light up, lips spreading into a gorgeous smile.

So I sing the next line, a little louder this time. “Kickin’ your can all over the place…”

Brooke laughs, reaching out and pushing at my chest playfully.Fuck, that smile, that laugh, the rain… I’m so fucking attracted to her in this moment- I just want to grab her, hold her, kiss her within an inch of her life…

“We will, we will rock you!” she sings, turning back to the path and taking a cautious step.

I echo the song, chanting the line back to her as I start to follow her down the trail again.

The rain’s starting to let up, but the ground’s still slick as hell. I’m so busy watching her to make sure she doesn’t fall again that my own damn feet keep sliding around in the mud.

“Sorry this all went to shit,” I sigh.

“Only you, Theo,” Brooke giggles, ambling down the trail in front of me.

“Only me what?”

She darts me a glance over her shoulder, wet hair swinging. “Only you could turn a disaster like this into somethingfun.”

She turns back around, keeps on walking, and damnit if I don’t feel like a million bucks right now. So this wasn’t an epic fail after all- despite the interruption of the storm and the fact that we’re both covered in mud right now, she’s smiling, laughing, havingfun. And I feel like a fucking hero for being the one to put that smile on her face.

We keep making our way down the path, chatting and laughing together, making light of the disaster that the evening turned into. I see the dull glow of the lights of the complex through the trees ahead, and I’m a little disappointed that we’ve made it back already.

Brooke squeals as one of her feet slides in the mud again. I’m on her in an instant, grabbing her hand, yanking her up before she falls. I don’t let go of her hand the rest of the way back. Not until we pass through the gate, step onto the practice field.

The dim lights overhead cast a glow down onto the field and I finally get a good look at how disheveled Brooke is after our hike. Her soaked t-shirt clings to her body, wet tendrils of hair framing her face. Sticky brown mud stains her hands and forearms, splattering her face like freckles. Even so, she looks as beautiful as ever as she strides beside me to the doors of the barracks.

We pause before going inside, turning to look at one another. Her pouty lips tip up into a smile as she gives me a once-over.

“You’re a mess.”

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