Page 67 of Alpha Theo

I’m returning from a run on Sunday when I bump into Theo- he’s heading out of the gate to the squad complex as I’m coming in. The sight of him catches me off guard; I’m not prepared to face him yet after last night, haven’t yet considered what I’m going to say to him after rushing out of the locker room. He’s totally casual, though, like there wasn’t a mountain of sexual tension smoldering between us last night.

“Hey kid,” Theo greets, flashing me a smile.

My belly does a flip and my mouth goes dry. I’m suddenly hyper-aware of how I must look, all sweaty and red-faced from my run.

“Hi.”

He gives me a once-over, slowly raking his eyes down my body, then back up to meet mine. “Out for a run?”

I smirk, folding my arms over my chest. “How’d you guess?”

His smile widens and he rakes a hand through his hair, chuckling.

“Where are you off to?” I reach up to fiddle with the bottom of my ponytail.

He shrugs. “Just heading over to Gray’s to give him an update on the new border system. But if you’re heading for the showers, that can wait…”

I scowl, slapping at his arm with the back of my hand as my cheeks flush.

“What?” he chuckles.

“Youknowwhat,” I say, folding my arms over my chest again, forcing back a smile.

Theo throws up his hands in surrender. “Hey, I’m sorry if my boner freaked you out. What can I say? I’m fucking attracted to you.”

My cheeks burn, the corners of my mouth tipping up into a smile on their own accord. I shrug, feigning innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He rolls his eyes, a teasing smile on his lips. “Sure you don’t. You were staring straight at it.”

“Theo,” I warn.

“Brooke.” He arches a brow.

It sounds foreign for him to actually say my name rather than calling me by that stupid nickname.

I heave a sigh, throwing my hands on my hips. “Whatever. Have fun at Gray’s. Tell my sister I say hi.”

I start to walk past him, darting him a glance over my shoulder. He’s just watching me with those mischievous hazel eyes, grinning.

My wolf surges to the surface in response, peeking out at Theo.

Mine.

~

Theo

Over the past few days, my desire for Brooke has become a full-blown obsession. When I’m not with her, I’m thinking about her. When I am with her, I’m constantly fighting the urge to touch her, kiss her, make her mine. I feel like I’m going fucking crazy. Maybe I am.

I don’t know what itisabout her- that good girl persona? The glimpse of the bad girl within that I saw the other night? The fact that she’s so fucking unattainable that it’s ludicrous for me to even think I’ve got a shot at getting in her pants?

She’d probably want a relationship in exchange for giving it up, and I’m not sure if I could give her that. I don’tdothe relationship thing- never have and swore I never would. She’d probably get all clingy because that’s what virgins do, I’d feel trapped, and I’d wind up fucking everything up in some epic way that would destroy her.

Ilikethe girl, I can’t do that to her. But I can’t just move on and forget about Brooke, either. There has to be some middle ground where I can keep her while still protecting her from myself.

She’s putting the finishing touches on her program, so she’s been buried in work all week. The only time I’ve gotten to spend with her is at the hub. She thinks she’ll be finished with her program on Friday, and somehow I got her to agree to let me take her out again.

I’m still dying to get Brooke on the back of my bike. She’s slowly opening up to me, becoming a little more uninhibited, so I think I can pull it off if I play it right. Which is why I talked Jax into going shopping with me. He’s got three sisters, so I figured he’d have some insight when it comes to shopping for a girl.

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