Page 7 of Alpha Theo

If she’d ever leave her desk chair.

Fuck, this girl isobsessedwith her computer.

“So Green Day, huh?” I ask, fumbling for the pocket of my jacket to retrieve my afternoon snack.

“What?” Brooke finally turns to look at me, her big blue eyes blinking behind her glasses.

“Your shirt.” I gesture to it. “Green Day.”

“Oh,” she breathes. “Yeah.”

She goes back to typing.

Click. Click. Click.

“What’s your favorite album?” I ask.

She pauses, side-eying me. “Youlisten toGreen Day?”

I chuckle. “Well no, but if I wanted to, what’s their best?”

Brooke considers for a moment, eyes on the ceiling, biting her bottom lip gently.

“American Idiot, probably. Or Insomniac.”

I choke on a laugh. “Those are names of albums?”

Her eyes darken and return to her computer screen.

I sigh, still chuckling as I fish my granola bar out of my jacket pocket, tearing open the wrapper.

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday that you shouldn’t eat in here?” Brooke murmurs, gaze still transfixed on her monitor.

I take a big bite, chewing. “Gotta keep this body fueled, kid,” I say, patting my abs.

Her eyes flicker to my stomach, then back to her computer, hands typing furiously.

Click. Click. Click.

“So Green Day… is that your favorite band?”

She stops, whipping her head sideways to look at me. “What are youdoing?”

“What?” I mumble, mouth full of granola bar. I chew as she eyes me skeptically, swallow. “I’m just making conversation. Seems like you wear a lot of band t-shirts, so I thought you might have some music recs.”

I’m feigning innocence, but I’m a little titillated to be getting under her skin. It’s fun.

“Seriously?”

I nod. “Seriously. Whatcha got for me?”

I twist around in my chair to pull my phone out of my jacket pocket, and once I retrieve it, I catch her taking another peek at my stomach before my shirt slides back down.

Oh yeah, baby. Check out those rock-hard abs.

Her cheeks flush like she knows she’s caught, and she starts in on another staring contest with her computer monitor.

I finish the last bite of my granola bar, tossing the wrapper onto her desk. She eyes it with annoyance as I unlock my phone and open my Spotify app.

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