Page 17 of Alpha Gray

He’s here. I swear I could feel it before I even saw him- the little hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my wolf started pacing. But right after we locked eyes, he turned his back to me. Avoiding me again.

Maybe my initial assessment was spot-on, he’s just a jerk with a big ego. Maybe his little display of dominance in the shower was just his way of showing me that he could have me if he wanted me. Maybe this is just his newest form of torture, and he’s getting some sort of sick pleasure from driving me crazy.

I down the rest of my drink.

Brooke appears, back from the bathroom, and she grabs my arm, tugging me away from our friends. She’s digging her fingers into my arm as she pulls me. I jerk my arm back.

“What the hell?” I demand, scowling and rubbing the offended skin with my other hand.

Brooke leans in close to whisper. “What’s going on with you and the alpha?” she hisses.

“Huh?” I dart a glance in Gray’s direction, then back to her.

Brooke puts her hands on her hips, staring me down.

I roll my eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I start to turn to head back to our friends, but she reaches out to grab my arm again, spinning me to face her.

“I ran into him on the way to the bathroom. I think he thought I was you.” Brooke narrows her eyes.

I know I’m caught, but I also feel a little flicker of hope in response to hearing that he tried to talk to her. Maybe he decided to stop avoiding me, after all…

“Fallon!” Brooke snaps, pulling me out of my daze. I hadn’t realized that I’d been staring off in his direction again.

I feel a smile creep across my lips. “Okay, yeah, but it’s nothing. I mean, I’m totally into him, and I think he’s into me, but nothing’s happened. Well not really. Did he talk to you? What did he say?” My words come out a mile a minute.

Brooke just stares at me, dumbfounded. “What do you mean,not really?!”

“What did he say?”

Brooke sighs, leaning closer to me, wide-eyed. “I basically almost ran into him, and he got all up in my space and said I shouldn’t be here,” she whispers.

“What?” I shake my head, trying to make sense of her words.

“I don’t know, it was weird!” she says, throwing up her hands. “He realized pretty quickly that I wasn’t you, and then apologized and walked away. What the hell is going on between you two, Fallon?”

Brooke looks concerned, which irritates me. She’s supposed to support me, not parent me. Always the sensible twin.

“There’s nothing going on,” I sigh. I take a beat, looking to Gray, then back to Brooke. “Yet,” I add, waggling my eyebrows.

Brooke gives me another stern look and I elbow her playfully.

“Aw, c’mon, sis, lighten up,” I say, laughing. Her icy look slowly starts to melt into a smile. I swear, when one of us is laughing, it’s impossible for the other to stay serious.

“Just be careful,” Brooke warns, smirking. She’s trying to be a good sport, but she can’t hide the lingering hint of concern in her voice.

“Don’t worry,” I say, tossing an arm around her shoulders and leading her back over to our group. “If something actually does happen, you’ll be the first to know about it.”

“Promise?” Brooke asks, her eyes wide.

I nod. “Promise.”

“Come on!” Vienna beckons as Brooke and I approach our little group by the bar. “I thought we were gonna dance!” She does a little spin and nearly teeters off of her heels, but Boyd is quick to come to her rescue and steady her.

“I’m gonna need one more drink,” I say, grabbing Brooke’s hand to pull her up to the bar with me.

Vienna and Boyd slide out of the way to let us in. Davis is reclined against the bar chatting up Hannah, and from the way she’s giggling and touching his arm it looks like she’s enjoying it.Good for Davis.

Brooke and I order drinks and sip them while we chat with our friends. I keep sneaking glances over at Gray. A few times, I swear I catch him looking back at me, but with the amount of people on the dance floor between us I can’t be sure. I wish he’d just come over and say something to clear the air.

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