Page 46 of Alpha Jax

Reid nods, getting back to his sandwich. I polish off my own, brushing my hands together and glancing around the dining hall while beside me, Theo wads up his napkin and tosses it on his empty plate.

“I’m out, guys…” he sighs, picking up his plate, rising to stand, and climbing over the bench. “Gonna try to get a quick ride in with my girl before heading to IT this afternoon.”

“Just a quick ride, eh?” I tease, waggling my eyebrows as I, too, rise to stand.

Theo delivers a jab to my bicep, shaking his head. “On my bike, asshole.”

“Suuure,” I laugh.

Theo turns to walk away, and I hustle to climb over the bench and grab my plate to follow him. “Hold up,” I call. “I’ll walk with you.”

I’ve got ulterior motives here- but I’ve still gotta figure out exactly how to play it so that my request isn’t an obvious one. Theo pauses, waiting for me, and then the two of us walk over to deposit our trash in the cans and our plates in the wash bin.

“Are you still planning on heading up wolf training tomorrow morning?” I ask, making idle conversation as we start heading out of the dining hall.

“For sure,” Theo breathes, raking a hand through his hair. “Brooke might be ready to join in again, too.”

“Nice.” Theo’s mentioned that he’s been working with Brooke on her wolf even more since the incident with Quinn. I shove my hands in my pockets as I keep in step with him, trying to act aloof; casual. “Oh hey, can I get Quinn’s number from you?”

“Huh?” Theo wrinkles his nose, glancing over at me curiously. “How come?”

“She was having car trouble, so I had it towed to Brady’s shop in town,” I say, pulling my phone out of my pocket and swiping to unlock it, still playing it perfectly cool. “Just wanted to give them her contact info so they could give her a call when it’s done.”

“Oh. Well yeah, sure.” He grabs my phone from me and starts inputting the number. “Thanks for doing that, man. Glad that she has someone else here taking care of her.”

Yep. Taking care of her alright…

“It means a lot,” he adds, handing my phone back to me.

I take it with a wry smile, feeling a pang of guilt. “Yeah, no problem.”

I mean, technically, it wasn’t a lie. Quinn did have car trouble and I did have her vehicle towed to Brady’s. So why do I feel like such a scumbag right now?

Probably because of what I’m planning to do now that I’ve got her number.

“I’ll see ya,” Theo says with a wave of his hand, heading toward the big double doors to exit the complex. Brooke’s there waiting for him, wearing the leather jacket that I helped him pick out for her- she’s really leaned into the whole biker chick thing since they got together. It’s cute how well they complement each other, really.

Sometimes I wish I had something like that.

~

Afternoon training sessions are never as exciting for me. Probably because Quinn isn’t there- she spends her afternoons with IT, and I’m not gonna lie, the fact that she’s both a badass warrior and a brilliant computer whiz turns me the fuck on. She’s funny, smart, confident… I’ve never met anyone like Quinn before, and I doubt I ever will again. She’s the complete package. If only she wasn’t related to one of my best friends and totally off-limits.

It was a little risky asking Theo for his sister’s number today, but as soon as she walked out of that laundry room, I knew I didn’t want to rely on the universe to throw us together again. I’m taking the reins, done denying myself what I really want, even if I wind up feeling like a dick for betraying a friend. The high I get from being with Quinn far outweighs that crappy feeling I have for lying about it to Theo- and honestly, he’s happy, so why shouldn’t I allow myself to be, too?

These are the things I have to tell myself, because deep down, I know it’s wrong. I have sisters of my own, and if one of my friends started sneaking around with one of them, the guy wouldn’t be able to run far enough to escape my wrath. If Theo ever found out, I’d deserve whatever came my way because I know it’s wrong and I’m doing it anyway. But the strangest thing of all is that the more I get to know Quinn, the more I’m around her, the more I justdon’t care. I have to have her, consequences be damned.

I tried to focus and get through the afternoon training session, but my thoughts kept drifting back to how we left things off in the laundry room earlier today… and I kept obsessing over how and when we could pick them up again. I swear this girl is like a fucking drug- the more I get of her, the more I need. I called for training to end a little early, itching to get back to my phone and shoot a text off to Quinn.

As soon as I fish it out of my gym bag, I pull up her contact, hitting the button to send a new message.

Jax:Hey there beautiful. Got plans tonight?

She doesn’t respond right away. In fact, it isn’t until after I’ve showered, changed, and am getting ready to head out the door for dinner that my phone buzzes with her response.

Quinn:Depends who this is and how you got my number, but I’m intrigued. What’d you have in mind?

I chuckle to myself, walking backwards to take a seat on the edge of my bed. I haven’t actually given any thought to what we could do- I just know I want to see her, somewhere far away from prying eyes.

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