Page 18 of Alpha Jax

“Both,” I sigh, scrubbing a hand over my face.

She sets her hands on her hips, shaking her head. “Whatever, man,” she chuckles wryly.

I spot Fallon nearby, waving her over. I ask her to step in and spar with Quinn and she’s eager to do it- the girl loves combat training. It’s a good thing I came to my senses when I did, too, because as soon as I turn away to leave them to it, I see Gray and Theo walking out of the complex together, heading out onto the practice field.

Seeing Theo, I’m hit with a flood of guilt. Guilt for hooking up with his sister, guilt for accidently telling him all about it. Guilt for keeping it from him and guilt for flirting with her today. I feel like such an asshole.

I start walking to meet Gray and Theo, tossing them a wave. I greet them with a “hey guys” as soon as I’m within earshot.

“How’s it going out here?” Gray asks, looking past me to the recruits on the field.

I follow his gaze over my shoulder, and I’m not gonna lie, some of these recruits’ skills-or lack thereof- are cringeworthy. If this were regular training camp, we’d be making massive cuts the first round.

“It’s going,” I sigh wistfully, turning back to the guys. “Some of them still have a long way to go, but we’ll get there.”

“How’s my little sis holding up?” Theo asks, and my heartbeat stutters, my mouth runs dry.

Be cool, Jax.

I reach up to scratch the back of my head, blowing out a breath and giving Quinn a sideways glance. I’ve gotta give it to her- girl is holding her own against Fallon. It’s impressive considering the fact that Fallon’s an absolute beast. “Good, good,” I say, forcing myself to look Theo in the eye.

Be. Cool.

“I’d say better than good,” Gray mumbles, looking past me to watch his mate spar with Quinn.

“Well yeah,” I agree. “She’s definitely got skills.”

I cringe inwardly at the double entendre. I need to choose my words more carefully.

“Of course she does,” Theo says proudly, grinning. “She’s a Jacobsen.”

“You think you can get the other recruits where they need to be by the end of the month?” Gray asks dubiously, still watching them spar behind me.

“We’ll see,” I laugh, glancing back at them again. They’re clumsy and untrained- constantly getting knocked on their asses. Seems like every time I look that way, they’re going down like dominoes.

Logan calls for practice to end, and the recruits start leaving the field to head to the complex for lunch. I think I’m in the clear, until…

“Quinn!” Theo throws up a hand, calling out for his sister.

Crap. I turn over my shoulder to see her striding toward us, her legs looking impossibly long in those tantalizing little shorts of hers.

I force myself to look away and get that sick, guilty feeling again, like my guts are twisting up.

“What’s up?” Quinn breathes as she approaches us, positioning herself between Theo and me. She’s standing so close that I can fucking smell her- strawberries, vanilla, florals… memories of that night flood back, of her scent all around me, of her taste…

“How’s it going out there?” Theo asks, reaching out to ruffle the hair on the top of her head.

Quinn scowls, delivering a punch to her brother’s bicep before smoothing her hair back down with both hands. “It’s going great,” she quips, shooting me a sideways glance. “Jax has been working me reallyhard, though.”

My eyes practically bug out of my skull.Shit. Be cool, Jax.

“Oh yeah?” Theo arches a brow, looking from Quinn to me.

I bite my bottom lip so hard that I almost draw blood, steadying my expression.

“I can take it, though,” Quinn shrugs.What the fuck is her deal?I flick her a warning glance, but she just smirks, continuing. “I’ve got stamina.”

I might as well dig my own grave right now, because there’s no way that Theo isn’t going to read between the lines.

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