Page 34 of Alpha Jax

I chuckle to myself, setting a hand on her arm. “If he does show up, I’ll call him over for you.”

“Hey!” Brooke greets, approaching Vienna and me. The twins didn’t arrive at the bar with us tonight- they got ready together at the Goldenleaf packhouse, then came here with their guys.

I smile warmly, extending an arm to pull Brooke in for a half-hug. “Hey girl, you look great!”

She really does- not that the twins aren’t always stunning, but Brooke’s dressed to kill tonight in a tight little skirt and a lacy crop top.

“You do too!” Brooke chirps, leaning in to give Vienna a half-hug as well. “Both of you.”

“Please. I always look good,” Vienna quips, throwing a hand on her hip. I love how sassy this girl is.

We all laugh, and the bartender delivers my shots and Vienna’s drink, mumbling something about how they’ve already been taken care of. I don’t think much of it- I just down my two shots, depositing the empty glasses on the bar before turning back to Brooke.

“Sorry, again, about the other day at practice,” she says, biting her bottom lip softly.

I shake my head. “Brooke, you’ve gotta stop! You’ve apologized like a hundred times.”

“It isn’t enough.”

“It’s more than enough. I’m completely fine, it’s no big deal.” I take her hand, looking her in the eyes. The twins have gorgeous eyes- they’re deep blue, like the ocean. “Seriously, stop apologizing.”

Brooke nods- but in her expression, I can see how torn up she still is about what happened during wolf training. “Theo has been working with me every day, you know, trying to help me get a handle on my wolf. It seems that his is the only one mine won’t harm, so I don’t have to worry when I spar with him… I guess that’s why he thought I was ready, before…”

“That’s good!” I say encouragingly. I hate that she’s beating herself up over this, as if it’s her fault. “As soon as you’re comfortable, we’ll have to have a rematch.”

Her eyebrows shoot up and I clap her on the shoulder. “Can’t have everyone else thinking I’m weak after your wolf ripped me a new one, can I?” I wink.

Brooke offers me a wry smile, though I doubt she’ll be coming back for round two anytime soon. She’s clearly still pretty shaken up about our wolves’ first duel.

“Sup, Q?” Logan strides up to the three of us, his usual whiskey and coke in his hand. He’s wearing a pale blue button-up with the sleeves rolled to the elbows, his colorfully inked forearms on full display.

“Logi!” I launch myself into his arms, greeting him with my usual hug.

As he embraces me, he leans down to murmur into my ear. “Your friend Kyla and her man had a fight in here earlier. She’s by herself at the other end of the bar, she looks pretty upset.”

I unwind my arms from Logan’s neck, looking at him quizzically as he flicks his head in the direction he indicated- the far end of the bar. Sure enough, when I glance over there, I see a very sullen looking Kyla perched on a barstool.

I tell the others that I’ll be right back, and I mouth ‘thank you’ to Logan- not only do I appreciate the heads-up about Kyla, but also his discretion.

I tried to get Kyla to hang out with Vienna and I tonight and come out with us instead, but she insisted on heading here early with Tony. Now I’m kicking myself for not pushing harder, wondering how long she’s been sitting by herself.

“Hey you,” I say as I approach, sliding an arm around Kyla’s shoulders and giving her small body a squeeze. “What’s going on?” I pull back to look down at her, folding my arms across my chest.

“Tony and I got into it,” Kyla grumbles, pouting. “I should’ve just ditched him to hang out with you and Vee tonight.”

Well duh!I totally agree, but Kyla doesn’t need an ‘I told you so’ right now, so I just nod sympathetically. “You wanna talk about it?”

“No,” she growls, but then in typical Kyla fashion, precedes to talk about it anyways. “He freaked out on me because he thought I was flirting with some guy!” she blurts, sitting up and tucking her short blonde hair behind her ears. “Can you believe that?!”

Yes.After Tony had the audacity to feel me up when we were standing a few feet away from his girlfriend, I wouldn’t put anything past him.

I shake my head, rolling my eyes. “What a douche.”

“Right!” Kyla sighs, throwing up her hands. “I wasn’t even flirting, I was just being friendly. And Tony turned it into this huge thing.” She scowls, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face.

“Where is he?” I ask, looking around. I don’t see that asshole anywhere in our vicinity.

“I don’t know, probably off getting wasted somewhere.” Kyla’s scowl deepens.

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