Page 57 of The Alpha Under My Bed

The crowd wasn’t too thick—mostly couples, a few groups of friends, people settling in at picnic tables beneath the string lights, their faces washed in a soft amber glow. The sound of sizzling grills, the chatter of vendors calling out orders, the occasional burst of laughter from someone in the crowd—it all blurred into something easy, something familiar.

Ellie slowed slightly, her shoulders relaxing for the first time since we’d left the apartment. She scanned the lineup of food trucks, her eyes lighting up when she spotted the funnel cake stand.

“You want one too?” she asked, glancing at me over her shoulder.

I shrugged. “Nah.”

She frowned. “But it’sfunnel cake.”

“I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.”

She gasped, clutching her chest dramatically. “You aresolucky you’re hot. That is asin.”

I blinked. Then smirked.Oh, sweetheart.

“You find me hot?”

Ellie froze mid-step.

Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again like she was trying to find an escape hatch out of her own words. Her face went bright red, her fingers tightening around the strap of her bag.

“I—I mean—” She cleared her throat. “Shut up.”

I grinned. “No, no, please.Continue.”

“Ugh.” She turned on her heel and stormed toward the food truck. “I hate you.”

I followed, barely suppressing my laughter. “You love me.”

“Shutup.”

The guy at the counter watched us with an amused expression as Ellie placed her order, still refusing to look at me.

I leaned against the truck, arms crossed over my chest. “You sure you don’t wanna expand on that last comment?”

Ellie groaned, accepting her paper plate piled high with fried dough and powdered sugar. “If I keep eating, maybe I’ll choke and die andthenI won’t have to deal with this conversation.”

I bit back another chuckle. “Dramatic.”

“You make me this way.”

We found a bench near the edge of the seating area, Ellie eagerly tearing into her dessert, a little speck of sugar already clinging to the corner of her lip.

I was staring.

I knew I was staring.

Didn’t fucking care.

She licked a bit of sugar off her thumb, eyes fluttering shut for just a second, and my cock twitched again.

Fuckinghell.

“I can feel you judging me,” she said, not even opening her eyes.

I snorted. “I wouldn’t dare.”

She cracked an eye open. “Liar.”

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