Alpha Theo by C.J. Primer

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Brooke

I stare at the back of Theo’s black jacket as he makes the rounds in the hub on Monday afternoon. It’s his first time back in a week, so it takes him a while to gather everyone’s report. He’s listening attentively, jotting down notes while my eyes practically burn a hole in his leather jacket.

He stops at Diego’s desk first, then Carly’s. Then criss-crosses his way to the back of the room. I’m the only one in the last row, so after he finishes with Justin, I know I’m next. I stare at my computer monitor; pretend I’m working as Theo heads for the conference table behind me. I cringe inwardly at the scraping sound of chair legs across the floor as Theo drags one over to my desk.

“Hey, kid.”

His voice is low, velvety smooth and enticing.

“Hi.”

My own voice comes out like a squeak.

Theo sinks down into the chair, starts shrugging off his jacket. I watch out of the corner of my eye as he pulls those bulky biceps out of the sleeves, tosses the jacket over the back of the chair. Then he leans back, slapping his big ol’ boots up on the edge of my desk.

“What’s up?” he asks, and even though I’m staring intently at my monitor, I know he’s smiling. I can hear it in his voice, practically feel it beaming at me. I don’t risk a glance.

“Just working,” I sigh.

I start typing. It’s nonsensical, I’ll have to delete it later. He won’t know the difference. I can’t focus and work with him sitting beside me today- my head’s all over the place, brain scrambled.

A silence settles between us, save for the clicking of my keyboard.

After a minute or so, Theo asks “are you mad at me or something?”

I don’t stop typing random characters. “No, why would I be mad?” I grind out.

I’m not mad, per se. I’m irritated. And I can’t even explain why, which makes me even more irritated.

I loved our trip to Denver. I actually had fun with Theo, thought I was seeing a different side of him. Felt like I was really starting to get to know him. But his behavior at the bar on Saturday night left a sour taste in my mouth.

He was different in Denver. Or maybe I was. Or maybe we both were, because we were away from our reality for a night. But when we got back to it, I was immediately reminded of our many differences, of why I keep my guard up around him.

I saw the way other women were looking at Theo on Saturday night. They frickin’ idolize him because he’s an alpha. I also saw how they looked at me when Theo and I interacted, like I was some anomaly that didn’t belong- or worse, just another one of his bimbos. That wasn’t what bothered me, though. It was the way he carried himself, the way he was showing off. The way he was so quick to pivot his attention from me to my friend.

“I dunno,” Theo shrugs. “Because I danced with Carly?”

I swivel my chair to face him. I may not be able to come to terms with why I’m so annoyed, but he’s onto something. I may not have wanted to dance with Theo, but I didn’t want to watch him dance with Carly, either.

“I don’t care who you dance with,” I say flippantly, leaning back in my chair and crossing one leg over the other, bouncing the toe of my sneaker.

“I did ask you first,” he sighs, a playful smile on his lips. He points a finger at me. “You wanted to dance with mop top.”

“Connor,” I correct.

“Connor,” Theo mimics, swishing imaginary hair over his shoulder. His face twists into a faint scowl. “What’s so great about that guy, anyways?”

I could say a lot of things. Connor’s cute. Connor’s sweet. Connor’s the type of guy I’d like to wind up with. He’s the good choice, the safe choice.

I settle on “he’s a nice guy”.

Theo blows out a breath, rolling his eyes. “Of course he is. You don’t say that to him, do you?”

“What, that he’s nice?” I ask, wrinkling my nose. “Sure, why not?”

He sighs, folding his arms across his chest. “I told you, kid, guys hate that shit.”

I roll my eyes. “Ohhhkay. You don’t speak for all mankind.”

“Just take my word for it.” That playful smile reappears, eyes mischievous. “So are we good?”

“Sure,” I breathe, swiveling back toward my computer. I place a hand on my mouse, clicking around aimlessly. “Like I said, I wasn’t mad.”

“Fine,” Theo quips, reaching around for his jacket and fumbling in the pocket. “Jealous, then?”

I freeze.

The frickin’ nerve of this guy!

I’m not jealous. How could I be jealous if I don’t even like him?! Not as more than a friend, that is- and I’m not even sure if I want to be his friend right now.

“You wish,” I mutter, forcing a chuckle.

Then he answers the question that I won’t ask.

He leans in, drops his voice low. “I didn’t hook up with her, ya know.”

I push back in my chair, spinning to face him again. His hazel eyes are intense, piercing. Maddeningly beautiful.

“I don’t care,” I whisper.

But for some reason I do.

I see a flash of something in his eyes, like he’s wounded by my response. I’m getting another peek behind the curtain, underneath the cocky facade.

I think he wants me to care.

I clear my throat and speak up. “Sorry, I’m just in a rotten mood today. I’m stressed.”

Theo pulls something out of his jacket pocket- looks like he brought a protein bar as his snack today.

“No worries, kid,” he sighs, tearing open the wrapper. “What are you stressed out about?”

He stuffs the protein bar in his mouth, taking a big bite and chewing.

I blow out a breath, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “This program, for one. I was supposed to have it done a week ago.”

“Sorry, can’t help you with that,” he grumbles, still chewing. He swallows, peeling back the wrapper of his protein bar further. “What else?”

I pause, unsure if I should tell him.

“I… have a date tonight.”

Theo’s eyebrows shoot up. His mouth is open, ready to take another bite of his snack, but he pulls it away from his mouth, narrowing his eyes.

“A date?”

I nod.

“Let me guess,” he chuckles wryly. “Connor.” He says his name with such disdain.

I nod again.

Theo slowly brings his protein bar back up to his mouth and takes a bite. Chews. Swallows. Considers.

“Why does that stress you out?” he finally asks. “I thought you were in love with him or something.”

A maniacal laugh escapes my lips. “What?! No! I mean, I like him, but… well, this is our first actual date.”

“Ooh, first date.” Theo waggles his eyebrows. “Where’s ol’ mop top taking you?”

I wring my hands in my lap. “The Italian restaurant in Goldenleaf… I think it’s called Bella Vita or something?”

He rolls his eyes exaggeratedly, taking the last bite of his protein bar and wadding up the wrapper. “Boring.” He drags out the word, turning to toss the wrapper into the trash behind him. He misses and it lands on the floor.

“Whatever. I think it sounds nice,” I say defensively.

“Yeah, and real original, too,” he scoffs. “C’mon, the best he could come up with was a dinner date?”

I fold my arms, narrowing my eyes. “What, like you’re an expert or something? Have you ever actually dated anyone?”

He gives a quick shake of his head. “I’m not the guy that girls want to date, kid. But if I ever did, I’d come up with something way better than dinner.”

“I’m sure that’s not true. You’ve practically got a fan club.”

I’ve seen how women throw themselves at Theo. The guy’s gorgeous, and that alpha energy is magnetic.

He snorts. “Those girls aren’t looking for a date.”

I get his meaning. I just shake my head disapprovingly and roll my eyes again. “Whatever.”

Theo grins, dragging his feet off of my desk, letting them fall to the floor.

“What do you have against Connor, anyways?” I ask, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Nothing!” he laughs, throwing his hands up in surrender. “I’m sure he’s really nice.”

His tone is laced with sarcasm. Despite his denial, it’s pretty darn obvious that Theo has a problem with Connor. I just can’t imagine what it is- Connor doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who would pick a fight with anyone, let alone an alpha.

Maybe Theo’s the one who’s jealous.

The notion is so ridiculous that I almost laugh out loud. I’m not the kind of girl that guys fight over. I’m not the fun girl, the sexy girl- I’m the good girl, the smart girl. The invisible girl. The girl that gets passed over for those fun, sexy ones.

Not that I mind. I know my worth- I’m a catch, and the right guy will like me for who I am on a deeper level. Maybe Connor’s that guy.

Even though I think Theo’s lying about not having anything against Connor, I decide to let it go.

“He is,” I agree. I swivel back to my computer, feeling Theo’s eyes lingering on me.

I get to work deleting the random characters that I typed when he first sat down, cleaning up my code.

“You know…” Theo says after a minute or two, “if it’s stressing you out, you just shouldn’t go. We could go for a drink instead.”

I peer over at him again. He has one elbow on the arm of the chair, resting his chin on his hand. His square jaw is stubbly, like he hasn’t shaved in days- but it makes him look rugged, even more handsome if that’s humanly possible. His eyes burn into mine as a sly smile tugs at his lips.

“Whaddya say, kid?”

For some reason I’m actually tempted. I’m more comfortable around Theo now; we’ve fallen into some kind of groove together and the conversation never gets stale. I can almost picture the two of us posted up at his table in the back corner of the Goldenleaf bar, him making some perverted comment, me rolling my eyes. Him making an off-color joke that I can’t help but laugh at. It doesn’t sound half bad; it could actually be fun.

I shake my head. That’s not me. I’m the kind of girl who honors her commitments.

“I can’t cancel on him.”

Theo blows out a breath, shrugging. “Suit yourself.”

He rises to his feet, grabbing his jacket off of the back of his chair while my wolf whines in protest.

Theo stuffs his arms into the sleeves of his jacket, glancing down at me, hazel eyes twinkling. “If things go south with loverboy, you know where to find me. I’ll buy you a drink.”

I chuckle softly. “Sure thing. Hey, don’t you need to get a report from me?”

He towers over me from where he stands, raking a hand through his hair. “Already did. Program still in progress. Unless you have anything else to add?”

I give a little shake of my head.

He grabs the back of his chair and drags it over to the conference table.

Theo usually sticks around longer to chat. Even though I’ve got work to do, I’m a little disappointed that he’s taking off already. With how stressed out I am over the program and my date tonight, I could actually use a distraction- even an annoying distraction like Theo.

He walks up beside my desk, pauses. Glances down at me.

“Later, kid,” he drawls, flashing me that gorgeous smile.

Even though I’m still a little ticked off about his shenanigans on Saturday night, for some reason I’m finding it difficult to stay mad at him. Perhaps it’s easy to forgive him because he’s such a smooth talker- or maybe I’m just a huge pushover.

Either way, as I look up at him, I can’t help but smile back.