Alpha Theo by C.J. Primer

CHAPTER TWENTY

Brooke

“Sup, nerds?” Theo greets as he walks into the IT hub on Friday afternoon, flashing that charming smile of his.

I hear titters of laughter from some of my colleagues- they take Theo’s greeting as being funny, jovial, rather than as an insult. Over the past few weeks, we’ve all gotten used his presence around here and everyone seems to like his visits. The guys think he’s cool- they idolize him, want to be friends with him. The girls have all fallen for his good looks and charisma- they flirt with him shamelessly.

I was the last holdout, but I find myself smiling when I look up to see him standing in the doorway, his big, bulky stature taking up most of the doorframe. Who would’ve thought that Theo’s afternoon appearance in the IT hub would become my favorite part of the day?

I used to dread that cocky greeting, bristle when he planted himself beside me to chat. Now I’m finding myself looking forward to the screech of chair legs across the floor and the sight of those big motorcycle boots thrown up on the corner of my desk.

I had fun with him on Wednesday. A lot of fun- but when he didn’t show up in the hub yesterday, I immediately started overthinking every detail of our little ‘anti-date’. The more I tortured myself with speculation as to whether I did something wrong or off-putting, the more I began to realize that I’ve already let Theo in too much. In spite of the walls I erected to protect myself and keep him out, he’s somehow wormed his way in and taken up residence. That silly childhood crush is back in full force, making me swoon over the handsome, unattainable alpha.

I’ve gotta turn it off somehow.

I mean, I’m not foolish enough to think we could ever be together. He’s definitely not the ‘relationship’ type of guy- and even if he was, I’d never be able to trust him. Girls throw themselves at Theo constantly, and he isn’t exactly known for turning down their advances.

I’ve seen the kinds of girls that Theo goes for, too. They’re gorgeous. When he does settle down one day, he’s gonna wind up with some bombshell, not a computer geek.

Still, I find myself watching him as he makes his way around the hub, gathering report from the others. I smile inwardly when he grabs a chair from the conference table and drags it over, plopping down on it and shrugging out of his leather jacket.

“Hey kid, ya miss me?”

Yes.

“What?” I laugh, turning to peer over at him as he leans back, kicking his boots up on my desk. His shirt rides up and I get a glimpse of those hard abs. My wolf starts rattling my cage.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t notice that I wasn’t here yesterday,” he smirks, tossing his jacket over the back of the chair.

I shrug. “Must’ve been too focused on my program.”

Theo’s unbothered by my aloof response. He reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small bag of pretzels. “Well you can blame your sister, she fucking accosted me in the hallway outside of Gray’s office yesterday.”

“Who, Fallon?”

Those mischievous hazel eyes lock with mine. “You got another sister? You’re not secretly a triplet or something are you?” He tears open the bag of pretzels with his teeth.

I roll my eyes, returning them to my computer screen. As he starts crunching beside me, though, my curiosity gets the best of me and I swivel my chair to face him.

“What’d she want?”

Theo shrugs his shoulders, still crunching away. “Warned me to stay away from you,” he says, mouth full of pretzel. He swallows. “Apparently someone told her we’ve been hanging out.”

I scrunch my nose, tucking my hair behind my ears and shaking my head. “I didn’t tell her that, I just said we were friends.”

He pops another pretzel in his mouth, shrugs again. Crunches.

I blow out a breath. I haven’t told Fallon any details about me and Theo, just that we were becoming friends. I wasn’t planning on telling her anything more until I sorted out some of my conflicting emotions about it all. And even then, I don’t know if I will, because I know how it looks- like I’m some stupid, naïve girl who thinks she can reform the bad boy.

“Well… what’d you say?” I ask cautiously.

Theo swallows, fishing another pretzel out of the bag and flashing me a smile. “I told her you can make your own decisions about who you want to hang out with.”

A loud laugh escapes my lips. “Really?”

He grins, popping the pretzel into his mouth.

“I’m sure she took that well,” I giggle, shaking my head.

“Oh yeah,” Theo grumbles, swallowing. “Hence the reason that I hopped on my bike and got far away from this place before she could tattle to Gray.”

He waggles his eyebrows, popping the last couple pretzels into his mouth, wadding up the bag, and turning at the waist to toss it into the trash can.

My eyes go right to his abs again. Damnit.

I cross one leg over the other, leaning back in my chair and bouncing the toe of my sneaker. “So where’d you go?”

“Pine Mountain.” He brushes pretzel crumbs from the front of his shirt. “It’s really pretty up there, you should let me take you sometime.”

“If it involves your motorcycle, you know my answer,” I sigh, swiveling back to my computer. I find the spot I left off in my code, start typing.

“Aw c’mon, kid,” Theo urges. “It’s not as scary as you’re making it out to be. You got past your fear to get on the ski-lift, and didn’t you have a good time?”

I side-eye him as my lips spread into a smile. I did have a good time- but there’s no comparing a ride on a slow-moving ski-lift to getting on the back of a motorcycle with someone that I know is a crazy driver. It’s like comparing a carousel to a roller coaster.

“That’s totally different.”

Theo heaves a sigh, raking a hand through his hair. “I’m gonna get you on that bike someday, kid. And you know what? You’re gonna love it.”

“Doubtful.” I continue typing, patching a defect in my code.

Theo just sits beside me quietly for a few minutes. I can feel his eyes on me as I work. Then he reaches for his jacket again, pulling out the notepad that he uses to take report. Starts flipping through it.

“I talked to Gray about that idea I told you about, for the borders,” he says.

“Yeah?” I stop typing and swivel to face him again. “What’d he say?”

Theo grins. “He liked it. Told me to run with it.”

“That’s awesome, Theo!” I exclaim, smiling brightly.

I swear I see him blush before he looks down at his notepad again. “Yeah, I’m gonna need help from IT to get it up and running. I made a list of everything I think we’ll need…”

He holds up the notepad and I wheel my chair a little closer to him, peering over at it. It’s a lot longer than I expected- the guy has put a lot of thought into this system.

I look up and those hazel eyes meet my own. They’re wide, thoughtful. “Do you think you could help me look into some different options for these things? Or point me in the right direction?”

I nod enthusiastically. “Definitely! Justin is our equipment guy. If you give it to him, he’ll order everything you need.”

Theo tears the page out of the notepad and sets it on my desk, tucking the pad back in his jacket. “Cool. I’ll give it to him on my way out.”

“Once it’s installed I can help get all the systems linked up and running,” I offer.

Theo smiles- that charming, gorgeous smile that always gives me pause. “Sounds good.”

I slide back over to my computer and spin to face my monitor, try to regain my composure since Theo’s making me blush like a frickin’ schoolgirl. Seeing him so motivated makes him even more appealing- and I’m desperately trying to shut those feelings down.

I get a few more minutes of work in before Theo pipes up again.

“You comin’ out to the bar tomorrow night?”

I push back in my chair, turning to look at him again. He’s reclining back with his chair on two legs, peering over at me with a devilish grin.

“Nah…” I breathe, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “I think I’m better off staying away from the bar.”

He arches a brow. “Why’s that?”

“Because I’m sure Connor’s going, and I feel like it’d just be awkward…” I heave a sigh.

Theo bristles at the mention of Connor. Scowls. “You don’t even have to talk to that guy, you could just hang with me.”

I snort. “Yeah, you and all of your adoring fans? No thanks, I’d rather just avoid the place entirely.”

“Well what are you gonna do instead, work?”

I bite my lip, slowly nodding.

“No way, kid, fuck that.” Theo drags his boots off of my desk, sitting up in his chair. “Let’s do something, you and me.”

I eye him skeptically. “You’re gonna skip a Saturday night out at the bar?”

“Sure. Why not?” He shrugs nonchalantly. “Isn’t that what friends do?”

Friends, maybe. But Theo? The Goldenleaf bar on Saturday night is practically his hunting ground.

Although I’m suspicious, I’m intrigued. Hanging out with Theo would be a lot more exciting than spending another night holed up in my room.

“What’d you have in mind?” I ask.

He grins. “Pine Mountain?”

I shake my head adamantly. “No motorcycle ride.”

Theo rolls his eyes, blowing out a breath. “Fine. Umm…” He leans back in his chair again, eyes trained on the ceiling as he considers.

My own eyes roam his hulking form. Wind down the dips and curves of his muscular biceps and forearms. Travel across the planes of his broad chest. Linger on the sharp edge of his jaw, the rough stubble of his beard, his lips.

He snaps his fingers. “Got it.” His eyes meet mine again. “How about a little night hike?”

“A night hike?” I parrot back to him, furrowing my brow.

Theo grins, nodding. “It’s the best time to be out in the forest. I know a couple of really good trails, we could let our wolves out if we want to…”

“No,” I blurt.

He snaps his mouth shut, staring at me.

“I mean,” I say, softening my voice, “Sure, I’ll go on a hike. But on two legs, not four.”

I don’t trust my wolf around Theo- if I let her out, I’m not sure she’d cede control to let me take over again.

The corner of Theo’s mouth tips up into a smirk. “I wouldn’t watch you undress if you didn’t want me to…”

I smack at his bicep with the back of my hand, sighing exasperatedly. “That’s not the reason. My wolf’s just a little… difficult to control, that’s all.”

He nods in understanding. “Got it. No worries… the hike will be just as good on two legs.”

There’s that smile again- my belly does somersaults.

I really need to find a way to turn off this attraction, bury these emotions. I keep trying to remind myself that if I let him in fully, it’ll only end in heartbreak. Yet for some reason I can’t stay away. I’m drawn to him.

I’m not sure if it’s Theo himself or the way I feel when I’m around him- more carefree, more uninhibited. Things I’ve never allowed myself to be. Fallon was always so wild that I went the complete opposite direction; overcorrected. Became too cautious. Now, Theo’s slowly pushing me out of my comfort zone- and while it’s scary, I actually kinda like it. I’m finding myself seduced by the excitement, the danger of it all.

Theo rises to stand, grabbing his jacket off of the chairback.

“Can’t wait,” he adds, waggling his eyebrows.

My heart beats faster in my chest.

Me neither.