Page 53 of Alpha Brock
“Trust me, I’m not forcing the girl into doing anything that she doesn’t want to do,” I growl, tucking my water bottle under an arm before folding both of them across my chest.
“Never said you were.”
I squint at Gray, studying his face. “Then what’s your point?”
I’m getting defensive for no good reason, but my temper is short these days, even shorter when I feel like people are all up in my shit.
Gray rolls his eyes, stabbing his fingers through his hair. “Can you just assure me that this isn’t gonna cause a rift between us and Denver and leave it at that? We’ve got enough on our plates right now with the shadow pack on their way, I don’t want to pick a fight with you over trivial shit.”
Well when he puts it that way…
“Yeah, of course,” I nod, feeling a little foolish. “You have nothing to worry about.”
Gray nods back. “Cool. So tomorrow after the morning training session, then? In the conference room?”
“Sure thing.” I unfold my arms and grab for my water bottle, popping it open and drinking down another gulp.
Gray claps me on the shoulder, moving past me to enter the weight room where Jax and Theo are. I head down the hallway, hanging a right instead of a left at the end. Taking a meandering route out of the building so that I’ll pass by the IT hub.
It’s stupid, Astrid probably isn’t even there. She’s probably still at lunch. Still, I peek in the doorway anyways, eyes searching for that mess of bouncy light brown curls. I find her right away- she’s at the conference table in the back of the room, a laptop open in front of her. Those big brown eyes are focused in on the screen, squinting in concentration as she draws her lower lip into her mouth.
I’m looking for a moment too long, because suddenly her eyes fly up, meeting mine.
Shit.
Her lips stretch into a cheerful smile, and she rises from her seat at the table, heading toward me.
Double shit.
I seriously consider just bolting for the door, but that would make this even more fucking awkward. So I take a step back, waiting for her, wondering what the fuck I’m going to say.
“Hi!” Astrid chirps, stepping out of the doorway from the hub. “What are you doing here?”
“I, uh…” I grumble, reaching up to run a hand through my hair. I totally forget that it’s tied back, though, and my fingers just get stuck. “I was looking for Theo,” I lie, yanking my hand out of my hair.
“Oh, he’s not here yet,” Astrid says, glancing back toward the hub. “I can tell him you were looking for him, though, when he does get here…”
“No,” I say quickly, shaking my head. “I mean, thanks, but you don’t have to that. I’ll just text him or something.”
“Okay,” she shrugs, cocking out a hip and resting her hand upon it. We both stand there quietly for a moment before she asks, “anything else?”
“Uh, no, I… well, yeah actually” I wince at how eloquently that came out before continuing. “I’ve gotta run back up here later on, so I can give you a ride home when you’re done for the day.”
Another fucking lie, but one that earns a bright smile from Astrid, so it’s worth it.
“Sounds good, I’ll look for you then.”
I nod, clutching my water bottle in one hand and shoving the other in the pocket of my athletic shorts to stop myself from reaching out and touching her. She looks good. She smells good. And I know she fucking tastes even better.
“Well I’m just gonna…” she throws a thumb over her shoulder, indicating.
“Yeah, sure,” I mumble. “Go ahead, I’ll see ya later.”
I’m so close to being in the clear, but right then, Theo walks around the corner, calling out to me.
“What the hell are you still doing here?”
My stomach drops.