Page 61 of Alphas Like Us

It’s hard to missThatcher.

He towers next to the adjoining townhouse door. Closer to me than I prefer. Arms crossed, he eyes Jane’s cats that dart across the mint-greenrug.

I’m hoping to keep the silent streak between usintact.

Jack Highland sits on the loveseat and fiddles with his Canon, but the starry-eyed jock isn’t here to filmWe Are Calloway. He heard what happened after the auction, and he came here to check on Maximoff andCharlie.

“Put the phone away for a sec, Quinn,” Akara tells the youngestbodyguard.

Quinn is bowed forward on the rocking chair. “How long will this meeting take?” He doesn’t pocket hisphone.

“I don’t know,” Akara snaps, not putting up with anyone’s bullshit tonight. “You need to be somewhere?Leave.”

Quinn glances around at us, and ends up looking tomefor the right answer. I’m not solving anyone else’s mini-dilemmas unless their name starts with Maximoff and ends withHale.

Boyfriendprivileges.

Before I can tell him off, Quinn starts explaining to me, “I matched with thisincrediblycute girl on Tinder and her profile says she’s down for hookups. She can only meet me in like five fuckingminutes.”

My brows hike, and Oscar tries to control his laughter. His little brother is asking for my permission to go fuck agirl.

“Man, I don’t give a shit what you do,” I tellQuinn.

Thatcher shoots me a glare. “That’s really youradvice?”

There goes that blissful silence. “Technically, it’s not advice. It’s anopinion.”

Donnelly asks to see the girl’s profile, and Quinn passes him the phone. Jack leans over to peek at thescreen.

“Be thirty minutes late, little bro,” Oscar tells his brother. “That way she won’t smell yourdesperation.”

Quinn gives him a weird look. “I’m not that desperate. I’ve gotten hundreds of messages since the Hot Santa video leak. But this girl is out of my league and she doesn’tcare.”

In the public’s eyes, Quinn Oliveira became the Casanova of Omega.The Young Stud. And I can see Thatcher weighing Quinn’s dedication to this job. Like he does to me all the fuckingtime.

Thatcher catches sight of my glare, and he glaresback.

My phone vibrates in my back pocket. Just as I reach for my cell, Akara tells Quinn to make achoice.

Donnelly shrugs and hands the phone to Jack. “It’s just pussy, Quinnie. You can eat itlater.”

Jack doesn’t flinch, used to blunt talk. “She’s cute. You’d look good together, but I’m with Donnelly.” He passes the phone back toQuinn.

I check my recent message fromMaximoff.

You busy?–Maximoff

“Farrow,” Akara calls me out for myphone while Quinn decides to stay put for themeeting.

“It’s Maximoff,” I say, typing back areply.

I send:No. What do youneed?

Akara doesn’t nag, and he snaps his finger to his palm, “Okay, so here’s the deal. Alpha is still the force that’ll work thenight with a celebritya week from now. Price isn’t compromising or letting Omega take thelead.”

No one thought hewould.

“Bigger news,” Akara says, “Eliot and Tom Cobalt graduated high school. For those that don’t know”—he zeroes in on Quinn—“Security Force Omega was formed when Maximoff left home. At that point, SFO became the division of security that protects the kids who turn eighteen and become legal adults. Epsilon handles all the minors. Normally, this means that we’d be welcoming Eliot and Tom’s bodyguards to SFO,butthe Tri-Force has decided on arestructure.”