Page 82 of Alphas Like Us

“It was on my dash,” he rolls eyes. “I was just searching for some Shannara gifs.” He folds his headphones and zips them up into a case. “You wanna know what else is all over my dash? Gifs of you and yourboyfriend.”

I haven’t actively searched for those, and I have to restrain myself from asking him to surface them. I spin on the desk chair. Facing him more. “I thought you don’t follow pop cultureblogs.”

“I don’t,” Xander says. “You two are popping up in theThe Fourth Degreefandom. There’s this theory that Mom’s going to push the studio to cast Farrow in the next movie as TurnerClarke.”

Christ. “They can’t be fucking serious,” I say. Turner Clarke is a tattooed comic book character who has the ability to manipulatemercury.

Xander shrugs. “They think Farrow is a wannabe actor just dating you for theconnections.”

I almost groan, and I rub the back of my neck, knowing this shit is what frustrates Farrow. “Don’t mention this to him,” I tell Xander. It’s all baseless and over the top, but it won’t stop the theories. Some people can’t even for a second just believe he’s dating me because he loves me. The truth is tooboring.

“I’m never dating anyone,” my little brother declares. “I have too many people up in my business as itis.”

The public’s frenzied reaction towards my relationship is scaring a lot of my siblings and cousins away from wanting one. And that’s not what Iwant.

“You could change your mind,” I say. “Idid.”

He contemplates that and then just shakes his head. “Noway.”

A knock sounds on the doorway, and we both turn to see my tattooed boyfriend. He leans a shoulder against the doorframe. His brows lift at me. “I just got a call from Quinn. One of Jane’s cats escaped into security’s townhouse and is missing. I have to go help him find the little bastard before she gets back home.” He glances from Xander to me. “I’ll be back to pick youup.”

I rise from the chair. “I can come withyou.”

“You sure?” He frowns and looks between us, but then he realizes the same thing I did. His eyes dance all over the clean room. “Damn. Xander, your room looks great.” His gaze refocuses on me like I’m thecause.

I shake myhead.

“It was all Summers,” Isay.

“Nice job,” Farrow tells my littlebrother.

Xander tucks the headphone case under his bed. “It’s just aroom.”

For anyone else, maybe. For Xander, it’s a big deal that he took the energy to do something as minimal as cleaning hisroom.

“Yeah, but now it doesn’t smell and look like that trash planet your brother won’t shut up about,” Farrow says as I head to the door to meet him. He gives me a sharp look likeyou didn’t talk tohim.

He cantell.

“Saakar,” Xander explains. “It’s fromThor:Ragnarok.”

Farrow smiles casually. “That’s the one.” He nods to Xander. “See youlater.”

“See ya,” Xander calls out, and I say goodbye to my brother before we make our way out of the house. It isn’t until the front door closes behind us and my boots hit pavement that Farrow broaches thetopic.

“What happened?” he asks, his hand resting on the hood of myAudi.

I try to cross my arms, but it’s kind of fucking impossible with a sling. “He was happy,” I defend. “Reallyhappy. I couldn’t breakthat.”

Farrow blinkshard.

“You don’t agree with me.” I can tell hedoesn’t.

“He’s not my brother, wolf scout,” he replies. “You know him better than me. But the alternative is telling him during a low, and that feels like a worsemove.”

There’s no obvious path, but I’m doing what feels right. “You tell me to go with my gut,” I remind him. “And my gut is sayingnottoday.”

He nods strongly. “That I can buy,” he says. “But what if your brother is still happy tomorrow, next week, next month? Howlong?”