Page 83 of Alphas Like Us

“I thought we were doing the wholeno planning, relying on impulsething?” Icounter.

“If you’re only doing it to avoid shit, then you’re doing itwrong.”

I take a deep breath and swing my head back to the house. I can’t go back inside and tell him now, but I’ll keep an eye on my brother. And I come up with a new plan. “Not today,” I tell Farrow. “But sometime soon, I’m going to talk tohim.”

That’s apromise.

14

FARROW KEENE

I havea huge decision to make. And I need Maximoff’shelp.

But as I watch him stubbornly tryto workout, I find myself delaying what I need to surface. I’m certain that my mere presence almost always distracts him, but he’s definitely hooked me intoday.

On gray gym mats, Maximoff tries to bite his shoelace and use his left hand to tie his Nikes. My smile is killing me. I stare at him while I easily tie my ownshoes.

I already see how this is ending: me, helping him. But I let him try a little bitlonger.

Mostly because it makes him feelbetter.

Partially because his tenacity is fuckingattractive.

I usually work out at Akara’s gym, but around the time that SFO gained fame, a celebrity gossip blog started posting about Studio 9. Citing how it’s a hotbed of “bodyguard activity” for the famous families and how Omega can easily be spottedthere.

Cut to the third week of May, and the gym has turned into a zoo. People will flock to the windows like it’s Superheroes & Scones. Hoping to catch sight of Omega. Namely,Quinn.

And I’m certain that if I arrived with Maximoff, it’d incite a largercrowd.

Simple solution: skip thegym.

Maximoff has only worn a sling for six days, and he’s not even allowed to stretch until the eight-week mark. I figured Studio 9’s crowds would be an easy excuse to benchhim.

My boyfriend’s solution: find anothergym.

More specifically, a home gym that belongs to hisuncle.

An afternoon rain shower drips down three glass walls and blurs the view of a landscaped backyard and wooden treehouse, along with the Meadows’ quaint cottage. The gym looks like a garden house from the outside, and the inside is equipped with two treadmills, gym mats, a weight bench, and a small-scale rockwall.

Since we’re in the famous one’s gated neighborhood and in a cul-de-sac, it’s private and quiet and I’m considered off-duty.He invited his little brother to join us, and Xander turned him down. I’d say it’s out of the ordinary, but Maximoff usually always tries to invite him to things, especially the gym. Xander’s response is nothingnew.

“Race me,” Maximoff says with the shoelace between his teeth. He motions with his head to the side-by-sidetreadmills.

Racehim.

Honestly, I thought he’d do a few one-handed push-ups and then call it a day. But I’ve hopped on this batshit crazy ride, and I’m not hitting the brakes. If he derails, I’ll catchhim.

I finish knotting my shoelaces. “How long are you planning to pretend you didn’t just have surgery six daysago?”

“Tomorrow,” he mumbles through the shoelace, “because then it’ll be sevendays.”

I roll my eyes and end up shaking my head, smiling. I lean back on my palms and watch him do a halfway decent job at tying his rightshoe.

Marvel stickers and Elfish words decorate his red sling. Handiwork of his brother and sisters. His right arm is still braced to his upper abdomen. We’re both shirtless and in gym shorts, but he’s the only one with lingeringbruises.

Fuck, I’ve never liked seeing him bruised, and while I’m a few feet away, I skim the yellowish-green marks on hisribs…

I smell rain on metal. I glance at the windows. Rain softly pelts the glass. I almost feel wet cement beneath my hands, gravel digging into mypalms.