I Stole the Alpha's Car (18+)|✔️

Chapter 16

I made it two blocks before my phone vibrated. I ignored it. I kept ignoring it all the way back to the apartment, where I locked the door behind me and threw my bag on the couch. I was making gazpacho tonight, so I got to the prep work.

As I worked, I seethed. I'd told him to stop chasing me - practically spelled it out for him - and what had he done? 

Ignored me.

He ignored my stated wishes because he wanted something different.

Clenching my jaw, I tried to focus on my work, focus on cooling off.

I needed to calm down - I'd almost lost it in the suite. Staying would have resulted in a screaming match or me slapping Dwayne across his smug, self-satisfied face.

His stupid, ridiculously handsome face...

Less than an hour later, as I was setting the soup in the refrigerator to cool, I heard my phone vibrate again. Closing the door, I walked over to the couch and checked the damage. Missed calls and voicemails on both phones, texts on the burner.

Setting my old phone aside, I picked up the burner phone, ignoring his messages as I typed.

"You need to get this through your fucking skull – right now I'm trying to decide whether to give you a chance or run for the fucking hills. Every time you act like a creep, it adds a TON of points in the 'fucking run' column."

I pressed the lock button, ready to slide it back in my purse when he responded, "WHAT DID I DO?"

Unlocking it, I replied with two words, "Steve called."

Shoving it in my purse, I walked back to the office and shut the door. I was too pissed to think straight, too pissed to listen to Dwayne's bullshit, too pissed to do damn near anything but sleep.

Jess's knock woke me.

"Lauren? You in there?"

"Yeah!" I called out, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Oh, crap – were you napping?"

"It's fine – I needed to get up anyway." I stood and slowly stepped out of the office in time to see Jess walk back to their bedroom, shutting the door behind her. "How was your day?"

"Good. I got to do rainbow hair!" Her voice was muffled but still clear enough to hear.

"Ooh, fun! Did you get pictures?"

"Yep, give me a minute. How about you? How was your day?"

I frowned. "Ran into Dwayne."

"Here?!"

"No, I walked downtown. We were going to grab lunch, and then guess what?"

She peeked her head out of their room, "What?"

"Steve called."

Her brow furrowed, "Huh?"

"He's Dwayne's brother."

Her jaw dropped, "No shit?!"

"Yeah. And Dwayne asked him to track me down." The rage started building again in my gut.

"Wait, hang on a second." She disappeared and then reappeared pulling a tank top down her torso. "Steve wouldn't do that."

I thought back to that night at the bar, to the relaxed vibe he'd given off. I wanted to believe her. "You think so?"

Jess nodded. "He's not on the best terms with his family – I mean, I've only ever heard him call his brother a 'dick'. I doubt that he'd tell Dwayne anything."

Relief washed through me – at least I wouldn't have to worry about him showing up at random to spirit me away. "Okay, that gets Steve off of my shit list, but Dwayne's still on it because he asked."

Jess nodded. "Yeah, that's creepy as hell."

I pulled at my hair, shaking my head. "Is this normal mate behavior? Like, was it like this when you and Tori met?"

Jess chuckled, "Tori and I fell into bed about fifteen minutes after we met. We might not be best people to ask."

I felt a twinge of jealousy "God, that sounds nice."

Jess shrugged, "I mean, Tori is really good with her hands- "

"I mean just clicking with your mate, right off the bat. Tori and you seem so in sync – you guys are just couple goals, honestly."

"Hey," Jess placed her hand on my shoulder, "Look, no relationship is totally in sync, not even mine. I know that you're going through it with Alpha Dickface, but you need to keep realistic expectations if you want to make the right choice."

I shrugged, "I mean, you say that, but I haven't seen you guys argue, like, at all."

Jess rolled her eyes, "Please, we argue all the time! We argue about chores, toilet paper- "

"Toilet paper?"

"It goes over, not under." She continued, "We argue about kids- "

"Kids?"

Jess looked away, and I immediately regretted asking.

She swallowed, and when her voice came, it was raw and weary, "I'm ready, she's not. We revisit the issue every so often, and sometimes it gets heated." Her tone made it clear that she wasn't interested in elaborating further.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- "

Jess cut me off, gently "Hey, it's okay; you didn't know."

The silence grew awkward, and I reached over to squeeze her arm. "For what it's worth, when Tori is ready, you'll be great moms."

A ghost of a smile returned to her face. "Thanks."

I tucked some of my hair behind my ear. "So, you got pictures of the rainbow hair?"

Jess brightened, pulling her phone out of her pocket, "Oh, yeah! Let me show you..."