Page 71 of Gold Rush
“June!”
I sit up, wincing as my abdomen cramps again, my throat dry and raspy. “Theo?”
The door to the nest nearly hits the wall as he throws it open. Theo stops short of walking fully in and I can see his muscles straining as he holds onto the door frame, breathing hard.
“Jesus — I didn’t know where youwere—” He pauses, his eyes zeroing in on me in the center of the nest.
Pulling in on myself, I drag the blanket closer, aware of how tiny the bed makes me feel. Alone in the center of the mattress, I fist the blanket against my chest, huddled in his sweatshirt.
“Are you feeling okay?”
There couldn’t be aworsetime for him to finally show his face.
I shake my head at him, glancing down at the blanket and picking at the soft fabric. This stupid alpha, who flits between hot and cold, who poured me wine, bought me gifts, and is the reason I’ve not responded to any of my mother’s angry text messages in the last week.
He’s also the same alpha who made me feel like fuckinggarbage.
I glance up at him as a flash of anger goes through me. “Why do you ask? Do you suddenly give a shit? Or are you going to feel bad if you kick me out of the house when no one else is here and I don’t feel well?”
Theo leans back, his fingers turning white on the doorframe. “I told Arin I’d make sure you were alright, and I fucking meant it. I’m not kicking you out.”
“Don’t bother trying to smooth things over now,” I spit the words at him, kneeling up. “You and I both know you probably just told Arin that so he’d get off your back.”
He laughs, his eyes narrowing to sharp points. “Arin hasn’t been on my back, but from what I know, he’s had you onyours.”
“You’re adick.” I stand up, stalking closer to the door, but not near enough to touch him, or him to reach me — especially since he’s still respecting the rules of the nest, dutifully outside of it because I’ve not extended an invite.
Tension hangs in the air, crackling like it’s waiting for a reason to ignite.
His lips twitch as he looks down at me. The dark blue of his eyes glimmers as he takes me in, his eyes darting down my body, stopping on my bare legs. I know what he’s seeing. I know he’s seeing me in this sweatshirt and thinking that he already won.
And maybe he did. Because for howangrymy heart is, my body is reacting to his presence like it always has. That undeniable allure that I would have acted on already if he knew how toshut the fuck up.
“Stop it,” I snap at him, heat warming the back of my neck. “You don’t get to look at me like that when you can’t stand me.”
Theo raises his eyes from my legs, burning my face. “Seems like I’m standing fine, princess, and so are youin my sweatshirt.”
I’m sotiredof the cheeky jokes, the back and forth — I glare at him.
“So what? You’re the one whogave it to me. What happened to hating me? You practically shouted it from the rooftops the first night I was here.”
Theo winces. “I didn’t —” His jaw clenches, then he snarls, leaning closer. “I couldn’t fuckingstandyou, is that what you want to hear? I thought Seth was the stupidest son of a bitch in the entire world to run to the center and bring you home. All that was missing was the cardboard box and the new toys to play with.”
“I’m not a fucking stray cat!”
He shakes his head, sucking in a deep breath. “No, you aren’t.” His eyes trail over me again, “And the more I got to see you, the more Isawthe way they all gravitated toward you, the angrier I got. Do you want to know why, June?”
He’s the only one who shortens my name and makes it sound like a curse. Arin always says ‘Juniper’ like he’s one second away from donning a Mr. Darcy cosplay and strolling across a foggy field to reach me. Bennett’s ‘Juniper’ is the one who embraces him, who’s allowed to justbe. Seth’s ‘June’ is the total goddamn disaster that brought me here in the first place.
I swallow, my throat tight.
“Because they had you,” Theo whispers the words. “And Ididn’t.”
I suck in a breath, staring at him as he lowers his arms from the door, just standing there.
“And god, do Iwantyou.”
I can’t think. My heart pounds in my chest. The whole time he’swantedme? Like some twisted playground game of a boy pushing a girl into the dirt because he didn’t know how to handle his own feelings?
