Stripping for the Alpha

Chapter Four (NALA's POV)

I turned to Jade who stared after Theo angrily. "Why do I feel like this?" I quietly begged her. She looked at me silently before motioning for me to hug her. I shook my head and a small sob broke from my chest as she pulled me into her arms.

I turned away from her before making my way out of the building. I couldn't understand why I was feeling like this. I didn't even know this guy and I felt something shifting inside of me. I sat in an empty booth at the food court and put my head on the table.

I sat there for a while before I felt the cushy seat dip as someone sat beside me. "Nala?" my head snapped up and I came face-to-face with Theo.

"You walked off." I said before returning my head back to its spot on the table.

"I know." He whispered. "I'm sorry." I pulled my head up and stared at him.

"What were you going to say?" I asked him as I brushed my hair behind my shoulders. He stared at the movement before closing his eyes briefly. "I don't know how to approach this subject." He said calmly as he stared at the coffee cup in his hands.

"This subject?"

"It's difficult for me to grasp how I feel about you. Not just you as a person, but your presence and body as well." He whispered. "I feel very connected to you and its difficult for me to explain." He added before meeting my gaze.

"Why? Why do we feel like this?" I asked. I felt like I was being very straight forward and demanding but my need for answers was building and I didn't know how long I could go on without knowing the truth.

"We? You feel something for me?" he asked, his sly smile making me blush.

"Well yeah. I don't know how to explain it." I murmured but he egged me on, none the less. "Try." He pleaded.

I looked up into his brown eyes as he watched me intently. I tucked my knees under me and made myself comfortable before letting him know the truth. "I feel like you could protect me. Not just in the usual sense that all guys can protect a woman but, in the sense, that you could keep me safe from everything. Even the things that don't exist. Like the monsters in the dark." I whispered. 

(#*sorry to interrupt, the bold is this books defining quote!!*#)

He smiled and made a move to speak but I held up my hand. "But there is also the feeling that I get that you should protect me. Like you were literally created to protect me." I said as I fidgeted with my fingers. "I just feel so freaking safe with you, it makes me question everything. I don't know how to explain it. I feel so many different emotions when you are around and I don't know how to cope with them all." I paused and looked up into his quizzical eyes and I smiled. "I know it sounds crazy but that's how it is." I said staring anywhere but his face.

He clears his throat and I finally settled on his face to see his reaction. "Its not crazy and that's exactly how it is Nala. You're a lot smarter than most human beings." He said before shaking his head. "You amaze me." He whispered before slowly ducking his head down. I froze for a moment. His lips were impossibly close to mine and I wanted so much to close the distance but he pulled away, his eyes closed.

"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for and rude." He paused before meeting my stare. "I apologise." He added and all I could do was nod.

"I'm just gonna go get us a coffee yeah?" he asked and I nodded politely. "Preferences?" he quizzed me and I smiled. "A caramel latte?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound desperate but he grinned. "Of course." And with that I watched Theo Lee walk away from me twice in one day.

** ** ** ** **

When he sat down again, I felt a trouble laying behind his eyes. "Is there something wrong?" I asked as he carefully placed my coffee in front of me. He quickly looked across to me and winced. "Not wrong pancake, just on my mind." He said simply, and I blushed at the pet name.

Inside I began to fume. For some reason my cheeks were flaming up every time he even spoke to me. I was busy for a moment, arguing inside of my head before Theo cleared his throat and my attention was embarrassingly quick to be his.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked politely and I shrugged. "I guess if you want to." I said.

"Why did you become a stripper." He questioned, not hesitating at all, and it threw me off for a second. I hadn't expected him to ask me this. "I'm sorry. That sounded rude. I'm just curious because you're smart and beautiful. Why become a stripper?" he asked, a lot more approachably.

I took a moment to think of an answer that wouldn't just feed him the back story of my life before answering him. "Well, I had family troubles and I couldn't support my self financially. After a lot of persuading and a heap of money problems I decided that stripping was the best way to go." I said, avoiding his eyes. "After I could support my self with some savings, I just ended up realising that I was making more money stripping in a week than what my dream job would in a year." I said quickly as I fidgeted with my hair around my waist.

"Makes sense."

I looked up as Theo was taking a sip of his coffee. "You think it makes sense?" I asked, smiling like a goon and he nodded. "Well, yeah. I figured that you weren't up there because you love it. I mean don't get me wrong you look sexy as hell up there doing what you do it just..." he paused as a chuckle broke free from his lips and I giggled along with it.

"I don't know though. You look so out of place in there Nala." He said staring at me and I bit my lip. "Out of place?" I squeaked. How much I craved to be in a place where I just fit in, was unexplainable. Yet this whole time I knew I didn't fit in at the strip club, but I forced my self to believe that one day I could.

Theo looked at me some more before answering. "Yeah. They are women who get on the pole because they think their beauty gives them a right. And that's completely correct. They do have that right because they can be sexy and hot when they try to be, but that's not you." He said taking another sip. For some reason I felt like he was rejecting me but my voice was stuck in the lump in my throat. Theo didn't notice as he presumed with his opinion.

"No. That's not you." He said staring at my lips as my teeth tugged at my bottom one. "You are beautiful. That's something none of them have. Yeah you look sexy as hell and can be hot whenever you want but you're beautiful without even trying. You have an innocence that they lack and a beauty they only dream of Nala. Don't doubt yourself."

I stared into his eyes as he stared back but neither of us said another word for some time before my coffee was empty and Theo glanced at his phone. "Jade and the others asked if we want to go to Breanna's house for breakfast tomorrow. You up for that?" he asked and I nodded vigorously, I loved Breanna's cooking.