Alpha Fighter Read Free Page A

material.
    "Here's the bathroom," says Cooper, leading us out of the kitchen. "There's only one, so we have to share." He pauses, then looks directly at me as he says, "I'm a busy guy. I don't have time to wait for someone who's going to be in there forever. Get in and get out."
    I surprise myself with the strength of my own nerve when I answer with, "No problem. I'm quick in the shower."
    Only now I'm thinking about him and the shower. And thinking about him thinking about me in the shower. And then I'm thinking about him and me in the shower and suddenly I could use a cold shower.
    I focus, instead, on the bathroom. It's definitely a fixer-upper. The first thing I'll have to do is dump a bucket of bleach in that toilet. It's not that it's actually dirty. Cooper seems to have kept everything quite clean in here, but it's just old and faded and not the white that it can be. Likewise, I see the potential in the sink and the shower, despite the fading tiles and dull faucet fixtures. The mirror is a bit of a goner, with a jagged crack all the way down the middle, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. If not, it's just a mirror. There are more important things.
    Not that there's really much of anything that could dissuade me from taking this place, considering that the four hundred dollars per month rent is pretty much all that I can afford. Honestly, even with the ultra-cheap, four hundred dollar rent, I really better hope that a job pans out soon.
    I take in Cooper's reflection in the mirror, my eyes traveling up his sexy body to his equally sexy face.
    I also really better hope that I can keep a firm grip on myself.

Chapter Five
    Cooper
    I try not to look at the girl, since she's really not a safe roommate choice and her caramel brown eyes and plump, rosebud-shaped lips are distracting me from my roommate hunt. But my big head isn't always the one running things.
    This girl is hard to stop looking at. And then there's the way she handles herself so seriously, with her head held high and shoulders back. She's not built as a fighter, but she has the spirit.
    "Where's the bedroom?" Savannah asks, then blushes. "I mean, the room that's up for rent?" For just a minute, she breaks out of her tough persona and looks down at her feet, crossing a hand over her body and holding her other elbow in it. For just a moment, she looks a little shy, but still goddamn breathtakingly beautiful, and I have the conflicting desires to protect her and to take her, deep and hard and all at once.
    No. Down, boy. I'm definitely going to need to give Wednesday's girl a call tonight, maybe a little early. I'll have her before my second training. She won't mind the sweat.
    "Right. It's over here," I answer, leading my unimpressive group of potential roommates to the spare room.
    "Niiiice, dude." Pothead flops down face-first on the bed, arms spread-eagled, and doesn't move.
    "Does the d-d-door lock?" Peter shuts it to look at the backside of the knob, closing us into an uncomfortably small space for four grown bodies, especially of complete strangers.
    "The key didn't come with the place when I got it, but I'm fine with you getting a lock." Though it won't be you getting a lock, at least not for this room. There is no way he's moving in, I already want to wring his neck and we're not even through the tour yet.
    Then again, pothead still hasn't moved from his spot on the bed and I'm just not getting any sense that this guy has his shit together enough to pay rent, much less on time. I'm not in for that headache and I'm also not cool with him dealing out of here, if he develops a little entrepreneurial spirit. The last thing I need is the hassle of cops knocking down my door. I've had my share of government goons—I was one once and have no need to deal with them again.
    "Is the furniture included?" asks Savannah, looking in the small dresser that's shoved in a corner of the room, in lieu of a closet.
    "Yeah, it is," I reply. If she moves in here, it's going to