The Alpha I Hated

Chapter 4 - Familiar Strangers

I sucked in a sharp breath, holding one of the cans against my chest like it might act as a physical barrier to stop my heart from exploding through my ribcage.

It wasn't weird for him to walk in unannounced. He and Caleb had been friends since kindergarten and he only lived a house away. By this point in time, he was basically part of the furniture... much to my dismay.

“Holy s**t! Could you not?!” I snapped, knowing full well there was no playing this off cool. I had definitely just jumped a foot in the air like a spooked cat.

Ryan lifted a brow, looking entirely unbothered. “Thought you had gamer reflexes?” he teased lightly.

I exhaled sharply, trying to regain some semblance of composure. “Sadly, that doesn’t translate into real life.”

Ryan smirked, leaning against the counter. “How’s life as an internet sensation?”

I frowned. He’d asked me this question, or at least some variation of it, at least a dozen times before, and even though my answer was always the same, he still kept asking. Still kept trying to talk to me, like the past had never happened. Like he hadn’t humiliated me in front of half the school.

I rolled my eyes, popping open the tab on one of the cans. “No, Ryan, I decided to become a dental hygienist," I replied sarcastically.

He chuckled. “I’d pay to see that.”

I took a sip of my drink, watching him over the rim of the can. “Why are you asking? You planning to troll me again?” I asked, my tone filled with suspicion and maybe even an underlying threat.

His smirk dropped instantly. “I never trolled you.”

I snorted. “Right. Because logging in under a burner account to spam my chat with Caleb totally wasn’t trolling.”

Ryan exhaled through his nose, shaking his head slightly. “I didn’t spam your chat. I was just… I just happened to be there.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. As if that somehow made it any better. Besides, Caleb wouldn’t have even known where to look for my stream on his own. He was almost as technologically illiterate as my aunt and uncle. There was no way that Ryan was completely innocent in all of it.

"Well, don’t bother trying. I've got mods now, so if you assholes try anything like that again, you'll be kicked off so fast your head will spin," I stated firmly before taking an angry swig of my Red Bull.

"Noted," Ryan nodded, looking entirely unaffected by my hostility, which pissed me off more than it should have. Then he glanced at the unopened can in my hand. “Two?”

I shrugged. “Yeah.”

Ryan chuckled. “Your heart’s gonna explode one day.”

I shrugged again. “At least I’ll die doing what I love.”

Ryan rolled his eyes, but I caught it... that tiny twitch of a smile. “I guess that’s all we can really ask for.”

There was silence for a second, but I broke it, not particularly wanting to engage in this farce any longer. "Well, I'd better—" I began, turning to leave, but he interrupted me.

"Hang on," he stopped me in my tracks. “What’s your setup like?”

The question caught me off guard, and I frowned. Why the hell was he asking that?

He’d asked about my streaming before, sure, but never my actual setup. Was this some kind of trick? A setup for another joke where I was the punchline?

But then, my brain short-circuited.

Years of trauma? Gone.

Pain and anguish? Replaced.

It was like flipping a f*****g switch—nerdy gamer mode instantly engaged.

“Three monitors, 4080 GPU, 240Hz refresh rate, custom keycaps, and an ergonomic chair to cradle my fragile, gamer-goblin spine.”

Ryan lifted a brow, mildly impressed. “Nice. I’ve been looking at upgrading my GPU. My 3070’s running a little hot.”

For a second, there was something familiar about this. Something old. Something from a time before.

But then it was gone, snatched away by the sharp reminder that this was Ryan.

My face hardened instantly, and I took another sip of my drink, feigning indifference. “Cool. Good luck getting one without selling a kidney.”

Ryan smirked slightly, but there was something else there—something I couldn’t quite place.

Before I could dwell on it, Caleb decided to make his grand entrance.

“Oh, look. It’s the basement cryptid,” he sneered, stepping into the kitchen like he owned the place. “Guess you do leave your cave sometimes.”

I didn’t even look at him. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t my daily reminder that noise-canceling headphones were a worthwhile investment.”

Caleb snorted, but his attention flicked to Ryan, clearly dismissing me.

Then his gaze flicked back, his smirk widening as he really looked at me.

I was wearing makeup, something I only really did when I streamed.

“Oh,” he said, his voice dripping with mock realization. “You’re streaming tonight.”

I rolled my eyes, already dreading whatever was about to come out of his mouth.

Caleb leaned casually against the counter, his smirk widening. “So, what’s the dress code tonight? A bikini? Thigh-highs? Lingerie?”

I scoffed. “I’ve NEVER streamed in a bikini. And I NEVER will.”

Caleb let out a sadistic chuckle. “Come on, Ashleigh, we all know that nobody is watching you for your 'talent'... slut.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryan exhale sharply through his nose, shifting his weight like he wanted to say something but thought better of it.

But I didn’t hesitate. I smiled sweetly, batting my eyelashes. “Awww… you think I'm pretty? Listen, I'm flattered, but I’m not into dudes who think burping the alphabet is a flex.”

Caleb’s smirk faltered.

Before he could come up with a retort, I turned and made my way toward the door.

“Anyway,” I muttered, brushing past him. “Have fun being the human embodiment of a pop-up-ad—unwanted and impossible to get rid of.”

With that, I left, but not without hearing Caleb call me a slut one more time—just for good measure, I guess.