Alpha’s Baby(6)

“Sure,” I said with a smile and a wink, walking over to the table with a confident swagger and sitting down. I rolled my shoulders back and shook out my wrists as Jace eyed me with hatred.

Having just participated in a bunch of arm-wrestling matches, my wrists were sore and my arm felt swollen, pumped to the edge of exhaustion. Jace had participated in none since he was the reigning champion, and he would be facing me with full energy.

It wasn’t exactly fair, but that was the point of the game. A true alpha had to prove his strength by defeating a string of his opponents back-to-back.

“Last match,” Todd said, enjoying the silent aggression between us both. He wasn’t a physical type. He was more the mental type, but I liked him anyway. “Whoever wins is top Alpha and wins the prize from Kappa. Ready yourselves.”

Jace and I both placed our right elbows on the table and clasped hands. I noted the strength behind Jace’s grip and begrudgingly admitted to myself that this would not be an easy match.

“You’re dead meat, Livingston,” Jace growled at me with confidence.

I tightened my grip on his hand, letting him know that I wasn’t afraid in the least.

We scowled at each other as the room around us began to clamor with excitement at the upcoming match. Adrenaline rolled through me, and the weariness I felt melted away. I was ready to do this.

“On your mark . . .” said Todd, “set . . . go!”

Immediately, I let out a grunt as the full force of Jace’s strength pressed down against my arm and I lost a few inches to his advance.

The room became loud as our brothers began shouting for which one of us they wanted to win. Most of the shouts were for Jace, since I was the new guy and he was the school’s hotshot, but I didn't let that distract me.

Jace growled, pushing my hand down a little further toward the table. Panic threatened to overwhelm me, but I remained calm. Due to my previous matches, I had less energy than I thought, and the adrenaline that had been pumping through me moments before was fading away, leaving me with fatigue.

Sweat rolled down my jaw as I fought back, my hand inching closer to the table from Jace’s brutal onslaught. Around us, the crowd only roared louder, anticipating my defeat.

Across the table, Jace’s eyes blazed with triumph as he sensed my growing weariness and doubled his efforts to put me down. It was all I could do to stay afloat, twisting my side to keep my hand from slamming into the table, growling and grunting.

I had to hand it to Jace. He was one tough bastard, and I was slowly beginning to realize that even if I hadn’t been tired, he would have been no easy opponent.

As my hand drifted down toward my defeat, I began to wonder if it was worth it. The prize? My name on a tinfoil trophy and some slut from one of the top sororities from NSU who could end up being an absolute dog. I knew it wasn’t beyond a frat like Alpha Gamma to play cruel pranks on new members by dangling a sweet prize in front of their faces and making them go through a ton of work to get it, only to find out it wasn’t worth the effort in the end.

But then, for some reason or another, Bella and her pretty little mouth and sexy body entered my mind. I imagined that she was the prize I would be winning and that it was her body that I would be ravaging.

A fire grew in my stomach as I imagined my body pressed against hers and ravaging her with passionate kisses. Soon, the fire roiled into a raging inferno and a sudden flood of strength flowed through my weary limbs.

With a roar of confidence, I began pushing back against Jace. My hand, which had been an inch away from the table, rose back up several inches.

In response, Jace pushed back furiously, hoping to slam my hand down onto the table with brutal force. I pushed him back further, our hands falling into the neutral position, and then slowly, I began pushing his hand back toward the table.

The crowd went wild at the turn in events, with many gawking in disbelief at my comeback.

Panic showed in Jace’s eyes as his face twisted with effort. I knew he couldn’t believe it. How could I, after all those matches, possibly have the strength to beat him?

I clenched my teeth, pushing with all the strength I had left in my body. I had to win this. Jace, as hot as he thought he was, wasn’t shit in comparison to me. Beating him would show him that.

“Fuck,” Jace cried, overcome with panic as he frantically tried to regain ground against my determined advance.

Once I heard the panic in his voice, I knew I had him. With cool, determined confidence, I looked him straight in the eye while I pushed him further toward his defeat.

Poor Jace. He tried everything, twisting his body, huffing and puffing, and he even almost cheated by using his other arm for leverage. It all did him no good.