Page 73 of The Heat of Us

“I know, but you’re not meant to,” I complained, making a face.

“You gotta channel your inner Asian aunty, Hazel. Boundaries? What boundaries?”

“So instead of saying hi, I’ll just tell you that you got fat?”

Remy didn’t miss a beat, pulling up his shirt and showing off his six pack. “Did I? Want to check?”

I snorted. “Put those away,” I demanded and tried to yank his shirt back down. He dodged my attempts, laughing as he wiggled his stomach tauntingly at me. I finally resorted to hiding behind my own hands and he relented.

“Come back, Pink,” he said softly, his large hands covering mine as he lowered my makeshift shields.

“I’m not really pink right now, you know.” I flicked my gaze up at my hair.

He huffed. “Well, I’m not going to call you Black, Hazel.”

I lost it, finding it so ridiculous it circled all the way back to being hilarious. “Do you want a snack?” I offered between wheezing laughter. “You can think of a new nickname for me while you eat, how about that.”

Compelled to be a good hostess, I rummaged around in my cupboards and unearthed some mixed nuts and white rabbit candies (the chocolate was not for sharing). There was something satisfying about seeing his eyes light up as he popped an almond in his mouth. Probably something to do with an omega nurturing their alpha.

I didn’t want to think about that too hard.

Remy selected another nut and tossed it in his palm a few times. “Maybe you should be Nut,” he grinned, throwing it in his mouth before going back for more.

“Excuse me?”

“You know, like Hazelnut.”

“My god. You’ve constructed the shortest bridge in the world. Well done.”

“And you also make me nut.”

I stared at him for the longest time. He didn’t look away, grinning that stupid grin and eating all my snacks.

“Call me that again and die.”

“Noted. Back to the drawing board then.”

I unwrapped the blue and white wrapper off a creamy milk candy and offered it to him, hoping the chewiness would shut him up for a while. His eyes lit up as he ate. “Can’t remember the last time I had these.”

“They get stuck in my teeth but I can’t help it. Been eating them since I was little and can’t stop.” I admitted ruefully.

“My mum’s sisters used to bring us some when they visited from Malaysia.” Remy looked wistful. “Didn’t happen very often.”

I balanced my chin on my hands. “So your mum’s Malay then? What about your dad?”

His expression shuttered. “My dad’s from here. Mum’s an omega and she pretty much does whatever he wants. Always has.” A nervous laugh followed as he looked away.

My omega instincts immediately rose up wanting to ease whatever complex emotion he was dealing with. “Tell me about her,” I asked him simply.

“She came here as an international student when she was just 19,” Remy began slowly. “Awakened and met my dad within the span of three months. They claim to be scent matched so of course they were bonded like that.” He clicked his fingers loudly, and shook his head. “She never even finished her first semester.”

His hands fiddled nervously with his candy wrapper, tearing into a long snake-like piece.

“Must’ve been hard. Moving to a foreign country, thrown into the deep end of an entirely new culture,” I sympathised. “You barely know who you are as a person at 19. And then suddenly her life was just wrapped up in her alpha.”

“Yeah that’s…that’s exactly it. He’s…not good to her, Hazel. Or my little sister. The way he’ll bark just to get his way and won’t respect that Gray just…” His voice tightened, unable to vocalise what had to be years of history. “But sometimes, I get mad at my mum for staying. For defending him. And it makes me feel so fucking shit because I know she’s a victim too.”

Remy’s hand jerked a little too roughly and tore his handiwork in half. I reached over and gently took it from him. His green eyes held mine. Waiting, hoping for something he couldn’t put a name to.

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