Page 60 of Heat Clinic

He tucks my head under his chin and hugs me tighter to his chest as we both ignore the movie we’re not watching. “I’m a terrible, horrible brat. Do you have a ruler? You should punish me.”

I laugh until my eyes water.

His next words are soft, and he rubs my back as he says them. “I’m sorry that your mom doesn’t seem to think about your feelings. I know she probably loves you in her own way, but… that still sucks. I’ll give you a fifty percent stake in my mom if you want. She’s awesome, and you know she really likes you when she bakes you snickerdoodles.”

“That sounds really nice. I like cookies.”

He leans down and presses a kiss into my hair, inhaling deeply. “So… we never decided. Chinese or Thai?”

ChapterFourteen

EMILY

I’mlate to work because Sam wouldn’t let me leave bed until he’deaten breakfastbefore leaving to get his own packing done. I slip into my cubicle and throw my purse into the filing cabinet and boot up my computer. People walk by sipping their coffee or running papers around, and it seems like they all stop and say hello and wish me a good morning, and I keep thinkingthey know.

That they know I spent the whole holiday weekend getting railed bystrangers. That I’ve had more dicks inside of me in the last four days than I have all year. That I found my pack. But none of them say anything—and of course they don’t because that’s crazy, and I need to stop imagining that every single person who asks how my holiday weekend was isn’t secretly fishing for details on the dicks. Quantity, size, and shape.

At lunch, Lindsay corners me, but the break room is crowded because we’re eating at a reasonable hour for once and we have to talk in girl code.

“How’d it go?” she asks.

“Great. Really great, actually.” I take a bite of my sandwich, glad that my stomach is finally feeling back to normal.

“Everything you thought it would be?”

I think of the rut room with the padded stocks and the stirrups and the endless line of anonymous alphas. I think of Marcus finding me, then fucking me until I passed out so nobody else could visit my station. I think of Tom, who made me take both him and Marcus. At the same time. In my pussy. I think of Sam, who makes my heart race when he grins and that dimple forms and he says he loves me, even though it’s only been a few days and that’s crazy. My instincts are on overdrive, telling me to stay with them so they can keep me safe. I think that I’m quickly on my way to falling in love with them, and it’s scary and thrilling. They’re strangers. But I don’t want them to be.

“Yeah? Girl, it must have been life-altering because you’re glowing. That’s good. You’ll have to tell me all about it later. Oh! I went to that bar with a friend from college. Maybe we can all go together on Saturday.”

Next weekend. The rut bar.Shit.“I can’t.”

“Okay,” she shrugs and stabs her fork in her salad. “Maybe next weekend? We’ll find a day when we’re all free.”

“No, I can’t.” I lower my voice since I haven’t turned in my paperwork yet and I don’t want it getting around before I talk to HR. “Because I found my pack.”

“You… Oh my God, girl!” She hits me on the arm, and I wince and rub the spot. “Way to bury the lead! Next time you start with that, okay?”

“Shh.” I glance around the breakroom. A few people looked over at us, but most have their noses buried in their phones. “I haven’t gotten to go to HR yet because I was late this morning. I’m going to take FMLA and spend some time with them.”

“Them?” She arches one brow and chomps on a slice of cucumber. “Spill it.”

“Uh, yeah. There are three of them. Marcus, Tom, and Sam.”

Her other eyebrow rises, and she eats the rest of her cucumber slice and then a cherry tomato. “Wow. When you finally do something, you go hard. Good for you.”

When she smiles, some of my tension uncoils in my stomach. “Thanks. It’s new and scary, but exciting and I’m happy.”

“I want to meet them. We should all hang out together. I’m thinking about getting back with my ex. We could double date!”

“I thought you were going to that bar?”

She shrugs. “I could go either way. So this weekend? Or do you guys have plans?”

“Uh… so, funny story, actually. They aren’t from here. Two of them aren’t, anyway. Sam is. He was my… attendant. We’re leaving for New York tomorrow.”

She slaps me lightly on the arm again in the same spot.

“Oww!”

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