Page 32 of Broken Ice
“Yo, Em,” Beau called out as Emilio went to leave the room. “Let’s talk a sec.”
Tinny let out a stupid, “Ooooh, someone’s in trouble,” but shut up quickly when pinned by two sets of glares.
Emilio let Beau guide him to a more secluded spot in the arena.
“So,” Beau started. “I really am sorry about last night, but I’m completely fine.”
A muscle in Emilio’s jaw ticked. “You didn’t really sound fine.”
“Well, I was. Seriously.”
Emilio’s blank expression didn’t shift.
“Dude—”
“I can help you with them. If you wanted me to.”
Beau stopped short. “Help me with what?”
Emilio grimaced.
Oh.Oh. “Wow, okay. Like. With nesting material?”
There was a pause. “Sure,” Emilio said, voice devoid of anything approaching ‘human emotion.’
“Or with your dick?” Beau went on.
Colour seeped into Emilio’s cheeks, even as he remained impassive in every other way. It was kind of fascinating to watch. “If you want.”
“Okay. I mean. I feel like that would be a little much to ask of you,” Beau admitted truthfully.
“You’re not asking. I’m offering.”
Beau tilted his head. “But you know they’re not like normal heats, right? Like, you’ll get to knot once, tops. Mostly it’s me being needy and shit.”
“And you think I can’t handle that?”
“It’s not about you handling it. It’s about you…labouring for me.” Beau just didn’t get it.
“Beau, we’ve already gone through one together. I know what your heats are like. I’m offering to spend them with you, fully informed. If you want to, say yes. If you don’t, say no. I can make a decision for myself.”
Beau wrinkled his nose at Emilio’s condescending tone. “Okay, sheesh. Uhm. Let me think about it? My heats normally hit in the evening, so they tend to be overnight.”
“Okay.”
Beau nodded slowly. “Okay. Well. I’ll let you know.”
Emilio made an assenting grunt and walked away…in the wrong direction from the car park.
Beau watched him go, bemused.
What a weird guy.
***
Beau tried to give the situation serious thought.
It wasn’t thewantingthat was the problem. Beau could be honest enough with himself to acknowledge that spending another heat with Emilio was something he wanted very, very badly.
