Page 15 of Rough Heat

The shower, it turned out, was just big enough to fit both Leo and Damon. The spray of hot water was heaven liquified, beating down on his sore muscles.

Leo ignored the pull in his chest as Damon washed him carefully, massaging his scalp as he shampooed his hair. In the billowing steam, they looked at each other, lips inches away, and Leo felt like he was drowning.

By the time they got out and dried, the bed was made as promised, but Josh called them into the kitchen where an assortment of food—fruit and meats and cereal and milk and juice—was waiting for them.

“RIP the entire contents of our fridge,” Josh joked. “Let’s fucking eat.”

Damon watched in obvious amazement as Josh proceeded to wolf down half the food in thirty minutes. Even Leo was impressed by the dedication to consume every last crumb.

Josh eventually leaned back in his chair, hand rubbing his stomach as he groaned. “I think I’m done. Someone roll me to the bedroom.”

Leo laughed, pushing his plate away. “Me too. Thanks for the meal, guys.”

“You two are animals,” Damon said, grinning as he shook his head.

Leo scoffed incredulously. “Me? This one demolished half the country’s crops. Pretty sure he ate three whole cows.”

Josh sniffed imperiously. “And they were delicious.”

Damon shook his head. “Remember that show we saw about the Jersey cows? You were—”

“Don’t bring up the Jersey cows, Damon! Don’t bring up those cows.”

Leo looked between them in confusion. “There are cows in New Jersey?”

“No,” Damon clarified. “Jersey as in the one in Britain. It’s an island.”

“Oh.”

“They have these really cute cows Josh became obsessed with—”

“Obsessed is a strong word,” Josh interrupted.

“Yeah, and also the correct one. You literally brought them up at every party we went to for a month. You had pictures of them on your phone. You—”

“Okay, I think Leo gets it.”

Leo bit his lip to try and stop himself from laughing. “No, please, I wanna know more.”

Josh mock-glared at him. “It’s not like I’m eating Jersey cows. They’re used for milk. There’s no conflict of interest here.”

Damon chuckled. “Whatever you say.”

“At least I’m not obsessed with 90 Day Fiancé,” Josh shot at Damon.

Leo perked up. “Oh, man, that show is so good, though. I watch it with my sister.”

Damon made a ‘see’ motion towards Damon. Josh rolled his eyes. “You both have terrible taste.”

Damon turned to Leo, lowering his voice as if he were sharing a secret. “All Josh watches are true crime shows.”

Leo wrinkled his nose. He hated that stuff. “Why?”

Josh huffed. “Because it’s interesting, okay? Don’t murder-shame me.”

“Baby,” Damon assured, “you can murder all you want, and I’ll still love you.”

Leo nodded thoughtfully. “And I’ll report you to the police.”

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