Page 54 of Rough Heat

So, it wasn’t like mating was a wild suggestion in theory. It was just…Leo had been absolutely unprepared for it to be brought up.

It was Damon who spoke this time. “Mating is definitely something we’d want with you, Leo.”

“Oh,” Leo couldn’t help but say dumbly.

“I’m sensing it’s not something you’re open to,” Josh said, facial muscles tight but not angry.

“No,” Leo blurted immediately. “Not ‘No, I don’t want to be mated.’ Just…no, it’s not something I’m not interested in.”

Josh squinted. “That was a lot of double negatives.”

“I’m interested in mating. I just didn’t realise it was on the table,” Leo clarified. God, he was so bad at this.

Damon tilted his head slightly. “Why didn’t you think it was on the table?”

Leo chewed on his lip, feeling caught out. “I don’t know. You’re already mated, so…you know. I guess I don’t really hear about three people getting tied to each other.”

Josh shrugged. “I mean, I guess it’s not super common, but it’s not impossible or anything.”

“No, yeah. I know.”

“So…” Josh made a vague gesture. “That’s like. Something you can see in our future?”

“Uhm. Yeah.”I’d mate you tomorrow, he thought, immediately burying it deep and then unearthing it back up.

His therapist kept talking about how important it was to communicate within relationships. How feelings of vulnerability were signs that he should open up, even if they made him want to shut down.

“I, you know. Love you guys a lot. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So. Mating is definitely something I would be up for. That Iamup for. Pretty much…ready to go,” Leo confessed.

There was a moment of fear, but it was wiped clean away by the way Josh and Damon’s facestransformed, lighting up with smiles, laughter bubbling out of Josh as though he couldn’t help himself.

“Yeah?” Damon said, practically shouldering Josh out of the way to kiss Leo.

“Hey, now!” Josh protested, but he was still grinning when Damon let Leo go, swooping in for a kiss too.

Leo laughed. “Did you guys just…propose to me?”

“I mean…” Josh’s eyes were glowing.

So was Leo’s heart.

***

Leo had started taking suppressants when his life as a sex worker had taken off. In the beginning, he was worried that all the heats he was helping Omegas through would trigger his rut, and he’d have to leave someone mid-cycle. Then, as his job went from something he enjoyed to something he dreaded, it was a way to remain disconnected from his body, from the terrifying notion of letting it take over.

It had been almost three years since Leo’s last client. He’d stopped going to therapy a few months ago, felt he’d gotten as much as he could out of it for the moment. He’d been living with Josh and Damon for more than a year—their new apartment lived-in now, part of the three of them.

He loved babysitting, and being in a three-income household gave them a lot of freedom to live their life how they wanted.

He was comfortable. Safe. Loved.

Taking his suppressants was the remnant of an old fear no longer applicable to his life.

It helped that Josh and Damon hadn’t brought it up past that initial time to ask him about if he wanted to share his rut with them. They’d never pushed him, never made him feel guilty for not giving them that part of himself.

It made it all the sweeter when he told them he was finally going off them—under the supervision of his doctor, of course.

“Yeah?” Josh said, eyes alight.

---