Page 14 of The Fall Before the Heat

Rex touched my forehead and then my cheeks.

“Flushed is the official diagnosis, I think,” he grinned at me. “Maybe flustered.”

“Did you just diagnose me horny?” I arched a brow and leaned my hip against the sofa’s edge.

“That is laymen’s terms. I diagnosed you as flushed and flustered,” he narrowed his amber eyes on me.

“Is there a difference?” I asked.

“One could be flushed and flustered for other reasons,” he shrugged one broad shoulder.

“Like running a marathon?” I asked, as a bead of sweat rolled down my back.

“Possibly,” he nodded, taking a step closer to me. “Hey, do you want me to turn down the thermostat?”

“That’s probably a good idea,” I said, blushing that it was obvious he made me overheat. “Aren’t you hot?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “That’s up to you to decide.”

I laughed as he disappeared down the hall to where the thermostat lived on the wall between our bedrooms. I took advantage of his being out of sight to take off my socks. There wasn’t a graceful or sexy way to strip your feet naked and I didn’t want to ruin the mood by looking like an idiot.

“It was at seventy. I turned it down to sixty-five for you,” Rex called as he started back down the hall to the living room.

He stopped at the end of the hall and leaned against the wall with one hand. I swallowed hard. There was what – six feet between us? Maybe ten on the long side. I wasn’t a maths major. Six, seven, or ten he was too far away from me. His fingers flexed against the corner of the wall as if he were holding himself in place.

“Rex?” I asked, his name catching in my throat.

“Yeah, Del?” He asked.

“Something’s happening, isn’t it?”

“I’m not sure,” Rex said.

Hearing a medical student admit they were unsure of anything was a miracle or a bad omen depending on the circumstances.

“You’re not sure something’s happening, or you don’t know what’s happening?” I asked for clarification, as I scooted down to sit on the sofa’s arm.

“The latter,” he said.

“It’s hot in here. Too hot. Why aren’t you hot too?” I asked.

Shit! The question was a dumb one, but the one that dropped the proverbial piano on my head. I was too warm. I was needy. I wanted to strip my clothes off and jump Rex’s bones. I wanted to romp with him until the academy fell down around us and then I wanted to keep going anyway. We’d have to repopulate the world after all in that scenario. I was in heat. I was finally going into heat. Was that all it was? No, of course, not. I wanted to go out with Rex before this started. I asked him out on a date. He was mine, anyway. Wait, what? When did I turn into a cave-wolf? He was my roommate, but that was it. What right did that give me to be territorial over him? Still, he was mine.

“Del? Delius?” Rex called my name as if he’d been saying it for a while.

“Yeah?” I blinked, looking across the room again.

“I’m going to ask you a very serious question.”

“Yes, I want to sleep with you.” The words tumbled off my lips before I could stop them.

Rex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His whole body tensed. Was he going to pounce me from across the room? Should I go ahead and take my clothes off? Though the thought of his ripping them off my body wasn’t bad to consider at all.

“Thanks ---” He said, looking away from me. “Have you--- I’m about to start my damn internship working with patients. I shouldn’t get this tongue tied. Is this your first heat?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “I’m not a virgin, though. Heat doesn’t---”

“I know,” Rex nodded, an edge to his voice.

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