Page 8 of The Fall Before the Heat

Chapter Five

Del

At two in the morning, I followed Rex into his bedroom. I was stuffed full of good take out and too tired to think about what had broken me earlier in the day. I paused in his doorway, wondering why I followed him. If he asked me, I would’ve lied and said I didn’t want to be alone. It would’ve been true enough that it might not have stained my scent, but it wouldn’t have been the whole truth.

Rex crawled back into bed and lay on his side facing me. He arched a questioning brow and lifted his blankets. I crawled in after him, pressing my back against his warm body. My wolf sighed inside his inner sanctum.

“Arm or no arm?” Rex yawned.

“Huh?” I grunted and he repeated the question.

Reaching behind me, I took his hand in mine and wrapped his arm around me. His warm breath played on the back of my neck and before I could thank him for dinner he was out like a light.

In another lifetime, I might’ve laid awake pondering how I ended up spooning in bed with the hottest medical student on campus. He had more than his fair share of admirers. I wasn’t sure if he noticed or not. No one was sure whether he noticed or not. I caught snatches of conversations about him from groups of omegas in the caf.

“He thinks he’s too good for any of us.”

“No, he’s married to his job.”

Every time a girl would cut in with“No, he’s just straight.”

Everyone always laughed at that, and I wasn’t sure why.

“You’ve caught him looking at us,”my wolf chimed into my sleepy thoughts.“He’s definitely not straight.”

The furry guy was right. Rex likely wasn’t straight. He was just more into books and medicine than he was people. The only recreational activity I ever heard of him engaging in was hunting and for him it wasn’t recreational. A few times, I considered offering to go with him, but living in London hadn’t taught me to hunt deer. I wasn’t sure if he had friends he hunted with or if somehow, he hunted deer alone. Weapon hunting wasn’t allowed on campus unless you were a non-shifter or had a disability that prevented ‘wild’ hunting. So, he wasn’t out there shooting deer in the asses.

Despite the ache in my chest for a home that was no more, Rex was the last thought on my mind before I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Six

Rex

The next morning, I woke to Del’s warm breath dancing on my chest through my t-shirt. He’d twisted to face me in his sleep and buried his face in my chest. I tugged the covers up a bit higher around us and groped for my phone. It was ten and I had two hours before I needed to be at work study. Only I didn’t want to leave Del.

ME: Good morning, Doctor Knight-Hemlock. I was wondering if you could spare me at the lab today. My roommate’s family has been displaced in London after the most recent bombing and as could be expected he’s taken it pretty hard. I wouldn’t feel right leaving him alone so soon after receiving news like that. If you can’t spare me, can I bring him along? Maybe he could do files or something.

DOCTOR KNIGHT-HEMLOCK: I’m sorry to hear about your roommate’s loss. Bring him along if he feels up to it. Sometimes getting out and doing something helps you feel more stable about something you can’t do anything about. He can help me sort through the mail. Bane’s bitching again that I’ve let it pile up. I glanced through it this morning and he’s right. He grabbed his out already. I’ll pay Del the same hourly as you. If he doesn’t feel up to it, stay with him. Your results can be analyzed on Monday afternoon as easily as they can be analyzed now.

ME: Thanks, Doctor, I’ll let you know soon.

DOCTOR KNIGHT-HEMLOCK: How many times have I told you to call me Lee?

ME: A lot.

DOCTOR KNIGHT-HEMLOCK: Clearly not enough.

I didn’t want to leave the warmth of the bed and Del’s sleeping form behind. I inhaled his dirty blonde hair, and the scent of wolf and raspberry shampoo filled my head. I smiled despite myself. I couldn’t let myself get in my cups about my roommate. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us. So, instead of lying there and reveling in how his warm, lean muscular body felt pressed up against mine, I got up and made waffles.

Chapter Seven

Del

“This is just your way of telling me to buy some damn groceries,” I teased Rex as we walked arm-in-arm to the Hemlock Lab.

I was surprised to hear his offer over breakfast but couldn’t pass it up. I needed to get out of my own head. Not to mention, I had about sixteen dollars in my student account and that was my whole emergency fund. It wouldn’t cover much more than a broken shoelace, but it was mine, nonetheless.

“No, it’s not,” Rex laughed. “In fact, I forbid you to spend this money on groceries. You can spend it on junk food, clothes, or whatever, but not groceries. This is your retail therapy money.”

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