Page 5 of Heatwaves

My eyes drop to Aidan’s crotch because they obviously have a mind of their own.

Aidan lets out a bark of laughter. “Totally not what I meant, but I’m sure we can arrange it if you want to see which one of us is bigger in this form.”

I bury my face in my hands as my cheeks flame once more. Maybe hanging out with them was a bad idea. I should go try my chances with the idiots again. I just don’t have the social skills to be around men this hot.

“What kind of whales are the two of you?” I ask without lifting my hands from my face. When I feel someone tug at my hands, I fightthem but eventually allow them to pull my hands away from my face.

I find Oliver kneeling in front of me. “Just ignore Aidan. We all do.”

I force a smile that I’m sure looks more like a grimace as I try to once again change the subject. “So whales?”

“Humpback,” Oliver says, still grinning as his chest puffs up. My eyes go wide because that’s a big freaking whale.

“You act like that’s such a big deal.” Carter reaches over and shoves Oliver, causing him to fall over into the sand. “He’s still small compared to me.”

“There aren’t many whale shifters bigger than a humpback, so what are you?” I ask with a frown, trying to think of what kind of whale he could be. “Sperm whale?”

Carter waggles his eyebrows. “Even bigger than that.”

“The only whales that are bigger are finback and blue whales, and those shifters are extinct, aren’t they?”

“Apparently not, since me, my dad, and my younger brother are all blue whales.” He shrugs. “Though I think my family might be the last. I haven’t heard of any others.”

Forgetting my embarrassment, I grin at him. “That is so cool. I definitely need to see you in the water. You have to be huge.”

There’s a moment of silence before I hear choking beside me. I spin to find Aidan trying to hold back his laughter. He holds up his hands in surrender when I glare. “Hey now! It’s your fault that my mind went there.”

“Lila! Lila Riley, where the hell are you? I swear to the gods if you left, I’m going to murder you.”

I wince before glancing over my shoulder to see my mom at the edge of the crowd as she searches for me.

“Who’s that?”

I turn back to Oliver, making a face. “My mom. I can’t believe she’s acting like this. I’m twenty-one years old—not a child.”

“Lila! There you are. You’re supposed to be finding someone to help you through your heat. What the hell are you doing over here…” Mom trails off as she takes in the four men surrounding me, a sly smile gracing her lips. “Oh, who are your friends?”

I let my head fall back, staring up at the sky as I wish for a lightning bolt to shoot down and put me out of my misery. I’m going tokill my mom. I really don’t need her help with embarrassing me. I’m doing a right fine job of it all on my own.

“Hello, Mrs. Riley.” I feel Carter stand beside me, his shadow falling over me a moment later. “I’m Carter Newman. These are my pod mates Oliver, Ty, and Aidan. We’ve agreed to help Lila out with her heat.”

“Oh?” Mom’s voice goes up an octave, and I’m sure her eyebrows are in her hairline.

She’s not the only one who’s shocked as I fall back into the sand, staring up at Mom and Carter. Why the hell had he just told her that? They have done no such thing—not that I would complain if they wanted to help me through my heat. Only an idiot would say no to these four.

“We sure have,” Oliver adds, standing up and putting his arm around my mom as he begins to lead her away. “You don’t need to worry about Lila. She’s in expert hands.”

“Oh, well. I should probably talk to her—“

“All good here, Mom.” I turn my head to watch Oliver as he continues to lead her back to the larger group. He winks at me over his shoulder before turning back to her, murmuring something, but it’s too quiet for me to hear.

Once they’re out of sight, I sit up and turn my attention back to Carter. He’s tucked his hands in his pockets, an apologetic smile on his face. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that.”

My smile fades quickly as I realize he didn’t mean it. He’d just been trying to get rid of my mom. I mean, obviously, they wouldn’t want to help me through my heat. Why would they when they look like they do?

Dang it. Now, what am I going to do? I’m going to have to deal with those idiot males again, and when my mom asks about these guys, what am I supposed to say? Why had I let myself get my hopes up?

“Oh, no. Wait. Don’t misunderstand me.” Carter grabs my hands as he returns to sit beside me, squeezing them in his own. “I didn’t mean we wouldn’t help you. I just shouldn’t have assumed that you wanted us to. I should’ve asked first.”

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