Page 9 of Heatwaves

“Oh, well…I kind of feel like a jackass now.”

I snort. “No, you’re not a jackalope. It’s kind of sweet that you’re looking forward to it so much, I guess.”

There’s another moment of silence.

“Jackalope?”He snorts.“I’m noticing a trend here. Do you not cuss at all?”

Embarrassment rushes through me for a moment before I realize I have no reason to be embarrassed. “I don’t. I don’t mind when other people do. It’s just a decision I made for myself as a teenager, and I’ve yet to find a reason to change that. It’s just part of who I am, I guess.”

“I like that,”he says softly.“I really do, and I am looking forward to it—not just your heat but seeing you again. We all are. I don’t know if you realize it or not, but we really like you, Lila.”

I can’t help the giggle that spills from my lips. “I really like you all, too.”

“Good.”I can almost hear the smile in his voice.“Well, now that we have that out of the way—I was planning to call you tonight, anyway.”

“Oh?”

He laughs.“Yeah, there’s something we wanted to talk to you about. But also, there are some logistics that we need to discuss—just to make sure that we’re all on the same page.”

I nod before realizing he can’t see me. “Okay, yeah. Sure. That makes sense.”

“So, we were thinking that maybe we could come over a day early so we have some time together before your heat?”

“As in tomorrow?” I squeak.

“I mean, only if you want to.”He sighs.“There was probably a better way to approach this, but…I don’t know what it is about you, but you just throw me off my game. The pod’s only gone through one heat before, years ago.”

A growl rises in my throat, causing my eyes to go wide as I drop the phone. What in the world was that?

“Are you okay?”

I clear my throat as jealousy rushes through me. “Yeah, sorry. I don’t know what that was.”

“It’s okay. So, like I was saying. We’ve only been through one heat, but afterward, we realized it was mostly a blur. So we thought maybe if we got together a day earlier, we’d be able to fully enjoy the sex.”

“Oh.” My face scrunches up when I realize that I’ve squeaked again. Holy guacamole, I’m a mess. “Yeah, uh…I’d really like that.”

“Good. Good. So would we.”

We’re both silent again and finally, I can’t take it anymore.

“You also said that there were some logistics we should discuss?”

Carter clears his throat.“Yeah, right. I did, didn’t I?”He laughs before continuing,“We wanted to double check about birth control because apparently, it can be hard to remember condoms during heats?”

“Oh, that makes sense. I have an implant, so we don’t need to worry about that.” I pause, thinking back to my doctor’s appointment from last week. “And I got my test results back. I’m clean, so there’s nothing to worry about on that end, either.”

“Us too. We get tested every year, just in case. So yeah…I guess that means that we don’t have to use condoms.”

My body is on fire from this conversation. Just listening to Carter talk would’ve been enough to get me wet, but the fact that we’re sitting here talking about sex? And not using a condom? I’ve never had sex with anyone and not used a condom—even with the implant.

My thighs clench at the thought, my shorts soaked completely through. This heat thing is no joke—that’s for freaking sure. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this needy, this horny, in my life.

“Lila,”Carter’s voice is practically a growl.

“Hmmm?” I murmur.

Carter laughs.“You were whining.”

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