The heat hit me like a truck right after dinner.
One minute I was fine, the next my skin felt too tight, my pulse was hammering between my legs, and every breath I took smelled like Wen Xiao even though she was still at basketball practice. I locked myself in the bathroom, turned the shower to the coldest setting, and stripped. Cold water was supposed to help. It did not. It only made me shiver while the ache kept growing.
I was standing under the spray with both hands braced against the tiles when the door suddenly opened.
Wen Xiao walked in with a towel over her shoulder, already pulling her shirt up, completely unprepared for the sight of me naked and dripping.
She froze.
Her eyes went wide. Her face turned red so fast it looked painful. The shirt stopped halfway up her stomach.
“I… shit. Sorry.” Her voice cracked. She spun around so hard she almost walked into the wall. “I thought you were still on the terrace. I’m leaving. Right now.”
She reached for the door handle.
I moved before I could think.
My wet hand closed around her wrist. The contact sent a shock straight through me. Wen Xiao’s whole body tensed.
“Please help me,” I said.
The words came out smaller than I wanted. Needy. Embarrassing. True.
Wen Xiao stopped. She did not turn around yet. Her shoulders were rigid. I could see the muscle in her jaw jump.
“Linling…” Her voice was lower now. Rougher. “You are in heat.”
“I noticed. Thank you for the update.”
“You should call someone else. A suppressant. A hospital. Anyone who is not me.”
“There is no one else.” I tugged her wrist gently. “Please.”
Slowly, very slowly, she turned her head. Her eyes met mine in the mirror. The usual arrogance was still there, but underneath it something else was fighting to the surface. Her scent spiked, heavy and warm, filling the small bathroom until I could barely breathe.
She looked at me for a long moment. Water still ran over my shoulders. I was completely exposed and she was still fully dressed, towel clenched in one fist like a lifeline.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked.
The question was quiet. Serious. No teasing. No smirk.
I nodded. My face felt hotter than the rest of me.
“Words, Linling.”
“Yes,” I whispered. “I am sure. Help me.”
Something in her expression cracked.
She let the towel fall to the floor. Then she stepped closer, still moving carefully, like she was afraid of spooking me or maybe of herself. When she reached out and brushed wet hair away from my face, her fingers were trembling just a little.
“You are going to regret this tomorrow,” she muttered.
“Probably.”
“I am going to regret this tomorrow.”
“Also probably.”
“You are dripping on the floor.”
“You are still wearing clothes in the shower.”
A tiny, helpless laugh escaped her. It made my chest hurt in a different way.
“I cannot believe I am about to do this with the same person who threatened to sabotage my basketball season two days ago.”
“And I cannot believe I am asking the same person who motorboated me in her sleep for help.”
Wen Xiao’s ears turned pink. “We do not talk about that.”
“We are literally about to do worse than that.”
“Stop talking.”
“Make me.”
She leaned in until her forehead rested against mine. Her breath was warm. Her control was clearly hanging by a thread, but she still waited, still gave me the chance to push her away.
I did not.
Instead I grabbed the front of her shirt with both hands and pulled her the rest of the way under the water with me.
Wen Xiao made a sound that was half groan, half laugh as the cold spray soaked her clothes.
“You are insane,” she said against my mouth.
“And you are still talking too much, jiejie.”
That was the moment her self-control finally snapped.