"A doctor's appointment."
Silas and Saint go still at exactly the same moment. The color doesn't drain from their faces but it thinks about it.
"Nothing bad," I say quickly. "Good, actually."
The tension breaks by about half.
Graham sits forward. His eyes have gone bright. "What kind? Like a baby doctor?"
"Slow down, professor."
I drag my tongue along the salted rim and take a long sip. Three distinct growls rumble around the table. I set the glass down.
"If you must know." I look directly at Silas. "I went to see your dad."
Silas blinks. "Pops? Why?"
"He thinks my heat is coming early."
I wait for the shock. The scrambling. The Graham-frantically-researching-articles-on-his-phone energy I’ve been bracing for all afternoon.
Nothing. All three of them look at me with the same expression. Calm and unsurprised.
I set my margarita down. "You knew."
Graham clears his throat. "The two spikes in close succession were a fairly reliable indicator that your cycle was recalibrating. The conclusion was," he adjusts his glasses, "fairly obvious."
I stare at him. Then I look across the table. Silas and Saint are sitting with the same easy stillness. Saint lifts his chin slightly. Silas just nods once.
They knew.
All three of them knew and said absolutely nothing and let me walk into Jeremy's office today and then come here like I was giving them brand new information.
I pick up my margarita. Take a very long sip.
Silas watches me. His expression is steady but careful. "Are you disappointed?" heasks.
"No," I say.
I turn the glass slowly in my hands. "I needed a minute with it. But no."
I look up. "The last one was..." I trail off, searching for the right word.
"More than nice," Saint says quietly from across the table.
"I fucking loved it," Graham says. Then he glances around the restaurant and lowers his voice. "I fucking loved it."
The weight that’s been sitting on my chest eases. Because I loved it too. For the first time in my life, I loved it.
Silas reaches across the table. His large hand swallows mine completely. "I know heats have been bad for you," he says. "But I don't think the last one was a fluke. I talked to Pops about it after. He said he thought you'd find the rest will be completely different."
I nod. My eyes are brimming with tears and I'm doing my best to stop it. "He said the same to me today."
Silas squeezes my hand.
"It's just—" I stop. Start again. "Before you, they were so bad. Beyond bad. Miserable in a way that's hard to describe to someone who hasn't felt it." I look at our hands. "And it's hard to forget that. Even when everything is different now. Even when I know it will be different. My head remembers what it used to be."
"How does your omega feel about it?" Graham asks. "She's going to be your best indicator of what to expect."
