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📜Synopsis: 🖌Can years of hatred melt away when they are locked in a sweltering house with no one else around?
Becca has resented her stepbrother Samir ever since they became family, pinning all her life’s changes and losses on him. Unexpected extreme weather leaves them isolated at home with no cooling equipment to escape the stifling heat. As Samir attempts to fix the faulty appliance, the awkward closeness softens their bitter relationship. Becca gradually realizes she no longer only harbors dislike toward him, and struggles to accept this inappropriate yet undeniable attraction.
Genre: Step-Siblings, Misunderstanding, Secret Reveal, Hidden Feelings, Age Gap, Forbidden Love
#reelshort #reels #FYP #film #Show #Movie #cdrama #Movies #drama #shortdrama #fullmovie #EngSub #English #Dailymotion #englishmovies #ROMANCE #ROMANTIC #BILLIONAIRE #CEO #SecondChance #ForbiddenLove #lovestory #Revenge #Betrayal #SecretReveals #SciFi #Supernatural #Family #Friendship #HighSchool #minidrama #dramamovies #newshortdrama #freeshortdrama #shortplay #shortfilm #miniseries #QuickDramaFix #TikTok #YouTubeShortStories #InstagramReelsDrama #MustWatchShorts #2026
https://reelslink.com/cps/xg7lr9
🔍Click ReelShort link to see FULL HD Episodes🔗🔗🔗https://www.reelshort.com/movie/the-heat-after-the-ac-died-6a4358c4abdd23a03d0d6563
📌Notice: ReelShort Romance Shows is an officially authorized publisher of ReelShort content.
📜Synopsis: 🖌Can years of hatred melt away when they are locked in a sweltering house with no one else around?
Becca has resented her stepbrother Samir ever since they became family, pinning all her life’s changes and losses on him. Unexpected extreme weather leaves them isolated at home with no cooling equipment to escape the stifling heat. As Samir attempts to fix the faulty appliance, the awkward closeness softens their bitter relationship. Becca gradually realizes she no longer only harbors dislike toward him, and struggles to accept this inappropriate yet undeniable attraction.
Genre: Step-Siblings, Misunderstanding, Secret Reveal, Hidden Feelings, Age Gap, Forbidden Love
#reelshort #reels #FYP #film #Show #Movie #cdrama #Movies #drama #shortdrama #fullmovie #EngSub #English #Dailymotion #englishmovies #ROMANCE #ROMANTIC #BILLIONAIRE #CEO #SecondChance #ForbiddenLove #lovestory #Revenge #Betrayal #SecretReveals #SciFi #Supernatural #Family #Friendship #HighSchool #minidrama #dramamovies #newshortdrama #freeshortdrama #shortplay #shortfilm #miniseries #QuickDramaFix #TikTok #YouTubeShortStories #InstagramReelsDrama #MustWatchShorts #2026
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:1298 degrees the ac in my room died this morning just gave out i hate this house the way it
00:00:22is
00:00:22now anyway i hate the day mom married kevin and packed him and his quiet 30 another son into my
00:00:27life two years now every wrong thing under this roof started that day too hot to think
00:00:40i've kicked off my shorts a tank strap slipping off my shoulder and flopped back on the bed to call
00:00:48her
00:00:57mom my ac's broken i'm melting up here her end is all rattling carts and store announcements
00:01:04i know i know i'm at the store back soon have your brother look at it he's coming home for
00:01:09lunch
00:01:10anyway
00:01:15your brother those two words set me off but my brain won't listen it pulls him up before i can
00:01:22stop it
00:01:22he does hvac fixes ac lines and pipes all day always slick with sweat last week in the kitchen
00:01:30head tipped back chugging ice water his throat working with every swallow
00:01:36a drop running down his jaw to his collar pine the muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked
00:01:43the valve i press my thighs together and hate myself the second i do i hate him i really do
00:01:52so what the hell is this downstairs the front door clicks open the stairs groan step by step under
00:02:00someone much heavier than me that's when i remember what i'm wearing i lunge for the shorts on my chair
00:02:07too late the door swings open samir work pants gray tank soaked through and clean every line of
00:02:16his chest and stomach right there toolbox in hand the hair at his forehead damp in strands i should look
00:02:24away i don't my eyes dragged down on their own his slick chest his tensed forearms and finally
00:02:33see something you like his voice comes out rough the corner of his mouth tipping up caught heat
00:02:39shoots all the way to my ears i ripped the blanket up over myself who who's looking at you don't
00:02:46flatter
00:02:47yourself he doesn't look away the smirk only deepens his throat moves once the ac he steps in drops the
00:02:56toolbox and looks down at me curled up small where is it
00:03:04over there i jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter
00:03:08he doesn't move right away first those heavy eyes drag over me then he comes
00:03:15the unit sits high on the wall above my headboard my bed right under it
00:03:19the room's small and a man his size only makes it smaller
00:03:26he takes one look and frowns get down why should i i dig my heels in though it sounds hollow
00:03:33the
00:03:33moment it's out two years and this is all i know how to do with him bristle jab push back
00:03:41mom remarried
00:03:42he and kevin moved in and the house stopped being just hers and mine
00:03:49i came home for the summer wanting some quiet and now i share even my breathing room with this stranger
00:03:56i can dodge him for an afternoon not for the long line of summers after
00:04:01he doesn't argue one knee on the edge of the bed and he stretches up toward the unit
00:04:07i shrink into the corner but the bed's only so big as he leans the soaped gray tank brushes my
00:04:13shin
00:04:14heat sweat that sun warmed smell of him all of it crashing over me at once his arm works a
00:04:20screw
00:04:20overhead the muscle bunching and releasing inches from my face i hold my breath i don't dare move
00:04:26no one's downstairs mom's still at the store the whole house is quiet just my sun-baked bedroom door
00:04:32shut sealed off from the rest of the world the thought sends a hotter prickle up my back
00:04:37up here door closed whatever happens no one below would know move over he says low his elbow pressing
00:04:45toward me there's nowhere to go his hip is against my drawn-up knees i'm wedged between him and the
00:04:51wall half of me pressed to his side i told you i can't get away from you he says glancing
00:04:58down his
00:04:59throat moving goes both ways he turns it a few times swears says the wiring's fried the whole thing
00:05:08has to come apart the minutes crawl the room's hot enough to swim in the two of us crammed into
00:05:13this
00:05:13scrap of space neither one talking my back's to the wall half of me against his sweat damp side
00:05:18the sweat glues us together skin to skin impossible to peel apart i should be disgusted i'm not i can
00:05:25feel
00:05:26the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw that strength soaking through a thin film
00:05:31of sweat into my skin sinking low in my belly a picture rises before i can stop it if that
00:05:36hand
00:05:36weren't reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead i kill the thought my face
00:05:42burns i hate him i think of the wedding day him standing there cold not even a hello two years
00:05:48ago i
00:05:49swore i'd never go soft for this man not once and right now my thighs are clamping together on their
00:05:55own the wet heat there is impossible to hide slick sticky mortifying it's the weather i lie to myself
00:06:03that's all just the heat irritated i try to shift to find room to breathe my knee moves and by
00:06:10accident
00:06:11grazes the inside of his thigh his hands stop the whole room goes still
00:06:16becca his voice drops to gravel it travels straight down my ear into my spine you'd better not move
00:06:23i don't listen my heart slamming and something hotter than hate eggs me on i push out again
00:06:28elbow digging into his side on purpose the next second his free hand clamps down on my waist
00:06:33a hand big enough to span half of it too strong to fight and it hauls me back against him
00:06:38my gasp
00:06:38jams in my throat my back hits his scalding sweat damp chest his heartbeat through two thin layers of
00:06:44cotton slams into my spine once again
00:06:51what are you doing i keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist
00:06:56it's cast iron it doesn't give i should break free drive an elbow into him call him a creep bolt
00:07:02downstairs but my body betrays me it sinks into him fitting against every scalding inch of him
00:07:08i can feel his breathing turn rough his chest rising and falling at my back
00:07:15he grunts my elbow jabbing his stomach and in the scramble
00:07:18quit it
00:07:20i won't give in and i'm even more scared he sees through me so i open my mouth for another
00:07:25jab
00:07:25nothing comes out his free hand lifts and closes around the front of my throat
00:07:30not hard but sure steady tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his shoulder
00:07:36every drop of blood in me runs cold then floods back scalding
00:07:42two years of fighting of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched me
00:07:48but now his palm cradles my throat his thumb on the pulse going wild there
00:07:54and i'm not afraid being held completely in his hand helpless in his grip it turns me to water
00:08:02i'm in the same hell you are his mouth is at my ear his breath hot and horsey each word
00:08:08brended in
00:08:08but you are going to hold still his breath fans against the side of my face
00:08:15no more squirming no more little whimpers making it worse
00:08:18the hand on my throat tightens a fraction
00:08:20you hear me
00:08:21i try to nod only then does he ease off i guilt for air my heart wild enough to leap
00:08:27out of my chest
00:08:30for a long stretch i stay curled against him not daring to move his arm stays locked around my waist
00:08:35never once loosening and his thumb against the damp curve of my side moves slow up then down
00:08:40up then down every drag of it sends a current sliding down to the small of my back
00:08:45i clamp my thighs tighter and it only makes the want sharper i want more the thought scares me
00:08:52that's when downstairs the front door clicks open
00:08:57did your brother go up to fix your ac
00:09:00no no he didn't
00:09:02i call down forcing my voice into its usual annoyance
00:09:05he's probably off slacking somewhere again
00:09:07a beat of quiet below
00:09:09let me come up and look at it
00:09:10you can't sit in this heat
00:09:11the staircase creaks taking mom's weight one step my blood goes to ice i claw at his arm
00:09:21let go she's coming up let go of me
00:09:23he doesn't worse
00:09:25the hand that's been resting at my waist slides painfully slow down the line of my hip
00:09:30over my stomach over the dip of my hip bone
00:09:33lower still until it settles squarely over me
00:09:35through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else
00:09:38my whole body bows tight
00:09:39a sharp high sound rushes up my throat
00:09:42i bite down on my lip and swallow it
00:09:43second stare
00:09:44creak
00:09:45he bends his head
00:09:46nose against my scalding ear
00:09:47and through the soaked fabric his palm grinds down on me
00:09:50not soft not hard
00:09:51once
00:09:54soaked like this
00:09:56and still lying that no one came up
00:09:58he breathes
00:09:59low and filthy
00:10:02samir
00:10:02it comes out a plea
00:10:04my voice in pieces
00:10:05please my mom
00:10:07his thumb presses again dragging a winner out of me before i can swallow it
00:10:10the hand doesn't move from where it is
00:10:12scared now
00:10:12third step
00:10:13mom's voice is closer
00:10:14becca
00:10:16why is the door locked from the inside
00:10:17he looks down at me
00:10:19held completely in his hand
00:10:20every breath a luxury now
00:10:22his eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy
00:10:25he leans to my ear
00:10:26word by word
00:10:28so how about
00:10:29you let your mom
00:10:30see exactly
00:10:32what you look like
00:10:33right now
00:10:4998 degrees
00:10:51the ac in my room died this morning
00:10:53just gave out
00:10:56i hate this house
00:10:57the way it is now anyway
00:10:59i hate the day mom married kevin
00:11:01and packed him and his quiet 30-nother son
00:11:03into my life
00:11:08two years now
00:11:09every wrong thing under this roof
00:11:11started that day
00:11:13too hot to think
00:11:16i've kicked off my shorts
00:11:19a tank strap slipping off my shoulder
00:11:22and flopped back on the bed
00:11:24to call her
00:11:34mom my ac's broken
00:11:35i'm melting up here
00:11:37her end is all rattling carts
00:11:39and store announcements
00:11:41i know i know
00:11:42i'm at the store
00:11:43back soon
00:11:43have your brother look at it
00:11:45he's coming home for lunch anyway
00:11:51your brother
00:11:52those two words set me off
00:11:54but my brain won't listen
00:11:56it pulls him up before i can stop it
00:11:58he does hvac
00:12:00fixes ac lines and pipes all day
00:12:03always slick with sweat
00:12:05last week in the kitchen
00:12:07head tipped back
00:12:08chugging ice water
00:12:10his throat working with every swallow
00:12:13a drop running down his jaw to his collar pine
00:12:16the muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve
00:12:20i press my thighs together
00:12:21and hate myself the second i do
00:12:24i hate him
00:12:26i really do
00:12:28so what the hell is this
00:12:30downstairs the front door clicks open
00:12:33the stairs groan step by step
00:12:36under someone much heavier than me
00:12:39that's when i remember what i'm wearing
00:12:41i lunge for the shorts on my chair
00:12:44too late
00:12:45the door swings open
00:12:47samir
00:12:47work pants
00:12:49gray tank
00:12:50soaked through and clean
00:12:51every line of his chest and stomach
00:12:53right there
00:12:54toolbox in hand
00:12:56the hair at his forehead
00:12:57damp in strands
00:12:59i should look away
00:13:00i don't
00:13:02my eyes drag down on their own
00:13:04his slick chest
00:13:05his tensed forearms
00:13:07and finally
00:13:09see something you like
00:13:11his voice comes out rough
00:13:12the corner of his mouth tipping up
00:13:14caught
00:13:15heat
00:13:16heat shoots all the way to my ears
00:13:18i rip the blanket up over myself
00:13:21who
00:13:21who's looking at you
00:13:22don't flatter yourself
00:13:24he doesn't look away
00:13:25the smirk only deepens
00:13:27his throat moves once
00:13:29the ac
00:13:31he steps in
00:13:32drops the toolbox
00:13:33and looks down at me curled up small
00:13:36where is it
00:13:40over there
00:13:41i jerk my chin at the unit in the corner
00:13:43and pull the blanket tighter
00:13:44he doesn't move right away
00:13:45first those heavy eyes drag over me
00:13:47then he comes
00:13:52the unit sits high on the wall above my headboard
00:13:54my bed right under it
00:13:56the room's small
00:13:57and a man his size only makes it smaller
00:14:02he takes one look and frowns
00:14:05get down
00:14:07why should i
00:14:08i dig my heels in
00:14:09though it sounds hollow the moment it's out
00:14:11two years
00:14:12and this is all i know how to do with him
00:14:14bristle
00:14:15jab
00:14:16push back
00:14:18mom remarried
00:14:19he and kevin moved in
00:14:20and the house stopped being just hers and mine
00:14:25i came home for the summer wanting some quiet and now i share even my breathing room with this stranger
00:14:32i can dodge him for an afternoon
00:14:34not for the long line of summers after
00:14:37he doesn't argue
00:14:39one knee on the edge of the bed
00:14:40and he stretches up toward the unit
00:14:44i shrink into the corner
00:14:45but the bed's only so big
00:14:46as he leans
00:14:48the soaped gray tank brushes my shin
00:14:50heat
00:14:51sweat
00:14:51that sun warmed smell of him
00:14:53all of it crashing over me at once
00:14:55his arm works a screw overhead
00:14:57the muscle bunching and releasing inches from my face
00:15:00i hold my breath
00:15:01i don't dare move
00:15:02no one's downstairs
00:15:03mom's still at the store
00:15:05the whole house is quiet
00:15:06just my sun-baked bedroom
00:15:08door shut
00:15:09sealed off from the rest of the world
00:15:10the thought sends a hotter prickle up my back
00:15:13up here
00:15:14door closed
00:15:15whatever happens
00:15:16no one below would know
00:15:19move over
00:15:19he says low
00:15:20his elbow pressing toward me
00:15:22there's nowhere to go
00:15:23his hip is against my drawn-up knees
00:15:25i'm wedged between him and the wall
00:15:27half of me pressed to his side
00:15:31i told you i can't get away from you
00:15:33he says
00:15:34glancing down
00:15:34his throat moving
00:15:35goes both ways
00:15:39he turns it a few times
00:15:41swears
00:15:42says the wiring's fried
00:15:43the whole thing has to come apart
00:15:45the minutes crawl
00:15:46the room's hot enough to swim in
00:15:48the two of us crammed into this scrap of space
00:15:50neither one talking
00:15:51my back's to the wall
00:15:52half of me against his sweat-damp side
00:15:54the sweat glues us together
00:15:56skin to skin
00:15:57impossible to peel apart
00:15:59i should be disgusted
00:16:00i'm not
00:16:01i can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw
00:16:05that strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin
00:16:08sinking low in my belly
00:16:09a picture rises before i can stop it
00:16:12if that hand weren't reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead
00:16:16i kill the thought
00:16:17my face burns
00:16:18i hate him
00:16:20i think of the wedding day
00:16:21him standing there cold
00:16:23not even a hello
00:16:24two years ago i swore i'd never go soft for this man
00:16:27not once
00:16:28and right now my thighs are clamping together on their own
00:16:31the wet heat there is impossible to hide
00:16:34slick sticky mortifying
00:16:37it's the weather
00:16:38i lie to myself
00:16:39that's all
00:16:40just the heat
00:16:41irritated i try to shift
00:16:43to find room to breathe
00:16:45my knee moves and
00:16:46by accident
00:16:47grazes the inside of his thigh
00:16:49his hands stop
00:16:51the whole room goes still
00:16:52becca
00:16:53his voice drops to gravel
00:16:55it travels straight down my ear into my spine
00:16:57you'd better not move
00:16:59i don't listen
00:17:00my heart's slamming
00:17:01and something hotter than hate eggs me on
00:17:03i push out again
00:17:04elbow digging into his side
00:17:06on purpose
00:17:06the next second his free hand clamps down on my waist
00:17:09a hand big enough to span half of it
00:17:11too strong to fight
00:17:12and it hauls me back against him
00:17:14my gasp jams in my throat
00:17:15my back hits his scalding sweat damp chest
00:17:18his heartbeat
00:17:19through two thin layers of cotton
00:17:21slams into my spine
00:17:22once
00:17:23again
00:17:27what are you doing
00:17:29i keep my voice down
00:17:30and claw at the arm locked across my waist
00:17:32it's cast iron
00:17:34it doesn't give
00:17:35i should break free
00:17:36drive an elbow into him
00:17:38call him a creep
00:17:38bolt downstairs
00:17:39but my body betrays me
00:17:41it sinks into him
00:17:43fitting against every scalding inch of him
00:17:45i can feel his breathing turn rough
00:17:47his chest rising and falling at my back
00:17:51he grunts
00:17:52my elbow jabbing his stomach and in the scramble
00:17:55quit it
00:17:56i won't give in
00:17:57and i'm even more scared he sees through me
00:18:00so i open my mouth for another jab
00:18:02nothing comes out
00:18:03his free hand lifts and closes around the front of my throat
00:18:06not hard
00:18:07but sure
00:18:08steady
00:18:09tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his shoulder
00:18:12every drop of blood in me runs cold
00:18:15then floods back scalding
00:18:19two years of fighting
00:18:20of cutting each other to the bone
00:18:23and he never once touched me
00:18:24but now his palm cradles my throat
00:18:27his thumb on the pulse going wild there
00:18:30and i'm not afraid
00:18:31being held completely in his hand
00:18:34helpless in his grip
00:18:35it turns me to water
00:18:39i'm in the same hell you are
00:18:40his mouth is at my ear
00:18:42his breath hot and horsey
00:18:43each word brended in
00:18:45but you
00:18:45are going
00:18:47to hold still
00:18:48his breath fans against the side of my face
00:18:51no more squirming
00:18:52no more little whimpers making it worse
00:18:55the hand on my throat tightens a fraction
00:18:56you hear me
00:18:57i try to nod
00:18:59only then does he ease off
00:19:00i guilt for air
00:19:02my heart wild enough to leap out of my chest
00:19:06for a long stretch i stay curled against him
00:19:08not daring to move
00:19:09his arm stays locked around my waist
00:19:11never once loosening
00:19:12and his thumb
00:19:13against the damp curve of my side
00:19:15moves slow
00:19:15up then down
00:19:17up then down
00:19:18every drag of it sends a current
00:19:19sliding down to the small of my back
00:19:21i clamp my thighs tighter
00:19:23and it only makes the want sharper
00:19:25i want more
00:19:26the thought scares me
00:19:29that's when downstairs the front door clicks open
00:19:31my mom
00:19:32did your brother go up to fix your ac
00:19:37no no he didn't
00:19:38i call down forcing my voice into its usual annoyance
00:19:41he's probably off slacking somewhere again
00:19:44a beat of quiet below
00:19:45let me come up and look at it
00:19:46you can't sit in this heat
00:19:48the staircase creaks
00:19:49taking mom's weight
00:19:51one step
00:19:52my blood goes to ice
00:19:53i claw at his arm
00:19:57let go she's coming up
00:19:59let go of me
00:20:00he doesn't
00:20:01worse
00:20:01the hand that's been resting at my waist
00:20:04slides painfully slow down the line of my hip
00:20:07over my stomach
00:20:08over the dip of my hip bone
00:20:09lower still until it settles squarely over me
00:20:12through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat
00:20:14and something else
00:20:14my whole body bows tight
00:20:16a sharp high sound rushes up my throat
00:20:18i bite down on my lip and swallow it
00:20:20second stare
00:20:20creak
00:20:21he bends his head
00:20:22nose against my scalding ear
00:20:24and through the soaked fabric his palm grinds down on me
00:20:26not soft
00:20:27not hard
00:20:28once
00:20:30soaked like this
00:20:32and still lying that no one came up
00:20:35he breathes
00:20:36low and filthy
00:20:38samir
00:20:39it comes out a plea
00:20:40my voice in pieces
00:20:41please
00:20:42my mom
00:20:43his thumb presses again
00:20:44dragging a winner out of me before i can swallow it
00:20:47the hand doesn't move from where it is
00:20:48scared now
00:20:49third step
00:20:49mom's voice is closer
00:20:53he looks down at me
00:20:55held completely in his hand
00:20:57every breath a luxury now
00:20:59his eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy
00:21:01he leans to my ear
00:21:03word by word
00:21:04so how about
00:21:05you let your mom
00:21:07see exactly what you look like
00:21:09right now
00:21:3098 degrees
00:21:32the ac in my room died this morning
00:21:35just gave out
00:21:37i hate this house
00:21:38the way it is now anyway
00:21:40i hate the day mom married kevin
00:21:43and packed him and his quiet 30-nother son
00:21:45into my life
00:21:49two years now
00:21:50every wrong thing under this roof
00:21:52started that day
00:21:54too hot to think
00:21:57i've kicked off my shorts
00:22:00a tank strap slipping off my shoulder
00:22:03and flopped back on the bed
00:22:05to call her
00:22:15mom my ac's broken
00:22:17i'm melting up here
00:22:18her end is all rattling carts
00:22:20and store announcements
00:22:22i know i know
00:22:23i'm at the store
00:22:24back soon
00:22:25have your brother look at it
00:22:26he's coming home for lunch anyway
00:22:32your brother
00:22:33those two words set me off
00:22:35but my brain won't listen
00:22:37it pulls him up before i can stop it
00:22:40he does hvac
00:22:41fixes ac lines and pipes all day
00:22:44always slick with sweat
00:22:46last week in the kitchen
00:22:48head tipped back
00:22:50chugging ice water
00:22:51his throat working with every swallow
00:22:54a drop running down his jaw to his collar pine
00:22:57the muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve
00:23:01i press my thighs together
00:23:03and hate myself the second i do
00:23:05i hate him
00:23:07i really do
00:23:09so what the hell is this
00:23:12downstairs the front door clicks open
00:23:14the stairs groan step by step
00:23:17under someone much heavier than me
00:23:20that's when i remember what i'm wearing
00:23:22i lunge for the shorts on my chair
00:23:25too late
00:23:26the door swings open
00:23:28samir
00:23:28work pants
00:23:30gray tank
00:23:31soaked through and clean
00:23:32every line of his chest and stomach
00:23:35right there
00:23:36toolbox in hand
00:23:37the hair at his forehead
00:23:39damp in strands
00:23:40i should look away
00:23:42i don't
00:23:43my eyes drag down on their own
00:23:45his slick chest
00:23:47his tensed forearms
00:23:49and finally
00:23:51see something you like
00:23:52his voice comes out rough
00:23:53the corner of his mouth tipping up
00:23:55caught
00:23:56heat shoots all the way to my ears
00:23:59i ripped the blanket up over myself
00:24:02who who's looking at you
00:24:04don't flatter yourself
00:24:05he doesn't look away
00:24:07the smirk only deepens
00:24:08his throat moves once
00:24:10the ac
00:24:12he steps in
00:24:13drops the toolbox
00:24:14and looks down at me curled up small
00:24:17where is it
00:24:22over there
00:24:22i jerk my chin at the unit in the corner
00:24:24and pull the blanket tighter
00:24:25he doesn't move right away
00:24:27first those heavy eyes drag over me
00:24:29then he comes
00:24:33the unit sits high on the wall above my headboard
00:24:35my bed right under it
00:24:37the room's small
00:24:39and a man his size only makes it smaller
00:24:44he takes one look and frowns
00:24:47get down
00:24:48why should i
00:24:49i dig my heels in
00:24:50though it sounds hollow the moment it's out
00:24:52two years
00:24:54and this is all i know how to do with him
00:24:56bristle
00:24:57jab
00:24:57push back
00:24:59mom remarried
00:25:00he and kevin moved in
00:25:01and the house stopped being just hers and mine
00:25:06i came home for the summer wanting some quiet
00:25:09and now i share even my breathing room with this stranger
00:25:13i can dodge him for an afternoon
00:25:15not for the long line of summers after
00:25:18he doesn't argue
00:25:20one knee on the edge of the bed
00:25:22and he stretches up toward the unit
00:25:25i shrink into the corner
00:25:26but the bed's only so big
00:25:28as he leans
00:25:29the soaped gray tank brushes my shin
00:25:31heat
00:25:32sweat
00:25:33that sun warmed smell of him
00:25:34all of it crashing over me at once
00:25:36his arm works a screw overhead
00:25:38the muscle bunching and releasing
00:25:40inches from my face
00:25:41i hold my breath
00:25:42i don't dare move
00:25:43no one's downstairs
00:25:44mom's still at the store
00:25:46the whole house is quiet
00:25:48just my sun-baked bedroom
00:25:49door shut
00:25:50sealed off from the rest of the world
00:25:52the thought sends a hotter prickle up my back
00:25:54up here
00:25:55door closed
00:25:56whatever happens
00:25:57no one below would know
00:26:00move over
00:26:01he says low
00:26:02his elbow pressing toward me
00:26:03there's nowhere to go
00:26:04his hip is against my drawn-up knees
00:26:06i'm wedged between him and the wall
00:26:08half of me pressed to his side
00:26:12i told you i can't get away from you
00:26:14he says
00:26:15glancing down
00:26:16his throat moving
00:26:17goes both ways
00:26:21he turns it a few times
00:26:22swears
00:26:23says the wiring's fried
00:26:24the whole thing has to come apart
00:26:26the minutes crawl
00:26:27the room's hot enough to swim in
00:26:29the two of us crammed into this scrap of space
00:26:31neither one talking
00:26:32my back's to the wall
00:26:34half of me against his sweat damp side
00:26:36the sweat glues us together
00:26:37skin to skin
00:26:39impossible to peel apart
00:26:40i should be disgusted
00:26:41i'm not
00:26:42i can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw
00:26:46that strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin
00:26:50sinking low in my belly
00:26:51a picture rises before i can stop it
00:26:53if that hand weren't reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead
00:26:58i kill the thought
00:26:59my face burns
00:27:00i hate him
00:27:01i think of the wedding day
00:27:02him standing there cold
00:27:04not even a hello
00:27:05two years ago i swore i'd never go soft for this man
00:27:08not once
00:27:09and right now my thighs are clamping together on their own
00:27:13the wet heat there is impossible to hide
00:27:15slick
00:27:16sticky
00:27:17mortifying
00:27:18it's the weather
00:27:19i lie to myself
00:27:20that's all
00:27:21just the heat
00:27:22irritated
00:27:23i try to shift
00:27:24to find room to breathe
00:27:26my knee moves and
00:27:27by accident
00:27:28grazes the inside of his thigh
00:27:31his hands stop
00:27:32the whole room goes still
00:27:33becca
00:27:34his voice drops to gravel
00:27:36it travels straight down my ear into my spine
00:27:39you'd better not move
00:27:40i don't listen
00:27:41my heart's slamming
00:27:43and something hotter than hate eggs me on
00:27:45i push out again
00:27:46elbow digging into his side
00:27:47on purpose
00:27:48the next second his free hand clamps down on my waist
00:27:50a hand big enough to span half of it
00:27:52too strong to fight
00:27:53and it hauls me back against him
00:27:55my gas jams in my throat
00:27:57my back hits his scalding sweat damp chest
00:27:59his heartbeat
00:28:00through two thin layers of cotton
00:28:02slams into my spine
00:28:03once
00:28:04again
00:28:09what are you doing
00:28:10i keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist
00:28:13it's cast iron
00:28:15it doesn't give
00:28:16i should break free
00:28:17drive an elbow into him
00:28:19call him a creep
00:28:20bolt downstairs
00:28:21but my body betrays me
00:28:23it sinks into him
00:28:24fitting against every scalding inch of him
00:28:26i can feel his breathing turn rough
00:28:28his chest rising and falling at my back
00:28:33he grunts
00:28:34my elbow jabbing his stomach and in the scramble
00:28:36quit it
00:28:38i won't give in
00:28:39and i'm even more scared he sees through me
00:28:41so i open my mouth for another jab
00:28:43nothing comes out
00:28:44his free hand lifts and closes around the front of my throat
00:28:48not hard
00:28:49but sure
00:28:50steady
00:28:51tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his shoulder
00:28:54every drop of blood in me runs cold
00:28:57then floods back scalding
00:29:00two years of fighting
00:29:01of cutting each other to the bone
00:29:04and he never once touched me
00:29:05but now his palm cradles my throat
00:29:08his thumb on the pulse going wild there
00:29:11and i'm not afraid
00:29:12being held completely in his hand
00:29:15helpless in his grip
00:29:17it turns me to water
00:29:20i'm in the same hell you are
00:29:22his mouth is at my ear
00:29:23his breath hot and horsey
00:29:25each word brended in
00:29:26but you
00:29:27are going
00:29:28to hold still
00:29:29his breath fans against the side of my face
00:29:32no more squirming
00:29:34no more little whimpers making it worse
00:29:36the hand on my throat tightens a fraction
00:29:38you hear me
00:29:39i try to nod
00:29:40only then does he ease off
00:29:42i guilt for air
00:29:43my heart wild enough to leap out of my chest
00:29:47for a long stretch i stay curled against him
00:29:49not daring to move
00:29:50his arm stays locked around my waist
00:29:52never once loosening
00:29:54and his thumb
00:29:54against the damp curve of my side
00:29:56moves slow
00:29:57up
00:29:57then down
00:29:58up
00:29:58then down
00:29:59every drag of it sends a current sliding down to the small of my back
00:30:02i clamp my thighs tighter
00:30:04and it only makes the want sharper
00:30:06i want more
00:30:07the thought scares me
00:30:10that's when downstairs the front door clicks open
00:30:13my mom
00:30:14did your brother go up to fix your ac
00:30:18no
00:30:19no he didn't
00:30:20i call down forcing my voice into its usual annoyance
00:30:23he's probably off slacking somewhere again
00:30:25a beat of quiet below
00:30:26let me come up and look at it
00:30:28you can't sit in this heat
00:30:29the staircase creaks
00:30:31taking mom's weight
00:30:32one step
00:30:33my blood goes to ice
00:30:35i claw at his arm
00:30:38let go
00:30:39she's coming up
00:30:40let go of me
00:30:41he doesn't
00:30:42worse
00:30:43the hand that's been resting at my waist
00:30:45slides painfully slow down the line of my hip
00:30:48over my stomach
00:30:49over the dip of my hip bone
00:30:51lower still until it settles squarely over me
00:30:53through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else
00:30:56my whole body bows tight
00:30:57a sharp high sound rushes up my throat
00:30:59i bite down on my lip and swallow it
00:31:01second stare
00:31:02creak
00:31:02he bends his head
00:31:04nose against my scalding ear
00:31:05and through the soaked fabric his palm grinds down on me
00:31:08not soft
00:31:08not hard
00:31:09once
00:31:12soaked like this
00:31:14and still lying that no one came up
00:31:16he breathes
00:31:17low and filthy
00:31:19samir
00:31:20it comes out a plea
00:31:21my voice in pieces
00:31:23please
00:31:23my mom
00:31:24his thumb presses again
00:31:26dragging a winner out of me before i can swallow it
00:31:28the hand doesn't move from where it is
00:31:29scared now
00:31:30third step
00:31:31mom's voice is closer
00:31:32becca
00:31:33why is the door locked from the inside
00:31:35he looks down at me
00:31:36held completely in his hand
00:31:38every breath a luxury now
00:31:40his eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy
00:31:42he leans to my ear
00:31:44word by word
00:31:45so how about
00:31:46you let your mom
00:31:48see exactly what you look like
00:31:51right now
00:32:0698 degrees
00:32:08the ac in my room died this morning
00:32:11just gave out
00:32:13i hate this house
00:32:15the way it is now anyway
00:32:16i hate the day mom married kevin
00:32:19and packed him and his quiet 30 another son into my life
00:32:26two years now
00:32:27every wrong thing under this roof started that day
00:32:31too hot to think
00:32:34i've kicked off my shorts
00:32:36a tank strap slipping off my shoulder
00:32:40and flopped back on the bed to call her
00:32:51mom my ac's broken
00:32:53i'm melting up here
00:32:54her end is all rattling carts
00:32:57and store announcements
00:32:58i know i know
00:33:00i'm at the store
00:33:00back soon
00:33:01have your brother look at it
00:33:02he's coming home for lunch anyway
00:33:09your brother
00:33:10those two words set me off
00:33:12but my brain won't listen
00:33:14it pulls him up before i can stop it
00:33:16he does hvac
00:33:18fixes ac lines and pipes all day
00:33:21always slick with sweat
00:33:23last week in the kitchen
00:33:24head tipped back
00:33:26chugging ice water
00:33:27his throat working with every swallow
00:33:30a drop running down his jaw to his collar pine
00:33:34the muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve
00:33:37i press my thighs together
00:33:39and hate myself the second i do
00:33:42i hate him
00:33:43i really do
00:33:45so what the hell is this
00:33:48downstairs the front door clicks open
00:33:51the stairs groan step by step
00:33:53under someone much heavier than me
00:33:57that's when i remember what i'm wearing
00:33:59i lunge for the shorts on my chair
00:34:01too late
00:34:03the door swings open
00:34:04samir
00:34:05work pants
00:34:06gray tank
00:34:07soaked through and clean
00:34:09every line of his chest and stomach
00:34:11right there
00:34:12toolbox in hand
00:34:14the hair at his forehead
00:34:15damp in strands
00:34:16i should look away
00:34:18i don't
00:34:19my eyes drag down on their own
00:34:22his slick chest
00:34:23his tensed forearms
00:34:25and finally
00:34:27see something you like
00:34:28his voice comes out rough
00:34:30the corner of his mouth tipping up
00:34:32caught
00:34:32heat shoots all the way to my ears
00:34:35i ripped the blanket up over myself
00:34:38who who's looking at you
00:34:40don't flatter yourself
00:34:41he doesn't look away
00:34:43the smirk only deepens
00:34:45his throat moves once
00:34:46the ac
00:34:48he steps in
00:34:49drops the toolbox
00:34:50and looks down at me curled up small
00:34:53where is it
00:34:58over there
00:34:59i jerk my chin at the unit in the corner
00:35:00and pull the blanket tighter
00:35:01he doesn't move right away
00:35:03first those heavy eyes drag over me
00:35:05then he comes
00:35:09the unit sits high on the wall above my headboard
00:35:12my bed right under it
00:35:13the room's small
00:35:15and a man his size only makes it smaller
00:35:20he takes one look and frowns
00:35:23get down
00:35:24why should i
00:35:25i dig my heels in
00:35:26though it sounds hollow the moment it's out
00:35:29two years
00:35:30and this is all i know how to do with him
00:35:32bristle
00:35:33jab
00:35:34pushback
00:35:35mom remarried
00:35:36he and kevin moved in
00:35:37and the house stopped being just hers and mine
00:35:43i came home for the summer wanting some quiet
00:35:45and now i share even my breathing room with this stranger
00:35:50i can dodge him for an afternoon
00:35:51not for the long line of summers after
00:35:55he doesn't argue
00:35:56one knee on the edge of the bed
00:35:58and he stretches up toward the unit
00:36:01i shrink into the corner
00:36:03but the bed's only so big
00:36:04as he leans
00:36:05the soaked gray tank brushes my shin
00:36:07heat
00:36:08sweat
00:36:09that sun-warmed smell of him
00:36:11all of it crashing over me at once
00:36:12his arm works a screw overhead
00:36:14the muscle bunching and releasing
00:36:16inches from my face
00:36:17i hold my breath
00:36:18i don't dare move
00:36:19no one's downstairs
00:36:21mom's still at the store
00:36:22the whole house is quiet
00:36:24just my sun-baked bedroom
00:36:26door shut
00:36:26sealed off from the rest of the world
00:36:28the thought sends a hotter prickle up my back
00:36:31up here
00:36:32door closed
00:36:33whatever happens
00:36:34no one below would know
00:36:36move over
00:36:37he says low
00:36:38his elbow pressing toward me
00:36:39there's nowhere to go
00:36:41his hip is against my drawn-up knees
00:36:43i'm wedged between him and the wall
00:36:45half of me pressed to his side
00:36:49i told you i can't get away from you
00:36:51he says
00:36:51glancing down
00:36:52his throat moving
00:36:54goes both ways
00:36:57he turns it a few times
00:36:59swears
00:36:59says the wiring's fried
00:37:01the whole thing has to come apart
00:37:02the minutes crawl
00:37:04the room's hot enough to swim in
00:37:05the two of us crammed into this scrap of space
00:37:08neither one talking
00:37:08my back's to the wall
00:37:10half of me against his sweat-damp side
00:37:12the sweat glues us together
00:37:14skin to skin
00:37:15impossible to peel apart
00:37:16i should be disgusted
00:37:18i'm not
00:37:19i can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw
00:37:22that strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin sinking low in my belly
00:37:27a picture rises before i can stop it
00:37:29if that hand weren't reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead
00:37:34i kill the thought my face burns
00:37:36i hate him
00:37:37i think of the wedding day
00:37:39him standing there cold
00:37:40not even a hello
00:37:41two years ago i swore i'd never go soft for this man
00:37:45not once
00:37:46and right now my thighs are clamping together on their own
00:37:49the wet heat there is impossible to hide
00:37:52slick
00:37:53sticky
00:37:53mortifying
00:37:55it's the weather
00:37:56i lie to myself
00:37:57that's all
00:37:57just the heat
00:37:59irritated
00:37:59i try to shift
00:38:00to find room to breathe
00:38:02my knee moves and
00:38:03by accident
00:38:05grazes the inside of his thigh
00:38:07his hands stop
00:38:08the whole room goes still
00:38:10becca
00:38:11his voice drops to gravel
00:38:12it travels straight down my ear into my spine
00:38:15you'd better not move
00:38:17i don't listen
00:38:18my heart's slamming
00:38:19and something hotter than hate eggs me on
00:38:21i push out again
00:38:22elbow digging into his side
00:38:23on purpose
00:38:24the next second his free hand clamps down on my waist
00:38:27a hand big enough to span half of it
00:38:29too strong to fight
00:38:30and it hauls me back against him
00:38:32my gasp jams in my throat
00:38:33my back hits his scalding sweat damp chest
00:38:36his heartbeat through two thin layers of cotton
00:38:38slams into my spine
00:38:40once
00:38:41again
00:38:45what are you doing
00:38:46i keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist
00:38:50it's cast iron
00:38:51it doesn't give
00:38:52i should break free
00:38:54drive an elbow into him
00:38:55call him a creep bolt downstairs
00:38:57but my body betrays me
00:38:59it sinks into him
00:39:00fitting against every scalding inch of him
00:39:02i can feel his breathing turn rough
00:39:05his chest rising and falling at my back
00:39:09he grunts
00:39:10my elbow jabbing his stomach and in the scramble
00:39:12quit it
00:39:14i won't give in
00:39:15and i'm even more scared he sees through me
00:39:17so i open my mouth for another jab
00:39:19nothing comes out
00:39:21his free hand lifts and closes around the front of my throat
00:39:24not hard
00:39:25but sure
00:39:26steady
00:39:27tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his shoulder
00:39:30every drop of blood in me runs cold
00:39:33then floods back scalding
00:39:36two years of fighting
00:39:38of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched me
00:39:42but now his palm cradles my throat
00:39:44his thumb on the pulse going wild there
00:39:48and i'm not afraid
00:39:49being held completely in his hand
00:39:51helpless in his grip
00:39:53it turns me to water
00:39:56i'm in the same hell you are
00:39:58his mouth is at my ear
00:39:59his breath hot and horsey
00:40:01each word brended in
00:40:02but you
00:40:03are going
00:40:04to hold still
00:40:06his breath fans against the side of my face
00:40:09no more squirming
00:40:10no more little whimpers making it worse
00:40:12the hand on my throat tightens a fraction
00:40:14you hear me
00:40:15i try to nod
00:40:16only then does he ease off
00:40:18i guilt for air
00:40:19my heart wild enough to leap out of my chest
00:40:24for a long stretch i stay curled against him
00:40:26not daring to move
00:40:27his arm stays locked around my waist
00:40:29never once loosening
00:40:30and his thumb
00:40:31against the damp curve of my side moves slow
00:40:33up then down
00:40:34up then down
00:40:35every drag of it sends a current sliding down to the small of my back
00:40:39i clamp my thighs tighter
00:40:40and it only makes the want sharper
00:40:42i want more
00:40:44the thought scares me
00:40:46that's when downstairs the front door clicks open
00:40:49hello
00:40:51did your brother go up to fix your ac
00:40:54no no he didn't
00:40:56i call down forcing my voice into its usual annoyance
00:40:59he's probably off slacking somewhere again
00:41:01a beat of quiet below
00:41:02let me come up and look at it
00:41:04you can't sit in this heat
00:41:05the staircase creaks
00:41:07taking mom's weight
00:41:08one step
00:41:09my blood goes to ice
00:41:11i claw at his arm
00:41:15let go she's coming up let go of me
00:41:17he doesn't
00:41:18worse
00:41:19the hand that's been resting at my waist
00:41:22slides painfully slow down the line of my hip
00:41:24over my stomach
00:41:25over the dip of my hip bone
00:41:27lower still until it settles squarely over me
00:41:29through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else
00:41:32my whole body bows tight
00:41:33a sharp high sound rushes up my throat
00:41:35i bite down on my lip and swallow it
00:41:37second stare
00:41:38creak
00:41:39he bends his head nose against my scalding ear
00:41:41and through the soaked fabric his palm grinds down on me
00:41:44not soft not hard
00:41:45once
00:41:46he breathes low and filthy
00:41:56samir samir it comes out a plea my voice in pieces
00:41:59please
00:42:00please my mom
00:42:00his thumb presses again dragging a winner out of me before i can swallow it the hand doesn't
00:42:05move from where it is
00:42:06scared now
00:42:06third step mom's voice is closer
00:42:08becca
00:42:09he looks down at me held completely in his hand every breath a luxury
00:42:16now his eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy
00:42:18he leans to my ear word by word
00:42:22so how about you let your mom see exactly what you look like right now
00:42:4898 degrees
00:42:50the ac in my room died this morning
00:42:52just gave out
00:42:55i hate this house
00:42:56the way it is
00:42:57the way it is now anyway
00:42:58i hate the day mom married kevin and packed him and his quiet 30 another son into my life
00:43:07two years now every wrong thing under this roof started that day
00:43:12too hot to think
00:43:15i've kicked off my shorts
00:43:18a tank strap slipping off my shoulder
00:43:21and flopped back on the bed to call her
00:43:32mom my ac's broken i'm melting up here
00:43:35her end is all rattling carts and store announcements
00:43:39i know i know i'm at the store back soon have your brother look at it
00:43:44he's coming home for lunch anyway
00:43:50your brother those two words set me off
00:43:53but my brain won't listen
00:43:55it pulls him up before i can stop it
00:43:57he does hvac
00:43:59fixes ac lines and pipes all day
00:44:02always slick with sweat
00:44:04last week in the kitchen
00:44:06head tipped back
00:44:07chugging ice water
00:44:09his throat working with every swallow
00:44:12a drop running down his jaw to his collar pine
00:44:15the muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve
00:44:19i press my thighs together and hate myself the second i do
00:44:23i hate him
00:44:25i really do
00:44:27so what the hell is this
00:44:29downstairs the front door clicks open
00:44:32the stairs groan step by step
00:44:35under someone much heavier than me
00:44:38that's when i remember what i'm wearing
00:44:40i lunge for the shorts on my chair
00:44:43too late
00:44:44the door swings open
00:44:45samir
00:44:46work pants
00:44:47gray tank soaked through and clean
00:44:50every line of his chest and stomach right there
00:44:53toolbox in hand
00:44:55the hair at his forehead damp in strands
00:44:58i should look away
00:44:59i don't
00:45:01my eyes drag down on their own
00:45:03his slick chest
00:45:04his tensed forearms
00:45:06and finally
00:45:08see something you like
00:45:10his voice comes out rough
00:45:11the corner of his mouth tipping up
00:45:13caught
00:45:14heat shoots all the way to my ears
00:45:17i rip the blanket up over myself
00:45:19who's looking at you
00:45:21don't flatter yourself
00:45:22he doesn't look away
00:45:24the smirk only deepens
00:45:26his throat moves once
00:45:28the ac
00:45:30he steps in
00:45:31drops the toolbox
00:45:32and looks down at me curled up small
00:45:35where is it
00:45:39over there
00:45:40i jerk my chin at the unit in the corner
00:45:42and pull the blanket tighter
00:45:43he doesn't move right away
00:45:44first those heavy eyes drag over me
00:45:46then he comes
00:45:51the unit sits high on the wall above my headboard
00:45:53my bed right under it
00:45:55the room's small
00:45:56and a man his size only makes it smaller
00:46:01he takes one look and frowns
00:46:04get down
00:46:06why should i
00:46:06i dig my heels in
00:46:07though it sounds hollow the moment it's out
00:46:10two years
00:46:11and this is all i know how to do with him
00:46:13bristle
00:46:14jab
00:46:15push back
00:46:16mom remarried
00:46:17he and kevin moved in
00:46:19and the house stopped being just hers and mine
00:46:24i came home for the summer wanting some quiet
00:46:26and now i share even my breathing room with this stranger
00:46:31i can dodge him for an afternoon
00:46:33not for the long line of summers after
00:46:36he doesn't argue
00:46:38one knee on the edge of the bed
00:46:39and he stretches up toward the unit
00:46:42i shrink into the corner
00:46:44but the bed's only so big
00:46:45as he leans
00:46:47the soaped gray tank brushes my shin
00:46:49heat
00:46:50sweat
00:46:50that sun warmed smell of him
00:46:52all of it crashing over me at once
00:46:54his arm works a screw overhead
00:46:56the muscle bunching and releasing
00:46:57inches from my face
00:46:58i hold my breath
00:47:00i don't dare move
00:47:01no one's downstairs
00:47:02mom's still at the store
00:47:04the whole house is quiet
00:47:05just my sun-baked bedroom
00:47:07door shut
00:47:08sealed off from the rest of the world
00:47:09the thought sends a hotter prickle up my back
00:47:12up here
00:47:13door closed
00:47:14whatever happens
00:47:15no one below would know
00:47:17move over
00:47:18he says low
00:47:19his elbow pressing toward me
00:47:21there's nowhere to go
00:47:22his hip is against my drawn-up knees
00:47:24i'm wedged between him and the wall
00:47:26half of me pressed to his side
00:47:30i told you i can't get away from you
00:47:32he says
00:47:33glancing down
00:47:33his throat moving
00:47:34goes both ways
00:47:38he turns it a few times
00:47:40swears
00:47:40says the wiring's fried
00:47:42the whole thing has to come apart
00:47:44the minutes crawl
00:47:45the room's hot enough to swim in
00:47:47the two of us crammed into this scrap of space
00:47:49neither one talking
00:47:50my back's to the wall
00:47:51half of me against his sweat-damp side
00:47:53the sweat glues us together
00:47:55skin to skin
00:47:56impossible to peel apart
00:47:58i should be disgusted
00:47:59i'm not
00:48:00i can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw
00:48:04that strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin sinking low in my belly
00:48:08a picture rises before i can stop it
00:48:11if that hand weren't reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead
00:48:15i kill the thought my face burns i hate him i think of the wedding day him standing there cold
00:48:22not even a hello two years ago i swore i'd never go soft for this man not once and right
00:48:28now my thighs are clamping together on their own
00:48:30the wet heat
00:48:31the wet heat there is impossible to hide slick sticky mortifying it's the weather i lie to myself that's all
00:48:39just the heat irritated i try to shift to find room to breathe my knee moves and by accident grazes
00:48:47the inside of his thigh his hands stop the whole room goes still
00:48:51becca his voice drops to gravel it travels straight down my ear into my spine
00:48:56you'd better not move
00:48:58i don't listen
00:48:59my heart's slamming
00:49:00and something hotter than hate eggs me on
00:49:02i push out again
00:49:03elbow digging into his side
00:49:04on purpose
00:49:05the next second his free hand clamps down on my waist
00:49:08a hand big enough to span half of it
00:49:10too strong to fight
00:49:11and it hauls me back against him
00:49:13my gasp jams in my throat
00:49:14my back hits his scalding sweat damp chest
00:49:17his heartbeat
00:49:18through two thin layers of cotton
00:49:20slams into my spine
00:49:21once
00:49:22again
00:49:26what are you doing
00:49:27i keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist
00:49:31it's cast iron
00:49:32it doesn't give
00:49:34i should break free
00:49:35drive an elbow into him
00:49:37call him a creep
00:49:37bolt downstairs
00:49:38but my body betrays me
00:49:40it sinks into him
00:49:41fitting against every scalding inch of him
00:49:43i can feel his breathing turn rough
00:49:46his chest rising and falling at my back
00:49:50he grunts
00:49:51my elbow jabbing his stomach and in the scramble
00:49:54quit it
00:49:55i won't give in
00:49:56and i'm even more scared he sees through me
00:49:59so i open my mouth for another jab
00:50:01nothing comes out
00:50:02his free hand lifts and closes around the front of my throat
00:50:05not hard
00:50:06but sure
00:50:07steady
00:50:08tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his shoulder
00:50:11every drop of blood in me runs cold
00:50:14then floods back scalding
00:50:17two years of fighting
00:50:19of cutting each other to the bone
00:50:21and he never once touched me
00:50:23but now his palm cradles my throat
00:50:25his thumb on the pulse going wild there
00:50:29and i'm not afraid
00:50:30being held completely in his hand
00:50:33helpless in his grip
00:50:34it turns me to water
00:50:38i'm in the same hell you are
00:50:39his mouth is at my ear
00:50:41his breath hot and horsey
00:50:42each word brended in
00:50:43but you
00:50:44are going
00:50:46to hold still
00:50:47his breath fans against the side of my face
00:50:50no more squirming
00:50:51no more little whimpers making it worse
00:50:53the hand on my throat tightens a fraction
00:50:55you hear me
00:50:56i try to nod
00:50:57only then does he ease off
00:50:59i guilt for air
00:51:01my heart wild enough to leap out of my chest
00:51:05for a long stretch i stay curled against him
00:51:07not daring to move
00:51:08his arm stays locked around my waist
00:51:10never once loosening
00:51:11and his thumb
00:51:12against the damp curve of my side moves slow
00:51:14up then down
00:51:15up then down
00:51:16every drag of it sends a current sliding down to the small of my back
00:51:20i clamp my thighs tighter
00:51:22and it only makes the want sharper
00:51:24i want more
00:51:25the thought scares me
00:51:27that's when downstairs the front door clicks open
00:51:30my mom
00:51:31did your brother go up to fix your ac
00:51:36no no he didn't
00:51:37i call down forcing my voice into its usual annoyance
00:51:40he's probably off slacking somewhere again
00:51:42a beat of quiet below
00:51:44let me come up and look at it
00:51:45you can't sit in this heat
00:51:47the staircase creaks
00:51:48taking mom's weight
00:51:49one step
00:51:51my blood goes to ice
00:51:52i claw at his arm
00:51:56let go she's coming up let go of me
00:51:59he doesn't
00:52:00worse
00:52:00the hand that's been resting at my waist
00:52:03slides painfully slow down the line of my hip
00:52:06over my stomach
00:52:07over the dip of my hip bone
00:52:08lower still until it settles squarely over me
00:52:11through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else
00:52:13my whole body bows tight
00:52:15a sharp high sound rushes up my throat
00:52:17i bite down on my lip and swallow it
00:52:19second stare
00:52:19creak
00:52:20he bends his head
00:52:21nose against my scalding ear
00:52:23and through the soaked fabric his palm grinds down on me
00:52:25not soft
00:52:26not hard
00:52:27once
00:52:29soaked like this
00:52:31and still lying that no one came up
00:52:33he breathes
00:52:34low and filthy
00:52:37samir
00:52:38it comes out a plea
00:52:39my voice in pieces
00:52:40please
00:52:41my mom
00:52:42his thumb presses again
00:52:43dragging a winner out of me before i can swallow it
00:52:45the hand doesn't move from where it is
00:52:47scared now
00:52:48third step
00:52:48mom's voice is closer
00:52:50becca
00:52:51why's the door locked from the inside
00:52:53he looks down at me
00:52:54held completely in his hand
00:52:56every breath a luxury now
00:52:57his eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy
00:53:00he leans to my ear
00:53:01word by word
00:53:03so how about
00:53:04you let your mom
00:53:06see exactly what you look like
00:53:08right now
00:53:2498 degrees
00:53:26the ac in my room died this morning
00:53:29just gave out
00:53:31i hate this house
00:53:32the way it is now anyway
00:53:34i hate the day mom married kevin
00:53:37and packed him and his quiet 30 another son into my life
00:53:43two years now
00:53:44every wrong thing under this roof started that day
00:53:48too hot to think
00:53:51i've kicked off my shorts
00:53:54a tank strap slipping off my shoulder
00:53:57and flopped back on the bed to call her
00:54:09mom my ac's broken i'm melting up here
00:54:12her end is all rattling carts and store announcements
00:54:16i know i know i'm at the store back soon
00:54:19have your brother look at it
00:54:20he's coming home for lunch anyway
00:54:26your brother
00:54:27those two words set me off
00:54:29but my brain won't listen
00:54:31it pulls him up before i can stop it
00:54:34he does hvac
00:54:35fixes ac lines and pipes all day
00:54:38always slick with sweat
00:54:40last week in the kitchen
00:54:42head tipped back
00:54:44chugging ice water
00:54:45his throat working with every swallow
00:54:48a drop running down his jaw to his collar pine
00:54:51the muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve
00:54:55i press my thighs together
00:54:56and hate myself the second i do
00:54:59i hate him i really do
00:55:03so what the hell is this
00:55:06downstairs the front door clicks open
00:55:08the stairs groan step by step
00:55:11under someone much heavier than me
00:55:14that's when i remember what i'm wearing
00:55:16i lunge for the shorts on my chair
00:55:19too late
00:55:20the door swings open
00:55:22samir
00:55:22work pants gray tank soaked through and clean
00:55:26every line of his chest and stomach right there
00:55:30toolbox in hand
00:55:31the hair at his forehead damp in strands
00:55:34i should look away
00:55:36i don't
00:55:37my eyes drag down on their own
00:55:39his slick chest
00:55:41his tensed forearms
00:55:42and finally
00:55:45see something you like
00:55:46his voice comes out rough
00:55:47the corner of his mouth tipping up
00:55:49caught
00:55:50heat shoots all the way to my ears
00:55:53i ripped the blanket up over myself
00:55:56who who's looking at you
00:55:57don't flatter yourself
00:55:59he doesn't look away
00:56:01the smirk only deepens
00:56:02his throat moves once
00:56:04the ac
00:56:06he steps in
00:56:07drops the toolbox
00:56:09and looks down at me curled up small
00:56:11where is it
00:56:15over there
00:56:16i jerk my chin at the unit in the corner
00:56:18and pull the blanket tighter
00:56:19he doesn't move right away
00:56:20first those heavy eyes drag over me
00:56:23then he comes
00:56:27the unit sits high on the wall above my headboard
00:56:29my bed right under it
00:56:31the room's small
00:56:32and a man his size only makes it smaller
00:56:37he takes one look and frowns
00:56:40get down
00:56:42why should i
00:56:43i dig my heels in
00:56:44though it sounds hollow the moment it's out
00:56:46two years
00:56:48and this is all i know how to do with him
00:56:50bristle
00:56:50jab
00:56:51push back
00:56:53mom remarried
00:56:54he and kevin moved in
00:56:55and the house stopped being just hers and mine
00:57:00i came home for the summer wanting some quiet
00:57:03and now i share even my breathing room with this stranger
00:57:07i can dodge him for an afternoon
00:57:10not for the long line of summers after
00:57:12he doesn't argue
00:57:14one knee on the edge of the bed
00:57:16and he stretches up toward the unit
00:57:19i shrink into the corner
00:57:20but the bed's only so big
00:57:22as he leans
00:57:23the soaped gray tank brushes my shin
00:57:25heat
00:57:26sweat
00:57:26that sun warmed smell of him
00:57:28all of it crashing over me at once
00:57:30his arm works a screw overhead
00:57:32the muscle bunching and releasing inches from my face
00:57:35i hold my breath
00:57:36i don't dare move
00:57:37no one's downstairs
00:57:38mom's still at the store
00:57:40the whole house is quiet
00:57:41just my sun-baked bedroom
00:57:43door shut
00:57:44sealed off from the rest of the world
00:57:46the thought sends a hotter prickle up my back
00:57:48up here
00:57:49door closed
00:57:50whatever happens
00:57:51no one below would know
00:57:54move over
00:57:55he says low
00:57:55his elbow pressing toward me
00:57:57there's nowhere to go
00:57:58his hip is against my drawn-up knees
00:58:00i'm wedged between him and the wall
00:58:02half of me pressed to his side
00:58:06i told you i can't get away from you
00:58:08he says
00:58:09glancing down
00:58:10his throat moving
00:58:11goes both ways
00:58:15he turns it a few times
00:58:16swears
00:58:17says the wiring's fried
00:58:18the whole thing has to come apart
00:58:20the minutes crawl
00:58:21the room's hot enough to swim in
00:58:23the two of us crammed into this scrap of space
00:58:25neither one talking
00:58:26my back's to the wall
00:58:27half of me against his sweat-damp side
00:58:30the sweat glues us together
00:58:31skin to skin
00:58:33impossible to peel apart
00:58:34i should be disgusted
00:58:35i'm not
00:58:36i can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw
00:58:40that strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin sinking low in my belly
00:58:45a picture rises before i can stop it
00:58:47if that hand weren't reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead
00:58:51i kill the thought my face burns
00:58:54i hate him
00:58:55i think of the wedding day
00:58:56him standing there cold
00:58:58not even a hello
00:58:59two years ago i swore i'd never go soft for this man
00:59:02not once
00:59:03and right now my thighs are clamping together on their own
00:59:06the wet heat there is impossible to hide
00:59:09slick sticky mortifying
00:59:12it's the weather
00:59:13i lie to myself
00:59:14that's all
00:59:15just the heat
00:59:16irritated
00:59:17i try to shift
00:59:18to find room to breathe
00:59:20my knee moves
00:59:21and
00:59:21by accident
00:59:22grazes the inside of his thigh
00:59:24his hands stop
00:59:26the whole room goes still
00:59:27becca
00:59:28his voice drops to gravel
00:59:30it travels straight down my ear into my spine
00:59:32you'd better not move
00:59:34i don't listen
00:59:35my heart's slamming
00:59:36and something hotter than hate eggs me on
00:59:38i push out again
00:59:39elbow digging into his side
00:59:41on purpose
00:59:42the next second his free hand clamps down on my waist
00:59:44a hand big enough to span half of it
00:59:46too strong to fight
00:59:47and it hauls me back against him
00:59:49my gasp jams in my throat
00:59:51my back hits his scalding sweat damp chest
00:59:53his heartbeat through two thin layers of cotton
00:59:56slams into my spine
00:59:57once
00:59:58again
01:00:03what are you doing
01:00:04i keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist
01:00:07it's cast iron
01:00:09it doesn't give
01:00:10i should break free
01:00:11drive an elbow into him
01:00:13call him a creep
01:00:14bolt downstairs
01:00:14but my body betrays me
01:00:16it sinks into him
01:00:18fitting against every scalding inch of him
01:00:20i can feel his breathing turn rough
01:00:22his chest rising and falling at my back
01:00:27he grunts
01:00:28my elbow jabbing his stomach and in the scramble
01:00:30quit it
01:00:32i won't give in
01:00:33and i'm even more scared he sees through me
01:00:35so i open my mouth for another jab
01:00:37nothing comes out
01:00:38his free hand lifts and closes around the front of my throat
01:00:42not hard
01:00:43but sure
01:00:44steady
01:00:45tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his shoulder
01:00:47every drop of blood in me runs cold
01:00:50then floods back scalding
01:00:54two years of fighting
01:00:55of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched me
01:00:59but now his palm cradles my throat
01:01:02his thumb on the pulse going wild there
01:01:05and i'm not afraid
01:01:06being held completely in his hand
01:01:09helpless in his grip
01:01:10it turns me to water
01:01:14i'm in the same hell you are
01:01:16his mouth is at my ear
01:01:17his breath hot and horsey
01:01:18each word brended in
01:01:20but you
01:01:21are going
01:01:22to hold still
01:01:23his breath fans against the side of my face
01:01:26no more squirming
01:01:27no more little whimpers making it worse
01:01:30the hand on my throat tightens a fraction
01:01:32you hear me
01:01:33i try to nod
01:01:34only then does he ease off
01:01:36i guilt for air
01:01:37my heart wild enough to leap out of my chest
01:01:41for a long stretch i stay curled against him
01:01:43not daring to move
01:01:44his arm stays locked around my waist
01:01:46never once loosening
01:01:48and his thumb
01:01:48against the damp curve of my side moves slow
01:01:51up then down
01:01:52up then down
01:01:53every drag of it sends a current sliding down to the small of my back
01:01:56i clamp my thighs tighter
01:01:58and it only makes the want sharper
01:02:00i want more
01:02:01the thought scares me
01:02:04that's when downstairs the front door clicks open
01:02:06my mom
01:02:08did your brother go up to fix your AC
01:02:12no
01:02:12no he didn't
01:02:13i call down
01:02:14forcing my voice into its usual annoyance
01:02:16he's probably off slacking somewhere again
01:02:19a beat of quiet below
01:02:20let me come up and look at it
01:02:22you can't sit in this heat
01:02:23the staircase creaks
01:02:25taking mom's weight
01:02:26one step
01:02:27my blood goes to ice
01:02:28i claw at his arm
01:02:32let go
01:02:33she's coming up
01:02:34let go of me
01:02:35he doesn't
01:02:36worse
01:02:37the hand that's been resting at my waist
01:02:39slides painfully slow down the line of my hip
01:02:42over my stomach
01:02:43over the dip of my hip bone
01:02:44lower still until it settles squarely over me
01:02:47through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else
01:02:50my whole body bows tight
01:02:51a sharp high sound rushes up my throat
01:02:53i bite down on my lip and swallow it
01:02:55second stare
01:02:56creak
01:02:56he bends his head nose against my scalding ear
01:02:59and through the soaked fabric his palm grinds down on me
01:03:01not soft not hard
01:03:03once
01:03:05soaked like this
01:03:08and still lying that no one came up
01:03:10he breathes
01:03:11low and filthy
01:03:13Samir
01:03:14it comes out a plea
01:03:15my voice in pieces
01:03:17please
01:03:17my mom
01:03:18his thumb presses again
01:03:20dragging a winner out of me before i can swallow it
01:03:22the hand doesn't move from where it is
01:03:23scared now
01:03:24third step
01:03:25mom's voice is closer
01:03:26Becca?
01:03:27why is the door locked on the inside?
01:03:29he looks down at me
01:03:30held completely in his hand
01:03:32every breath a luxury now
01:03:34his eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy
01:03:36he leans to my ear
01:03:38word by word
01:03:39so how about
01:03:40you let your mom
01:03:42see exactly what you look like
01:03:45right now?
01:03:51damn it
01:03:52what do you want to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:53to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:53to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:53to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:54to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:57to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:57to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:57to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:57to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:57to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:57to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do
01:03:57to