🍍The Summer the AC Broke: A House Secret Too Hard to Hide

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✍Synopsis:
Becca thought a broken AC would be the worst part of summer, but The Summer the AC Broke turns one overheated house into a secret she can barely keep. Stuck upstairs with the one person she should avoid, she tries to act normal while every glance says otherwise. With family just downstairs, one quiet repair becomes the start of hidden feelings. Watch full episodes on ReelShort.

⭐GENRE:Forbidden Romance, Hidden Feelings, Summer Drama, Secret Reveal
👫Cast:Becca, Mysterious Housemate

Transcript

00:00:16To be continued...

00:00:30That's the only thing between me and total ruin.

00:00:32He's got me pinned, one hand splayed across my waist, the other creeping higher.

00:00:36Mom's voice floats up the stairs.

00:00:38Becca? Did your brother come up to fix your AC yet?

00:00:42His fingertips press into me, daring me to stay quiet.

00:00:45He looks down at me, eyes bright, like he's waiting for me to fall apart.

00:00:49I should scream. I should shove him off and bolt downstairs.

00:00:51But his thumb presses down, and I swallow a moan so hard it nearly chokes me.

00:00:56No! No, he didn't!

00:00:57I call down. My voice comes out shaking, like it belongs to someone else.

00:01:0398 degrees. The AC in my room died this morning. Just gave out.

00:01:08I hate this house. The way it is now, anyway.

00:01:12I hate the day Mom married Kevin and packed him and his quiet 30-something son into my life.

00:01:18Two years now. Every wrong thing under this roof started that day.

00:01:21Too hot to think.

00:01:23I've kicked off my shorts, a tank slipping off my shoulder, and flopped back on the bed to call her.

00:01:28Mom, my AC's broken. I'm melting up here.

00:01:31I know. I know.

00:01:33Her end is all rattling carts and store announcements.

00:01:36I'm at the store. Back soon. Have your brother look at it. He's coming home for lunch anyway.

00:01:41Your brother. Those two words set me off.

00:01:43But my brain won't listen. It pulls him up before I can stop it.

00:01:46He does vac. Fixes AC lines and pipes all day. Always slick with sweat.

00:01:51Last week in the kitchen. Head tipped back. Chugging ice water. His throat working with every swallow.

00:01:58A drop running down his jaw to his collarbone. The muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a

00:02:04valve.

00:02:04I press my ties together. And hate myself the second I do.

00:02:09I hate him. I really do.

00:02:12So what the hell is this?

00:02:14Downstairs. The front door clicks open. The stairs groan. Step by step. Under someone much heavier than me.

00:02:21That's when I remember what I'm wearing. I lunge for the shorts on my chair. Too late.

00:02:26The door swings open. Samir. Work pants. Gray tank soaked through and clinging.

00:02:31Every line of his chest and stomach right there. Toolbox in hand. The hair at his forehead damp in strands.

00:02:36I should look away. I don't. My eyes drag down on their own.

00:02:39His sleep chest. His tensed forearms. And finally...

00:02:43See something you like?

00:02:44His voice comes out rough. The corner of his mouth tipping up. Hot.

00:02:47Heat shoots all the way to my ears. I rip the blanket up over myself.

00:02:51Who... Who's looking at you? Don't flatter yourself.

00:02:53He doesn't look away. The smirk only deepens. His throat moves once.

00:02:59The AC.

00:03:01He steps in. Drops the toolbox. And looks down at me curled up small.

00:03:05Where is it?

00:03:08Over there. I jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter.

00:03:12He doesn't move right away. First those heavy eyes drag over me. Then he comes.

00:03:16The 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. He takes one look and frowns.

00:03:23Get down.

00:03:24He says.

00:03:25Why should I?

00:03:26I dig my heels in. Though it sounds hollow the moment it's out.

00:03:29Two years and this is all I know how to do with him.

00:03:32Bristle.

00:03:32Jab.

00:03:33Jab. Push back.

00:03:34Mom remarried. He and Kevin moved in and the house stopped being just hers and mine.

00:03:38I came home for the summer wanting some quiet. And now I share even my breathing room with this

00:03:42stranger. I can dodge him for an afternoon. Not for the long line of summers after. He doesn't

00:03:47argue. One knee on the edge of the bed and he stretches up toward the unit. I shrink into

00:03:51the corner. But the bed's only so big. As he leans, the soaped gray tank brushes my shin.

00:03:56Heat. Sweat. That sun-warmed smell of him. All of it crashing over me at once. His arm works a

00:04:02screw

00:04:02overhead. The muscle bunching and releasing inches from my face. I hold my breath. I don't

00:04:07dare move. No one's downstairs. Mom's still at the store. The whole house is quiet. Just

00:04:12my sun-baked bedroom. Door shut, sealed off from the rest of the world. The thought sends

00:04:16a hotter prickle up my back. Up here, door closed. Whatever happens, no one below would

00:04:21know.

00:04:21Move over. He says low, his elbow pressing toward me. There's nowhere to go. His hip is

00:04:26against my drawn-up knees. I'm wedged between him and the wall. Half of me pressed to his

00:04:31side.

00:04:31I told you I can't get away from you. He says, glancing down, his throat moving.

00:04:35Goes both ways.

00:04:37He turns it a few times, swears, says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart.

00:04:42The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap

00:04:45of space, neither one talking. My back's to the wall, half of me against his sweat-damp side.

00:04:49The sweat glues us together. Skin to skin, impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted.

00:04:54I'm not. I can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw, that

00:04:58strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin, sinking low in my belly. A picture

00:05:02rises before I can stop it. If that hand weren't reaching for a screw overhead but sliding

00:05:06down my waist instead. I kill the thought. My face burns. I hate him. I think of the wedding

00:05:12day. Him standing there, cold, not even a hello. Two years ago I swore I'd never go soft

00:05:16for this man. Not once. And right now my thighs are clamping together on their own.

00:05:21The wet heat there is impossible to hide. Slick. Sticky. Mortifying.

00:05:27It's the weather. I lie to myself. That's all. Just the heat.

00:05:31Irritated, I try to shift. To find room to breathe. My knee moves and by accident, grazes

00:05:36the inside of his thigh. His hands stop. The whole room goes still. His voice drops to gravel.

00:05:42It travels straight down my ear into my spine. Becca. You'd better not move.

00:05:47I don't listen. My heart's slamming. And something hotter than hate eggs me on.

00:05:52I push out again, elbow digging into his side. On purpose. The next second, his free hand

00:05:57clamps down on my waist. A hand big enough to span half of it, too strong to fight.

00:06:01And it hauls me back against him. My gasp jams in my throat. My back hits his scalding, sweat-damped

00:06:06chest. His heartbeat, through two thin layers of cotton, slams into my spine. Once. Again.

00:06:13What are you doing?

00:06:15I keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist. It's cast iron. It doesn't

00:06:21give. I should break free. Drive an elbow into him. Call him a creep. Bolt downstairs.

00:06:26But my body betrays me. It sinks into him, fitting against every scalding inch of him.

00:06:31I can feel his breathing turn rough, his chest rising and downing at my back. He grunts,

00:06:35my elbow jabbing stomach again in the scamble.

00:06:37Quit it.

00:06:37I won't give in. And I'm even more scared he sees through me. So I open my mouth for

00:06:41another jab. Nothing comes out. His free hand lifts and closes around the front of

00:06:45my throat. Not hard, but sure, steady, tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his

00:06:49shoulder. Every drop of blood in me runs cold, then floods back scalding. Two years

00:06:53of fighting. Of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched me. But now his palm

00:06:58cradles my throat, his thumb on the pulse going wild there. And I'm not afraid. Being held

00:07:02completely in his hand, helpless in his grip, it turns me to water. I'm in the same hell

00:07:06you are. His mouth is at my ear, his breath hot and horsey, each word brended in. But

00:07:10you are going to hold still. His breath fans against the side of my face. No more squirming.

00:07:16No more little whimpers making it worse. The hand on my throat tightens a fraction. You

00:07:21hear me? I try to nod. Only then does he ease off. I gulp for air, my heart wild enough

00:07:27to leap out of my chest. For a long stretch, I stay curled against him, not daring to move.

00:07:33His arm stays locked around my waist, never once loosening. And his thumb, against the

00:07:38damp curve of my side, moves slow. Up, then down. Up, then down. Every drag of it sends

00:07:44a current sliding down to the small of my back. I clamp my thighs tighter, and it only makes

00:07:48the want sharper. I want more. The thought scares me. That's when, downstairs, the front

00:07:55door clicks open. I'm home. Mom's voice floats up over the rustle of grocery bags.

00:08:00Becca, did your brother go up to fix your AC? His thumb stops. No, no he didn't. I call

00:08:08down, forcing my voice into its usual annoyance. He's probably off slacking somewhere again.

00:08:13A beat of quiet below. Then, from below. Let me come up and look at it. You can't sit in

00:08:20this heat. The staircase creaks, taking Mom's weight. One step. My blood goes to ice. I

00:08:27claw at his arm.

00:08:31Let go. She's coming up. Let go of me.

00:08:36He doesn't. Worse. The hand that's been resting at my waist slides, painfully slow, down the

00:08:42line of my hip. Over my stomach. Over the dip of my hip bone. Lower still, until it settles

00:08:47squarely over me. Through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else. My whole

00:08:52body bows tight. A sharp, high sound rushes up my throat. I bite down on my lip and swallow it.

00:08:58Second stare. Creak. He bends his head. Nose against my scalding ear. And through the soaked

00:09:03fabric, palm his grinds down on me. Not soft, not hard. Once. Soaked like this? He breathes.

00:09:09Slow and filthy. And still lying that no one came up.

00:09:12Samir. It comes out a plea. My voice in pieces. Please. My mom. Hmm? His thumb presses again,

00:09:20dragging a winner out of me before I can swallow it. The hand doesn't move from where it is.

00:09:25Scared now? Third step. Mom's voice is closer.

00:09:31Becca? Why is the door locked from the inside? He looks down at me. Held completely in his

00:09:37hand. Every breath a luxury now. His eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy. He leans

00:09:42to my ear. Word by word. Another grind of his palm. Dead slow. We let your mom see exactly

00:09:49what you look like right now. The doorknob clicks. And turns.

00:10:02He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come

00:10:06apart. The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this

00:10:09scrap of space. Neither one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat damp

00:10:13side. The sweat glues us together. Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted.

00:10:18I'm not. I can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw. That

00:10:22strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my... My mom is right downstairs. One

00:10:26creaking staircase away. That's the only thing between me and total ruin. He's got me pinned.

00:10:31One hand splayed across my waist. The other creeping higher. Mom's voice floats up the

00:10:35stairs. Becca? Did your brother come up to fix your AC yet? His fingertips press into me.

00:10:41Daring me to stay quiet. He looks down at me. Eyes bright. Like he's waiting for me to fall

00:10:45apart. I should scream. I should shove him off and bolt downstairs. But his thumb presses

00:10:50down and I swallow a moan so hard it nearly chokes me. No! No, he didn't! I call down.

00:10:56My voice comes out shaking. Like it belongs to someone else. 98 degrees. The AC in my room

00:11:02died this morning. Just gave out. I hate this house. The way it is now, anyway. I hate the

00:11:11day Mom married Kevin and packed him and his quiet 30-something son into my life. Two years

00:11:15now. Every wrong thing under this roof started that day. Too hot to think. I've kicked off

00:11:21my shorts, a tank slipping off my shoulder, and flopped back on the bed to call her.

00:11:25Mom, my AC's broken. I'm melting up here. I know. I know.

00:11:30Her end is all rattling carts and store announcements. I'm at the store. Back soon. Have your brother

00:11:35look at it. He's coming home for lunch anyway. Your brother. Those two words set me off. But

00:11:41my brain won't listen. It pulls him up before I can stop it. He does vac. Fixes AC lines

00:11:46and pipes all day. Always slick with sweat. Last week in the kitchen. Head tipped back. Chugging

00:11:52ice water. His throat working with every swallow. A drop running down his jaw to his collarbone.

00:11:58The muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve. I press my ties together

00:12:03and hate myself the second I do. I hate him. I really do. So what the hell is this?

00:12:11Downstairs. The front door clicks open. The stairs groan. Step by step. Under someone much

00:12:18heavier than me. That's when I remember what I'm wearing. I lunge for the shorts on my chair.

00:12:22Too late. The door swings open. Samir. Work pants. Gray tank soaked through and

00:12:28clinging. Every line of his chest and stomach right there. Toolbox in hand. The hair at

00:12:32his forehead damp in strands. I should look away. I don't. My eyes drag down on their

00:12:36own. His sleep chest. His tensed forearms. And finally. See something you like?

00:12:41His voice comes out rough. The corner of his mouth tipping up. Hot. Heat shoots all the

00:12:46way to my ears. I rip the blanket up over myself. Who's looking at you? Don't flatter yourself.

00:12:50He doesn't look away. The smirk only deepens. His throat moves once.

00:12:57The AC. He steps in. Drops the toolbox. And looks down at me curled up small.

00:13:03Where is it?

00:13:05Over there. I jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter. He doesn't

00:13:09move right away. First those heavy eyes drag over me. Then he comes. The unit sits high on the wall

00:13:14above my headboard. My bed right under it. The room's small and a man his size only makes it smaller.

00:13:19He takes one look and frowns. Get down. He says. Why should I? I dig my heels in. Though it

00:13:25sounds

00:13:25hollow the moment it's out. Two years and this is all I know how to do with him. Bristle. Jab.

00:13:30Push

00:13:31back. Mom remarried. He and Kevin moved in and the house stopped being just hers and mine. I came home

00:13:36for the summer wanting some quiet. And now I share even my breathing room with this stranger. I can

00:13:41dodge him for an afternoon. Not for the long line of summers after. He doesn't argue. One knee on the

00:13:46edge of the bed and he stretches up toward the unit. I shrink into the corner. But the bed's only

00:13:50so big. As he leans. The soaked gray tank brushes my shin. Heat. Sweat. That sun warmed smell of him.

00:13:56All of it crashing over me at once. His arm works a screw overhead. The muscle bunching and releasing

00:14:01inches from my face. I hold my breath. I don't dare move. No one's downstairs. Mom's still at the store.

00:14:07The whole house is quiet. Just my sun baked bedroom. Door shut. Sealed off from the rest of the world.

00:14:13The thought sends a hotter prickle up my back. Up here. Door closed. Whatever happens. No one below

00:14:18would know. Move over. He says low. His elbow pressing toward me. There's nowhere to go. His

00:14:23hip is against my drawn up knees. I'm wedged between him and the wall. Half of me pressed to his

00:14:28side.

00:14:28I told you I can't get away from you. He says. Glancing down. His throat moving. Goes both ways.

00:14:35He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart. The minutes

00:14:39crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of space. Neither

00:14:43one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat damp side. The sweat glues us

00:14:47together. Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted. I'm not. I can feel the muscle

00:14:53in his side tighten with every turn of the screw. That strength soaking through a thin film of sweat

00:14:57into my skin. Sinking low in my belly. A picture rises before I can stop it. If that hand weren't

00:15:02reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead. I kill the thought. My face burns.

00:15:07I hate him. I think of the wedding day. Him standing there cold. Not even a hello. Two

00:15:12years ago I swore I'd never go soft for this man. Not once. And right now my thighs are clamping

00:15:17together on their own. The wet heat there is impossible to hide. Slick. Sticky. Mortifying.

00:15:24It's the weather. I lie to myself. That's all. Just the heat. Irritated I try to shift. To find room

00:15:31to breathe. My knee moves and by accident grazes the inside of his thigh. His hands stop. The whole

00:15:36room goes still. His voice drops to gravel. It travels straight down my ear into my spine.

00:15:42Becca. You'd better not move. I don't listen. My heart's slamming. And something hotter than

00:15:48hate eggs me on. I push out again. Elbow digging into his side. On purpose. The next second his

00:15:54free hand clamps down on my waist. A hand big enough to span half of it. Too strong to fight.

00:15:58And it hauls me back against him. My gasp jams in my throat. My back hits his scalding sweat

00:16:03damp chest. His heartbeat. Through two thin layers of cotton slams into my spine. Once.

00:16:07Again.

00:16:11What are you doing?

00:16:13I keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist. It's cast iron. It doesn't

00:16:18give. I should break free. Drive an elbow into him. Call him a creep. Bolt downstairs. But

00:16:24my body betrays me. It sinks into him. Fitting against every scalding inch of him. I can feel

00:16:28his breathing turn rough. His chest rising and downing at my back. He grunts. My elbow

00:16:32jabbing stomach again in the scamble. With it. I won't give in. And I'm even more scared

00:16:36he sees through me. So I open my mouth for another jab. Nothing comes out. His free hand

00:16:41lifts and closes around the front of my throat. Not hard. But sure. Steady. Tipping the back

00:16:45of my head into the hollow of his shoulder. Every drop of blood in me runs cold. Then floods

00:16:49back scalding. Two years of fighting. Of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched

00:16:54me. But now his palm cradles my throat. His thumb on the pulse going wild there. And I'm

00:16:58not afraid. Being held completely in his hand. Helpless in his grip. It turns me to water.

00:17:02I'm in the same hell you are. His mouth is at my ear. His breath hot and horsey. Each

00:17:06word brended in. But you are going to hold still. His breath fans against the side of my

00:17:12face. No more squirming. No more little whimpers making it worse. The hand on my throat tightens

00:17:16a fraction. You hear me? I try to nod. Only then does he ease off. I gulp for air. My

00:17:23heart

00:17:23wild enough to leap out of my chest. For a long stretch I stay curled against him. Not

00:17:29daring to move. His arm stays locked around my waist. Never once loosening. And his thumb

00:17:35against the damp curve of my side moves slow. Up. Then down. Up. Then down. Every drag of

00:17:41it sends a current sliding down to the small of my back. I clamp my thighs tighter. And

00:17:45it only makes the want sharper. I want more. The thought scares me. That's when. Downstairs.

00:17:51The front door clicks open. I'm home. Mom's voice floats up over the rustle of grocery

00:17:56bags. Becca. Did your brother go up to fix your AC? His thumb stops. No. No he didn't.

00:18:05I call down. Forcing my voice into its usual annoyance. He's probably off slacking somewhere

00:18:10again. A beat of quiet below. Then. From below. Let me come up and look at it. You can't sit

00:18:17in this heat. The staircase creaks. Taking mom's weight. One step. My blood goes to

00:18:23ice. I claw at his arm. Let go. She's coming up. Let go of me. He doesn't. Worse. The hand

00:18:36that's been resting at my waist slides painfully slow down the line of my hip. Over my stomach.

00:18:41Over the dip of my hip bone. Lower still until it settles squarely over me. Through the thin

00:18:46fabric already soaked with sweat and something else. My whole body bows tight. A sharp high

00:18:51sound rushes up my throat. I bite down on my lip and swallow it. Second stare. Creak. He

00:18:57bends his head. Nose against my scalding ear. And through the soaked fabric. Palm his grinds

00:19:02down on me. Not soft. Not hard. Once. Soaked like this. He breathes. Slow and filthy. And

00:19:08still lying that no one came up. Samir. It comes out a plea. My voice in pieces. Please.

00:19:14My mom. His thumb presses again. Dragging a winner out of me before I can swallow it. The hand

00:19:21doesn't move from where it is. Scared now? Third step. Mom's voice is closer.

00:19:29Becca? Why is the door locked from the inside? He looks down at me. Held completely in his

00:19:34hand. Every breath a luxury now. His eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy. He leans

00:19:39to my ear. Word by word. Another grind of his palm. Dead slow. We let your mom see exactly

00:19:46what you look like right now? The doorknob clicks. And turns.

00:19:59He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come

00:20:03apart. The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this

00:20:07scrap of space. Neither one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat damp

00:20:10side. The sweat glues us together. Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted.

00:20:16I'm not. I can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw. That strength

00:20:20soaking through a thin film of sweat into my... My mom is right downstairs. One creaking staircase

00:20:24away. That's the only thing between me and total ruin. He's got me pinned. One hand

00:20:28splayed across my waist. The other creeping higher. Mom's voice floats up the stairs.

00:20:33Becca? Did your brother come up to fix your AC yet?

00:20:36His fingertips press into me. Daring me to stay quiet. He looks down at me. Eyes bright.

00:20:41Like he's waiting for me to fall apart. I should scream. I should shove him off and bolt

00:20:45downstairs. But his thumb presses down. And I swallow a moan so hard it nearly chokes me.

00:20:50No! No, he didn't! I call down. My voice comes out shaking. Like it belongs to someone

00:20:56else. 98 degrees. The AC in my room died this morning. Just gave out. I hate this house.

00:21:05The way it is now, anyway. I hate the day mom married Kevin and packed him and his quiet

00:21:1030-something son into my life. Two years now. Every wrong thing under this roof started that

00:21:15day. Too hot to think. I've kicked off my shorts. A tank slipping off my shoulder and

00:21:20flopped back on the bed to call her. Mom, my AC's broken. I'm melting up here.

00:21:26I know. I know. Her end is all rattling carts and store announcements.

00:21:31I'm at the store. Back soon. Have your brother look at it. He's coming home for lunch anyway.

00:21:35Your brother. Those two words set me off. But my brain won't listen. It pulls him up before

00:21:40I can stop it. He does vac. Fixes AC lines and pipes all day. Always slick with sweat.

00:21:46Last week in the kitchen. Head tipped back. Chugging ice water. His throat working with

00:21:52every swallow. A drop running down his jaw to his collarbone. The muscle in his forearm

00:21:57bunching tight as he cranked a valve. I press my ties together and hate myself the second I do.

00:22:03I hate him. I really do. So what the hell is this? Downstairs. The front door clicks open.

00:22:11The stairs groan. Step by step. Under someone much heavier than me. That's when I remember what

00:22:17I'm wearing. I lunge for the shorts on my chair. Too late. The door swings open. Samir. Work pants.

00:22:24Gray tank soaked through and clinging. Every line of his chest and stomach right there. Toolbox in

00:22:28hand. The hair at his forehead damp in strands. I should look away. I don't. My eyes drag down on

00:22:33their own. His sleep chest. His tensed forearms. And finally... See something you like? His voice

00:22:39comes out rough. The corner of his mouth tipping up. Hot. Heat shoots all the way to my ears. I

00:22:44rip

00:22:44the blanket up over myself. Who... Who's looking at you? Don't flatter yourself. He doesn't look away.

00:22:49The smirk only deepens. His throat moves once.

00:22:54The AC. He steps in. Drops the toolbox. And looks down at me curled up small. Where is

00:23:00it? Over there. I jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter. He

00:23:06doesn't move right away. First those heavy eyes drag over me. Then he comes. The unit sits

00:23:11high on the wall above my headboard. My bed right under it. The room's small and a man his

00:23:15size only makes it smaller. He takes one look and frowns. Get down. He says. Why should

00:23:20I? I dig my heels in. Though it sounds hollow the moment it's out. Two years. And this is

00:23:25all I know how to do with him. Bristle. Jab. Push back. Mom remarried. He and Kevin moved

00:23:30in and the house stopped being just hers and mine. I came home for the summer wanting some

00:23:34quiet. And now I share even my breathing room with this stranger. I can dodge him for

00:23:38an afternoon. Not for the long line of summers after. He doesn't argue. One knee on the edge

00:23:43of the bed and he stretches up toward the unit. I shrink into the corner. But the bed's only

00:23:47so big. As he leans. The soaked gray tank brushes my shin. Heat. Sweat. That sun warmed

00:23:53smell of him. All of it crashing over me at once. His arm works a screw overhead. The muscle

00:23:58bunching and releasing inches from my face. I hold my breath. I don't dare move. No one's

00:24:03downstairs. Mom's still at the store. The whole house is quiet. Just my sun baked bedroom.

00:24:08Door shut. Sealed off from the rest of the world. The thought sends a hotter prickle up my

00:24:12back. Up here. Door closed. Whatever happens. No one below would know. Move over. He says

00:24:17low. His elbow pressing toward me. There's nowhere to go. His hip is against my drawn

00:24:22up knees. I'm wedged between him and the wall. Half of me pressed to his side. I told you

00:24:26I can't get away from you. He says. Glancing down. His throat moving. Goes both ways.

00:24:32He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart.

00:24:36The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap

00:24:40of space. Neither one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat damp

00:24:43side. The sweat glues us together. Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should be

00:24:48disgusted. I'm not. I can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the

00:24:52screw. That strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin. Sinking low in

00:24:56my belly. A picture rises before I can stop it. If that hand weren't reaching for a screw

00:25:00overhead but sliding down my waist instead. I kill the thought. My face burns. I hate him.

00:25:05I think of the wedding day. Him standing there cold. Not even a hello. Two years ago I

00:25:10swore I'd never go soft for this man. Not once. And right now my thighs are clamping

00:25:15together on their own. The wet heat there is impossible to hide. Slick. Sticky. Mortifying.

00:25:21It's the weather. I lie to myself. That's all. Just the heat. Irritated I try to shift.

00:25:27To find room to breathe. My knee moves and by accident grazes the inside of his thigh.

00:25:32His hands stop. The whole room goes still. His voice drops to gravel. It travels straight

00:25:38down my ear into my spine. Becca. You'd better not move. I don't listen. My heart's slamming

00:25:44and something hotter than hate eggs me on. I push out again elbow digging into his side.

00:25:50On purpose. The next second his free hand clamps down on my waist. A hand big enough to span half

00:25:54of it. Too strong to fight. And it hauls me back against him. My gasp jams in my throat.

00:25:59My back hits his scalding sweat damp chest. His heartbeat through two thin layers of cotton

00:26:03slams into my spine. Once. Again. What are you doing? I keep my voice down and claw at the arm

00:26:12locked across my waist. It's cast iron. It doesn't give. I should break free. Drive an elbow into him.

00:26:19Call him a creep. Bolt downstairs. But my body betrays me. It sinks into him. Fitting against

00:26:24every scalding inch of him. I can feel his breathing turn rough. His chest rising and downing at my back.

00:26:29He grunts. My elbow jabbing stomach again in the scamble. With it. I won't give in. And I'm even

00:26:33more scared he sees through me. So I open my mouth for another jab. Nothing comes out. His free hand

00:26:38lifts and closes around the front of my throat. Not hard. But sure. Steady. Tipping the back of my head

00:26:43into the hollow of his shoulder. Every drop of blood in me runs cold. Then floods back scalding. Two years

00:26:48of fighting. Of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched me. But now his palm cradles

00:26:53my

00:26:53throat. His thumb on the pulse going wild there. And I'm not afraid. Being held completely in his hand.

00:26:58Helpless in his grip. It turns me to water. I'm in the same hell you are. His mouth is at

00:27:02my ear.

00:27:02His breath hot and horsey. Each word brended in. But you are going to hold still. His breath fans

00:27:08against the side of my face. No more squirming. No more little whimpers making it worse. The hand

00:27:13on my throat tightens a fraction. You hear me? I try to nod. Only then does he ease off. I

00:27:19gulp for air.

00:27:20My heart wild enough to leap out of my chest. For a long stretch I stay curled against him.

00:27:26Not daring to move. His arm stays locked around my waist. Never once loosening. And his thumb,

00:27:32against the damp curve of my side, moves slow. Up, then down. Up, then down. Every drag of it sends

00:27:38a current sliding down to the small of my back. I clamp my thighs tighter. And it only makes the

00:27:43want sharper. I want more. The thought scares me. That's when, downstairs, the front door clicks open.

00:27:50I'm home. Mom's voice floats up over the rustle of grocery bags.

00:27:55Becca, did your brother go up to fix your AC? His thumb stops. No! No, he didn't! I call down,

00:28:03forcing my voice into its usual annoyance. He's probably off slacking somewhere again.

00:28:08A beat of quiet below. Then, from below. Let me come up and look at it. You can't sit in

00:28:15this heat.

00:28:15The staircase creaks, taking Mom's weight. One step. My blood goes to ice. I claw at his arm.

00:28:25Let go. She's coming up. Let go of me.

00:28:30He doesn't. Worse. The hand that's been resting at my waist slides, painfully slow, down the line of

00:28:37my hip. Over my stomach. Over the dip of my hip bone. Lower still, until it settles squarely over me.

00:28:43Through the thin fabric, already soaked with sweat and something else. My whole body bows tight.

00:28:48A sharp, high sound rushes up my throat. I bite down on my lip and swallow it. Second stare.

00:28:53Creak. He bends his head. Nose against my scalding ear. And through the soaked fabric,

00:28:58palm his grinds down on me. Not soft, not hard. Once. Soaked like this?

00:29:03He breathes, slow and filthy. And still lying that no one came up.

00:29:07Samir. It comes out a plea. My voice in pieces.

00:29:10Please. My mom. His thumb presses again, dragging a winner out of me before I can swallow it.

00:29:18The hand doesn't move from where it is.

00:29:20Scared now?

00:29:21Third step. Mom's voice is closer.

00:29:26Becca? Why is the door locked from the inside?

00:29:29He looks down at me, held completely in his hand. Every breath a luxury now. His eyes lit

00:29:35with something that makes me dizzy. He leans to my ear. Word by word. Another grind of his palm. Dead

00:29:41slow.

00:29:42We let your mom see exactly what you look like right now?

00:29:56He turns it a few times, swears, says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart.

00:30:01The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of space,

00:30:05neither one talking. My back's to the wall, half of me against his sweat-damp side.

00:30:08The sweat glues us together. Skin to skin, impossible to peel apart.

00:30:11I should be disgusted. I'm not. I can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the

00:30:16screw, that strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my-

00:30:19My mom is right downstairs, one creaking staircase away. That's the only thing between me and total

00:30:24ruin. He's got me pinned, one hand splayed across my waist, the other creeping higher.

00:30:28Mom's voice floats up the stairs.

00:30:30Becca? Did your brother come up to fix your AC yet?

00:30:34His fingertips press into me, daring me to stay quiet. He looks down at me, eyes bright,

00:30:39like he's waiting for me to fall apart. I should scream. I should shove him off and

00:30:43bolt downstairs. But his thumb presses down, and I swallow a moan so hard it nearly chokes me.

00:30:48No! No, he didn't!

00:30:49I call down. My voice comes out shaking, like it belongs to someone else.

00:30:5498 degrees. The AC in my room died this morning. Just gave out.

00:31:00I hate this house. The way it is now, anyway. I hate the day mom married Kevin and packed him

00:31:07and

00:31:07his quiet 30-something son into my life. Two years now. Every wrong thing under this roof started that

00:31:12day. Too hot to think. I've kicked off my shorts, a tank slipping off my shoulder, and flopped back on

00:31:18the bed to call her. Mom, my AC's broken. I'm melting up here.

00:31:23I know. I know. Her end is all rattling carts and store announcements. I'm at the store. Back soon.

00:31:30Have your brother look at it. He's coming home for lunch anyway. Your brother. Those two words set

00:31:34me off. But my brain won't listen. It pulls him up before I can stop it. He does vac. Fixes

00:31:40AC lines

00:31:41and pipes all day. Always slick with sweat. Last week in the kitchen. Head tipped back. Chugging ice

00:31:47water. His throat working with every swallow. A drop running down his jaw to his collar boine.

00:31:52The muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve. I press my ties together

00:31:58and hate myself the second I do. I hate him. I really do. So what the hell is this?

00:32:06Downstairs. The front door clicks open. The stairs groan. Step by step. Under someone much

00:32:12heavier than me. That's when I remember what I'm wearing. I lunge for the shorts on my chair.

00:32:17Too late. The door swings open. Samir. Work pants. Gray tank soaked through and clinging.

00:32:23Every line of his chest and stomach right there. Toolbox in hand. The hair at his forehead damp

00:32:27and strands. I should look away. I don't. My eyes drag down on their own. His sleep chest.

00:32:33His tensed forearms. And finally... See something you like?

00:32:36His voice comes out rough. The corner of his mouth tipping up. Hot. Heat shoots all the way to my

00:32:41ears.

00:32:41I rip the blanket up over myself. Who... Who's looking at you? Don't flatter yourself.

00:32:45He doesn't look away. The smirk only deepens. His throat moves once.

00:32:51The AC.

00:32:53He steps in. Drops the toolbox. And looks down at me curled up small.

00:32:57Where is it?

00:33:00Over there. I jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter. He doesn't move

00:33:04right

00:33:04away. First those heavy eyes drag over me. Then he comes. The unit sits high on the wall above my

00:33:09headboard. My bed right under it. The room's small. And a man his size only makes it smaller.

00:33:14He takes one look and frowns.

00:33:15Get down.

00:33:16He says.

00:33:17Why should I?

00:33:18I dig my heels in. Though it sounds hollow the moment it's out. Two years. And this is all I

00:33:22know how to do with him. Bristle. Jab. Push back. Mom remarried. He and Kevin moved in. And the house

00:33:28stopped being just hers and mine. I came home for the summer wanting some quiet. And now I share even

00:33:33my breathing room with this stranger. I can dodge him for an afternoon. Not for the long line of

00:33:38summers after. He doesn't argue. One knee on the edge of the bed and he stretches up toward the

00:33:42unit. I shrink into the corner. But the bed's only so big. As he leans, the soaped gray tank brushes

00:33:47my shin. Heat. Sweat. That sun-warmed smell of him. All of it crashing over me at once. His arm

00:33:53works

00:33:54a screw overhead. The muscle bunching and releasing inches from my face. I hold my breath. I don't dare

00:33:59move. No one's downstairs. Mom's still at the store. The whole house is quiet. Just my sun-baked

00:34:04bedroom. Door shut. Sealed off from the rest of the world. The thought sends a hotter prickle

00:34:09up my back. Up here. Door closed. Whatever happens. No one below would know. Move over.

00:34:14He says low. His elbow pressing toward me. There's nowhere to go. His hip is against my

00:34:19drawn-up knees. I'm wedged between him and the wall. Half of me pressed to his side. I told

00:34:23you I can't get away from you. He says. Glancing down. His throat moving. Goes both ways.

00:34:29He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come

00:34:33apart. The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this

00:34:37scrap of space. Neither one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat-damp

00:34:41side. The sweat glues us together. Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should be

00:34:45disgusted. I'm not. I can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw.

00:34:50That strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin. Sinking low in my belly.

00:34:54A picture rises before I can stop it. If that hand weren't reaching for a screw

00:34:57overhead but sliding down my waist instead. I kill the thought. My face burns. I hate

00:35:02him. I think of the wedding day. Him standing there cold. Not even a hello. Two years ago

00:35:07I swore I'd never go soft for this man. Not once. And right now my thighs are clamping

00:35:12together on their own. The wet heat there is impossible to hide. Slick. Sticky. Mortifying.

00:35:18It's the weather. I lie to myself. That's all. Just the heat. Irritated I try to shift.

00:35:25To find room to breathe. My knee moves and by accident grazes the inside of his thigh.

00:35:29His hands stop. The whole room goes still. His voice drops to gravel. It travels straight

00:35:35down my ear into my spine.

00:35:37Becca. You'd better not move.

00:35:39I don't listen. My heart's slamming. And something hotter than hate eggs me on.

00:35:44I push out again elbow digging into his side. On purpose. The next second his free hand clamps

00:35:49down on my waist. A hand big enough to span half of it. Too strong to fight. And it hauls

00:35:54me back

00:35:54against him. My gasp jams in my throat. My back hits his scalding sweat damp chest. His heartbeat

00:35:59through two thin layers of cotton slams into my spine. Once. Again.

00:36:05What are you doing? I keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist.

00:36:11It's cast iron. It doesn't give. I should break free. Drive an elbow into him. Call him a creep.

00:36:17Bolt down stairs. But my body betrays me. It sinks into him. Fitting against every scalding

00:36:22inch of him. I can feel his breathing turn rough. His chest rising and downing at my back.

00:36:26He grunts. My elbow jabbing stomach again in the scamble. With it.

00:36:29I won't give in. And I'm even more scared he sees through me. So I open my mouth for another

00:36:33jab.

00:36:34Nothing comes out. His free hand lifts and closes around the front of my throat.

00:36:37Not hard. But sure. Steady. Tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his shoulder.

00:36:41Every drop of blood in me runs cold. Then floods back scalding. Two years of fighting.

00:36:46Of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched me.

00:36:49But now his palm cradles my throat. His thumb on the pulse going wild there. And I'm not afraid.

00:36:54Being held completely in his hand. Helpless in his grip. It turns me to water.

00:36:57I'm in the same hell you are. His mouth is at my ear. His breath hot and horsey. Each word

00:37:01brended in. But you are going to hold still. His breath fans against the side of my face.

00:37:07No more squirming. No more little whimpers making it worse.

00:37:10The hand on my throat tightens a fraction. You hear me?

00:37:13I try to nod. Only then does he ease off. I gulp for air. My heart wild enough to leap

00:37:19out of my

00:37:19chest. For a long stretch I stay curled against him. Not daring to move. His arm stays locked around

00:37:26my waist. Never once loosening. And his thumb, against the damp curve of my side, moves slow.

00:37:32Up. Then down. Up. Then down. Every drag of it sends a current sliding down to the small of my

00:37:37back.

00:37:38I clamp my thighs tighter. And it only makes the want sharper. I want more. The thought scares me.

00:37:44That's when, downstairs, the front door clicks open.

00:37:48I'm home. Mom's voice floats up over the rustle of grocery bags.

00:37:52Becca! Did your brother go up to fix your AC?

00:37:56His thumb stops.

00:37:58No! No he didn't!

00:38:00I call down, forcing my voice into its usual annoyance.

00:38:03He's probably off slacking somewhere again.

00:38:05A beat of quiet below. Then, from below.

00:38:09Let me come up and look at it. You can't sit in this heat.

00:38:13The staircase creaks, taking Mom's weight. One step.

00:38:17My blood goes to ice. I claw at his arm.

00:38:22Let go. She's coming up. Let go of me.

00:38:28He doesn't. Worse.

00:38:30The hand that's been resting at my waist slides, painfully slow, down the line of my hip.

00:38:35Over my stomach. Over the dip of my hip bone. Lower still, until it settles squarely over me.

00:38:40Through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else.

00:38:43My whole body bows tight. A sharp high sound rushes up my throat.

00:38:47I bite down on my lip and swallow it. Second stare. Creak.

00:38:51He bends his head. Nose against my scalding ear. And through the soaked fabric.

00:38:55Palm his grinds down on me. Not soft. Not hard. Once.

00:38:59Soaked like this?

00:39:00He breathes. Slow and filthy.

00:39:02And still lying that no one came up.

00:39:04Samir!

00:39:05It comes out a plea. My voice in pieces.

00:39:08Please. My mom.

00:39:09Hmm?

00:39:10His thumb presses again. Dragging a winner out of me before I can swallow it.

00:39:15The hand doesn't move from where it is.

00:39:17Scared now?

00:39:18Third step. Mom's voice is closer.

00:39:23Becca? Why is the door locked from the inside?

00:39:26He looks down at me. Held completely in his hand. Every breath a luxury now.

00:39:31His eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy. He leans to my ear.

00:39:35Word by word. Another grind of his palm. Dead slow.

00:39:39We let your mom see exactly what you look like right now?

00:39:43The doorknob clicks. And turns.

00:39:53He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart.

00:39:58The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of space.

00:40:02Neither one talking.

00:40:03My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat damp side. The sweat glues us together.

00:40:07Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted. I'm not. I can feel the muscle in

00:40:12his side tighten with every turn of the screw. That strength soaking through a thin film of sweat

00:40:16My mom is right downstairs. One creaking staircase away. That's the only thing between me and total

00:40:21ruin. He's got me pinned. One hand splayed across my waist. The other creeping higher. Mom's voice

00:40:26floats up the stairs. Becca? Did your brother come up to fix your AC yet?

00:40:31His fingertips press into me. Daring me to stay quiet. He looks down at me. Eyes bright. Like he's

00:40:37waiting for me to fall apart. I should scream. I should shove him off and bolt down stairs. But his

00:40:41thumb presses down. And I swallow a moan so hard it nearly chokes me.

00:40:45No! No, he didn't! I call down. My voice comes out shaking. Like it belongs to someone else.

00:40:5298 degrees. The AC in my room died this morning. Just gave out. I hate this house. The way it

00:41:00is

00:41:00now, anyway. I hate the day mom married Kevin and packed him and his quiet 30-something son into my

00:41:06life. Two years now. Every wrong thing under this roof started that day. Too hot to think. I've kicked

00:41:12off my shorts. A tank slipping off my shoulder and flopped back on the bed to call her.

00:41:17Mom, my AC's broken. I'm melting up here. I know. I know. Her end is all rattling carts and store

00:41:24announcements. I'm at the store. Back soon. Have your brother look at it. He's coming home for lunch

00:41:29anyway. Your brother. Those two words set me off. But my brain won't listen. It pulls him up before I

00:41:35can stop it. He does vac. Fixes AC lines and pipes all day. Always slick with sweat. Last week in

00:41:41the

00:41:41kitchen. Head tipped back. Chugging ice water. His throat working with every swallow. A drop running

00:41:48down his jaw to his collar boine. The muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve.

00:41:53I press my ties together and hate myself the second I do. I hate him. I really do. So what

00:42:02the hell is

00:42:02this? Downstairs. The front door clicks open. The stairs groan. Step by step. Under someone much

00:42:09heavier than me. That's when I remember what I'm wearing. I lunge for the shorts on my chair.

00:42:14Too late. The door swings open. Samir. Work pants. Gray tank soaked through and clinging. Every line of

00:42:21his chest and stomach right there. Toolbox in hand. The hair at his forehead damp in strands. I should look

00:42:26away. I don't. My eyes drag down on their own. His sleep chest. His tensed forearms. And finally…

00:42:32See something you like? His voice comes out rough. The corner of his mouth tipping up. Hot. Heat

00:42:37shoots all the way to my ears. I rip the blanket up over myself. Who… who's looking at you? Don't

00:42:42flatter yourself. He doesn't look away. The smirk only deepens. His throat moves once.

00:42:49The AC. He steps in. Drops the toolbox. And looks down at me curled up small. Where is it?

00:42:57Over there. I jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter. He doesn't

00:43:01move right away. First those heavy eyes drag over me. Then he comes. The unit sits high on the wall

00:43:06above my headboard. My bed right under it. The room's small, and a man his size only makes it

00:43:10smaller. He takes one look and frowns. Get down. He says. Why should I? I dig my heels in,

00:43:16though it sounds hollow the moment it's out. Two years, and this is all I know how to do with

00:43:20him.

00:43:20Bristle. Jab. Push back. Mom remarried. He and Kevin moved in and the house stopped being just

00:43:26hers and mine. I came home for the summer wanting some quiet. And now I share even my breathing room

00:43:31with this stranger. I can dodge him for an afternoon. Not for the long line of summers after. He doesn't

00:43:36argue. One knee on the edge of the bed and he stretches up toward the unit. I shrink into the

00:43:40corner. But the bed's only so big. As he leans, the soaped gray tank brushes my shin. Heat. Sweat.

00:43:47That sun-warmed smell of him. All of it crashing over me at once. His arm works a screw overhead.

00:43:52The muscle bunching and releasing inches from my face. I hold my breath. I don't dare move. No one's

00:43:57downstairs. Mom's still at the store. The whole house is quiet. Just my sun-baked bedroom. Door shut,

00:44:03sealed off from the rest of the world. The thought sends a hotter prickle up my back. Up here,

00:44:08door closed, whatever happens, no one below would know. Move over. He says low, his elbow pressing toward me.

00:44:14There's nowhere to go. His hip is against my drawn-up knees. I'm wedged between him and the wall. Half

00:44:19of me pressed to his side. I told you I can't get away from you. He says, glancing down, his

00:44:24throat

00:44:24moving. Goes both ways. He turns it a few times, swears, says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has

00:44:30to come apart. The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this

00:44:34scrap of space, neither one talking. My back's to the wall, half of me against his sweat-damp side.

00:44:38The sweat glues us together. Skin to skin, impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted.

00:44:43I'm not. I can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw, that strength

00:44:47soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin, sinking low in my belly. A picture rises before

00:44:52I can stop it. If that hand weren't reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead.

00:44:57I kill the thought. My face burns. I hate him. I think of the wedding day. Him standing there cold,

00:45:02not even a hello. Two years ago I swore I'd never go soft for this man. Not once. And right

00:45:08now my

00:45:08thighs are clamping together on their own. The wet heat there is impossible to hide. Slick, sticky,

00:45:15mortifying. It's the weather. I lie to myself. That's all. Just the heat. Irritated, I try to shift,

00:45:22to find room to breathe. My knee moves and by accident, grazes the inside of his thigh. His hands stop.

00:45:28The whole room goes still. His voice drops to gravel. It travels straight down my ear into my

00:45:33spine. Becca, you'd better not move. I don't listen. My heart's slamming and something hotter

00:45:40than hate eggs me on. I push out again, elbow digging into his side. On purpose. The next second,

00:45:46his free hand clamps down on my waist. A hand big enough to span half of it, too strong to

00:45:50fight,

00:45:50and it hauls me back against him. My gasp jams in my throat. My back hits his scalding,

00:45:54sweat damp chest. His heartbeat, through two thin layers of cotton, slams into my spine. Once. Again.

00:46:03What are you doing? I keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist.

00:46:08It's cast iron. It doesn't give. I should break free. Drive an elbow into him. Call him a creep.

00:46:14Bolt downstairs. But my body betrays me. It sinks into him, fitting against every scalding inch of him.

00:46:20I can feel his breathing turn rough, his chest rising and downing at my back. He grunts. My elbow

00:46:24jabbing his stomach again in the scramble. With it. I won't give in. And I'm even more scared he

00:46:28sees through me. So I open my mouth for another jab. Nothing comes out. His free hand lifts and

00:46:33closes around the front of my throat. Not hard, but sure, steady, tipping the back of my head into

00:46:38the hollow of his shoulder. Every drop of blood in me runs cold, then floods back scalding. Two years of

00:46:43fighting. Of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched me. But now his palm cradles my

00:46:48throat, his thumb on the pulse going wild there. And I'm not afraid. Being held completely in his hand,

00:46:52helpless in his grip, it turns me to water. I'm in the same hell you are. His mouth is at

00:46:56my ear,

00:46:57his breath hot and horsey, each word brended in. But you are going to hold still. His breath fans

00:47:03against the side of my face. No more squirming. No more little whimpers making it worse. The hand

00:47:07on my throat tightens a fraction. You hear me? I try to nod. Only then does he ease off. I

00:47:14gulp for air,

00:47:15my heart wild enough to leap out of my chest. For a long stretch, I stay curled against him,

00:47:21not daring to move. His arm stays locked around my waist, never once loosening. And his thumb,

00:47:27against the damp curve of my side, moves slow. Up, then down. Up, then down. Every drag of it sends

00:47:33a current sliding down to the small of my back. I clamp my thighs tighter, and it only makes the

00:47:38want sharper. I want more. The thought scares me. That's when, downstairs, the front door clicks open.

00:47:45I'm home. Mom's voice floats up over the rustle of grocery bags.

00:47:50Becca, did your brother go up to fix your AC? His thumb stops. No! No, he didn't! I call down,

00:47:58forcing my voice into its usual annoyance. He's probably off slacking somewhere again. A beat of

00:48:03quiet below. Then, from below. Let me come up and look at it. You can't sit in this heat. The

00:48:10staircase

00:48:11creaks, taking Mom's weight. One step. My blood goes to ice. I claw at his arm.

00:48:20Let go. She's coming up. Let go of me.

00:48:25He doesn't. Worse. The hand that's been resting at my waist slides, painfully slow, down the line of

00:48:32my hip. Over my stomach. Over the dip of my hip bone. Lower still, until it settles squarely over me.

00:48:38Through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else. My whole body bows tight. A sharp,

00:48:43high sound rushes up my throat. I bite down on my lip and swallow it. Second stare. Creak. He bends

00:48:49his

00:48:49head. Nose against my scalding ear. And through the soaked fabric. Palm his grinds down on me. Not

00:48:55soft. Not hard. Once. Soaked like this. He breathes. Slow and filthy. And still lying that no one came up.

00:49:02Samir. It comes out a plea. My voice in pieces. Please. My mom. His thumb presses again.

00:49:09Dragging a winner out of me before I can swallow it. The hand doesn't move from where it is. Scared

00:49:15now?

00:49:15Third step. Mom's voice is closer.

00:49:21Becca? Why is the door locked from the inside? He looks down at me. Held completely in his hand.

00:49:27Every breath a luxury now. His eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy. He leans to my ear.

00:49:32Word by word. Another grind of his palm. Dead slow. We let your mom see exactly what you look like

00:49:39right now?

00:49:40The doorknob clicks. And turns.

00:49:51He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart. The

00:49:55minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of space,

00:49:59neither one talking. My back's to the wall, half of me against his sweat-damp side. The

00:50:03sweat glues us together. Skin to skin, impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted. I'm not. I can

00:50:09feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw. That strength soaking through a thin

00:50:13film of sweat into my- My mom is right downstairs. One creaking staircase away. That's the only thing

00:50:18between me and total ruin. He's got me pinned. One hand splayed across my waist. The other creeping

00:50:22higher. Mom's voice floats up the stairs. Becca? Did your brother come up to fix your AC yet?

00:50:28His fingertips press into me, daring me to stay quiet. He looks down at me, eyes bright. Like

00:50:34he's waiting for me to fall apart. I should scream. I should shove him off and bolt downstairs. But his

00:50:39thumb presses down, and I swallow a moan so hard it nearly chokes me. No! No, he didn't! I call

00:50:44down.

00:50:45My voice comes out shaking, like it belongs to someone else. 98 degrees. The AC in my room died this

00:50:52morning. Just gave out. I hate this house. The way it is now, anyway. I hate the day mom married

00:51:01Kevin and packed him and his quiet 30-something son into my life. Two years now. Every wrong thing

00:51:06under this roof started that day. Too hot to think. I've kicked off my shorts, a tank slipping off my

00:51:12shoulder, and flopped back on the bed to call her. Mom, my AC's broken. I'm melting up here.

00:51:17I know. I know. Her end is all rattling carts and store announcements. I'm at the store. Back soon.

00:51:24Have your brother look at it. He's coming home for lunch anyway. Your brother. Those two words

00:51:29set me off. But my brain won't listen. It pulls him up before I can stop it. He does vac.

00:51:34Fixes AC

00:51:35lines and pipes all day. Always slick with sweat. Last week in the kitchen. Head tipped back. Chugging ice

00:51:42water. His throat working with every swallow. A drop running down his jaw to his collar boine.

00:51:47The muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve. I press my ties together and hate

00:51:53myself the second I do. I hate him. I really do. So what the hell is this?

00:52:01Downstairs. The front door clicks open. The stairs groan. Step by step. Under someone much heavier

00:52:07than me. That's when I remember what I'm wearing. I lunge for the shorts on my chair. Too late.

00:52:12The door swings open. Samir. Work pants. Gray tank soaked through and clinging. Every line of his

00:52:18chest and stomach right there. Toolbox in hand. The hair at his forehead damp in strens. I should

00:52:23look away. I don't. My eyes drag down on their own. His sleep chest. His tensed forearms. And

00:52:29finally... See something you like? His voice comes out rough. The corner of his mouth

00:52:33tipping up. Hot. Heat shoots all the way to my ears. I rip the blanket up over myself. Who...

00:52:38Who's looking at you? Don't flatter yourself. He doesn't look away. The smirk only deepens.

00:52:43His throat moves once. The AC. He steps in. Drops the toolbox. And looks down at me curled up small.

00:52:52Where is it? Over there. I jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter.

00:52:58He doesn't move right away. First those heavy eyes drag over me. Then he comes. The unit sits high on

00:53:03the wall above my headboard. My bed right under it. The room's small and a man his size only makes

00:53:08it smaller. He takes one look and frowns. Get down. He says. Why should I? I dig my heels in,

00:53:14though it sounds hollow the moment it's out. Two years and this is all I know how to do with

00:53:18him.

00:53:18Bristle. Jab. Push back. Mom remarried. He and Kevin moved in and the house stopped being just hers and

00:53:24mine. I came home for the summer wanting some quiet. And now I share even my breathing room

00:53:28with this stranger. I can dodge him for an afternoon. Not for the long line of summers after.

00:53:33He doesn't argue. One knee on the edge of the bed and he stretches up toward the unit. I shrink

00:53:37into the corner. But the bed's only so big. As he leans, the soaped gray tank brushes my shin.

00:53:43Heat. Sweat. That sun-warmed smell of him. All of it crashing over me at once.

00:53:47His arm works a screw overhead. The muscle bunching and releasing inches from my face.

00:53:52I hold my breath. I don't dare move. No one's downstairs. Mom's still at the store.

00:53:57The whole house is quiet. Just my sun-baked bedroom. Door shut. Sealed off from the rest

00:54:01of the world. The thought sends a hotter prickle up my back. Up here. Door closed. Whatever happens,

00:54:06no one below would know. Move over. He says low. His elbow pressing toward me. There's nowhere to go.

00:54:12His hip is against my drawn-up knees. I'm wedged between him and the wall. Half of me pressed to

00:54:17his side.

00:54:17I told you I can't get away from you. He says, glancing down, his throat moving. Goes both ways.

00:54:24He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart. The

00:54:28minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of space,

00:54:32neither one talking. My back's to the wall, half of me against his sweat-damp side. The sweat glues us

00:54:37together. Skin to skin, impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted. I'm not. I can feel the muscle in

00:54:42his side tighten with every turn of the screw, that strength soaking through a thin film of sweat

00:54:46into my skin, sinking low in my belly. A picture rises before I can stop it. If that hand weren't

00:54:51reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead. I kill the thought. My face burns.

00:54:56I hate him. I think of the wedding day. Him standing there cold, not even a hello. Two years ago

00:55:01I swore

00:55:02I'd never go soft for this man. Not once. And right now my thighs are clamping together on their own.

00:55:08The wet heat there is impossible to hide. Slick, sticky, mortifying. It's the weather.

00:55:14I lie to myself. That's all. Just the heat. Irritated, I try to shift to find room to breathe.

00:55:21My knee moves and by accident, grazes the inside of his thigh. His hands stop. The whole room goes

00:55:27still. His voice drops to gravel. It travels straight down my ear into my spine. Becca, you'd better not

00:55:33move. I don't listen. My heart's slamming. And something hotter than hate eggs me on.

00:55:39I push out again, elbow digging into his side. On purpose. The next second, his free hand clamps

00:55:44down on my waist. A hand big enough to span half of it, too strong to fight. And it hauls

00:55:48me back

00:55:48against him. My gasp jams in my throat. My back hits his scalding, sweat-damp chest. His heartbeat,

00:55:54through two thin layers of cotton, slams into my spine. Once. Again.

00:56:00What are you doing? I keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist. It's cast

00:56:06iron.

00:56:07It doesn't give. I should break free. Drive an elbow into him, call him a creep. Bolt downstairs. But my

00:56:13body betrays me. It sinks into him, fitting against every scalding inch of him. I can feel

00:56:18his breathing turn rough, his chest rising and downing at my back. He grunts, my elbow jabbing

00:56:22stomach again in the scamble. I won't give in. And I'm even more scared he sees through me.

00:56:26So I open my mouth for another jab. Nothing comes out. His free hand lifts and closes around

00:56:31the front of my throat. Not hard, but sure, steady, tipping the back of my head into the hollow of

00:56:35his

00:56:35shoulder. Every drop of blood in me runs cold, then floods back scalding. Two years of fighting,

00:56:41of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched me. But now his palm cradles my throat,

00:56:46his thumb on the pulse going wild there. And I'm not afraid. Being held completely in his hand,

00:56:50helpless in his grip, it turns me to water. I'm in the same hell you are. His mouth is at

00:56:54my ear,

00:56:54his breath hot and horsey, each word brended in. But you are going to hold still. His breath fans

00:57:00against the side of my face. No more squirming. No more little whimpers making it worse. The hand

00:57:05on my throat tightens a fraction. You hear me? I try to nod. Only then does he ease off. I

00:57:11gulp for air,

00:57:12my heart wild enough to leap out of my chest. For a long stretch, I stay curled against him,

00:57:18not daring to move. His arm stays locked around my waist, never once loosening. And his thumb,

00:57:24against the damp curve of my side, moves slow. Up, then down. Up, then down. Every drag of it sends

00:57:30a current sliding down to the small of my back. I clamp my thighs tighter, and it only makes the

00:57:35want sharper. I want more. The thought scares me. That's when, downstairs, the front door clicks open.

00:57:42I'm home. Mom's voice floats up over the rustle of grocery bags.

00:57:47Becca, did your brother go up to fix your AC? His thumb stops. No! No, he didn't! I call down,

00:57:55forcing my voice into its usual annoyance. He's probably off slacking somewhere again. A beat of

00:58:00quiet below. Then, from below. Let me come up and look at it. You can't sit in this heat. The

00:58:07staircase

00:58:08creaks, taking Mom's weight. One step. My blood goes to ice. I claw at his arm.

00:58:17Let go. She's coming up. Let go of me.

00:58:22He doesn't. Worse. The hand that's been resting at my waist slides, painfully slow,

00:58:28down the line of my hip. Over my stomach. Over the dip of my hip bone. Lower still,

00:58:33until it settles squarely over me. Through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else.

00:58:38My whole body bows tight. A sharp, high sound rushes up my throat. I bite down on my lip and

00:58:43swallow it.

00:58:44Second stare. Creak. He bends his head, nose against my scalding ear. And through the soaked fabric,

00:58:50palm his grinds down on me. Not soft, not hard. Once. Soaked like this. He breathes, slow and filthy.

00:58:57And still lying that no one came up. Samir. It comes out a plea. My voice in pieces. Please, my

00:59:03mom.

00:59:04His thumb presses again, dragging a winner out of me before I can swallow it. The hand doesn't move

00:59:11from where it is. Scared now? Third step. Mom's voice is closer.

00:59:18Becca? Why is the door locked from the inside? He looks down at me. Held completely in his hand.

00:59:24Every breath a luxury now. His eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy. He leans to my ear.

00:59:30Word by word. Another grind of his palm. Dead slow. We let your mom see exactly what you look like

00:59:36right now?

00:59:38The doorknob clicks. And turns.

00:59:48He turns it a few times, swears, says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart. The

00:59:53minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of space,

00:59:57neither one talking. My back's to the wall, half of me against his sweat-damp side. The sweat glues us

01:00:01together. Skin to skin, impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted. I'm not. I can feel the

01:00:06muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw, that strength soaking through a thin film

01:00:10of sweat into my- My mom is right downstairs. One creaking staircase away. That's the only thing

01:00:15between me and total ruin. He's got me pinned. One hand splayed across my waist. The other creeping

01:00:19higher. Mom's voice floats up the stairs. Becca? Did your brother come up to fix your AC yet? His

01:00:26fingertips press into me, daring me to stay quiet. He looks down at me, eyes bright, like he's waiting for

01:00:32me to fall apart. I should scream. I should shove him off and bolt downstairs. But his thumb presses

01:00:36down, and I swallow a moan so hard it nearly chokes me. No! No, he didn't! I call down. My

01:00:43voice comes

01:00:43out shaking, like it belongs to someone else. Ninety-eight degrees. The AC in my room died this

01:00:49morning. Just gave out. I hate this house. The way it is now, anyway. I hate the day Mom married

01:00:58Kevin and

01:00:58packed him and his quiet 30-something son into my life. Two years now. Every wrong thing under this

01:01:03roof started that day. Too hot to think. I've kicked off my shorts, a tank slipping off my shoulder,

01:01:10and flopped back on the bed to call her. Mom, my AC's broken. I'm melting up here. I know. I

01:01:16know.

01:01:17Her end is all rattling carts and store announcements. I'm at the store. Back soon. Have your brother look at

01:01:22it.

01:01:23He's coming home for lunch anyway. Your brother. Those two words set me off. But my brain won't listen.

01:01:28It pulls him up before I can stop it. He does vac. Fixes AC lines and pipes all day. Always

01:01:34slick

01:01:34with sweat. Last week in the kitchen. Head tipped back. Chugging ice water. His throat working with

01:01:41every swallow. A drop running down his jaw to his collar boine. The muscle in his forearm bunching tight

01:01:47as he cranked a valve. I press my ties together. And hate myself the second I do. I hate him.

01:01:54I really

01:01:55do. So what the hell is this? Downstairs. The front door clicks open. The stairs groan. Step by step.

01:02:03Under someone much heavier than me. That's when I remember what I'm wearing. I lunge for the shorts

01:02:08on my chair. Too late. The door swings open. Samir. Work pants. Gray tank soaked through and clinging.

01:02:14Every line of his chest and stomach right there. Toolbox in hand. The hair at his forehead damp in

01:02:19strands. I should look away. I don't. My eyes drag down on their own. His sleep chest. His tensed

01:02:25forearms. And finally. See something you like? His voice comes out rough. The corner of his mouth

01:02:30tipping up. Hot. Heat shoots all the way to my ears. I rip the blanket up over myself. Who's looking

01:02:36at

01:02:36you? Don't flatter yourself. He doesn't look away. The smirk only deepens. His throat moves once.

01:02:43The AC. He steps in. Drops the toolbox. And looks down at me curled up small. Where is it?

01:02:52Over there. I jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter. He doesn't

01:02:56move right away. First those heavy eyes drag over me. Then he comes. The unit sits high on the wall

01:03:01above my headboard. My bed right under it. The room's small and a man his size only makes it smaller.

01:03:05He takes one look and frowns. Get down. He says. Why should I? I dig my heels in. Though it

01:03:11sounds

01:03:12hollow the moment it's out. Two years and this is all I know how to do with him. Bristle. Jab.

01:03:17Push

01:03:17back. Mom remarried. He and Kevin moved in and the house stopped being just hers and mine. I came home

01:03:22for the summer wanting some quiet. And now I share even my breathing room with this stranger. I can dodge

01:03:27him for an afternoon. Not for the long line of summers after. He doesn't argue. One knee on the edge

01:03:32of

01:03:32the bed and he stretches up toward the unit. I shrink into the corner. But the bed's only so big.

01:03:37As he leans. The soaped gray tank brushes my shin. Heat. Sweat. That sun warmed smell of him. All of

01:03:43it

01:03:43crashing over me at once. His arm works a screw overhead. The muscle bunching and releasing inches

01:03:48from my face. I hold my breath. I don't dare move. No one's downstairs. Mom's still at the store.

01:03:54The whole house is quiet. Just my sun baked bedroom. Door shut. Sealed off from the rest of the world.

01:03:59The thought sends a hotter prickle up my back. Up here. Door closed. Whatever happens. No one below

01:04:04would know. Move over. He says low. His elbow pressing toward me. There's nowhere to go. His

01:04:10hip is against my drawn up knees. I'm wedged between him and the wall. Half of me pressed to his

01:04:14side.

01:04:15I told you I can't get away from you. He says. Glancing down. His throat moving. Goes both ways.

01:04:21He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart. The minutes

01:04:26crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of space. Neither

01:04:30one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat damp side. The sweat glues us

01:04:34together. Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted. I'm not. I can feel the muscle

01:04:39in his side tighten with every turn of the screw. That strength soaking through a thin film of sweat

01:04:43into my skin. Sinking low in my belly. A picture rises before I can stop it. If that hand weren't

01:04:49reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead. I kill the thought. My face burns.

01:04:53I hate him. I think of the wedding day. Him standing there cold. Not even a hello. Two

01:04:58years ago I swore I'd never go soft for this man. Not once. And right now my thighs are clamping

01:05:04together on their own. The wet heat there is impossible to hide. Slick. Sticky. Mortifying.

01:05:10It's the weather. I lie to myself. That's all. Just the heat. Irritated I try to shift. To find room

01:05:17to breathe. My knee moves and by accident grazes the inside of his thigh. His hands stop. The whole

01:05:23room goes still. His voice drops to gravel. It travels straight down my ear into my spine.

01:05:29Becca. You'd better not move. I don't listen. My heart's slamming and something hotter than hate

01:05:35eggs me on. I push out again elbow digging into his side. On purpose. The next second his free

01:05:41hand clamps down on my waist. A hand big enough to span half of it. Too strong to fight. And

01:05:45it

01:05:45hauls me back against him. My gasp jams in my throat. My back hits his scalding sweat damp chest.

01:05:50His heartbeat through two thin layers of cotton slams into my spine. Once. Again.

01:05:57What are you doing? I keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist.

01:06:03It's cast iron. It doesn't give. I should break free. Drive an elbow into him. Call him a creep.

01:06:09Bolt downstairs. But my body betrays me. It sinks into him. Fitting against every scalding inch of him.

01:06:14I can feel his breathing turn rough. His chest rising and downing at my back. He grunts. My elbow

01:06:19jabbing his stomach again in the scamble. With it. I won't give in. And I'm even more scared he sees

01:06:23through me. So I open my mouth for another jab. Nothing comes out. His free hand lifts and closes

01:06:28around the front of my throat. Not hard. But sure. Steady. Tipping the back of my head into the hollow

01:06:32of

01:06:33his shoulder. Every drop of blood in me runs cold. Then floods back scalding. Two years of fighting.

01:06:38Of cutting each other to the bone and he never once touched me. But now his palm cradles my throat.

01:06:43His thumb on the pulse going wild there. And I'm not afraid. Being held completely in his hand.

01:06:47Helpless in his grip. It turns me to water. I'm in the same hell you are. His mouth is at

01:06:51my ear.

01:06:51His breath hot and horsey. Each word brended in. But you are going to hold still. His breath fans

01:06:57against the side of my face. No more squirming. No more little whimpers making it worse. The hand

01:07:02on my throat tightens a fraction. You hear me? I try to nod. Only then does he ease off. I

01:07:08gulp for air.

01:07:09My heart wild enough to leap out of my chest. For a long stretch I stay curled against him.

01:07:15Not daring to move. His arm stays locked around my waist. Never once loosening. And his thumb,

01:07:21against the damp curve of my side, moves slow. Up. Then down. Up. Then down. Every drag of it

01:07:27sends a current sliding down to the small of my back. I clamp my thighs tighter. And it only makes

01:07:32the want sharper. I want more. The thought scares me. That's when, downstairs, the front door clicks

01:07:39open. I'm home. Mom's voice floats up over the rustle of grocery bags. Becca, did your brother

01:07:46go up to fix your AC? His thumb stops. No. No, he didn't. I call down, forcing my voice into

01:07:53its

01:07:54usual annoyance. He's probably off slacking somewhere again. A beat of quiet below. Then, from below.

01:08:01Let me come up and look at it. You can't sit in this heat. The staircase creaks, taking mom's weight.

01:08:07One step. My blood goes to ice. I claw at his arm.

01:08:14Let go. She's coming up. Let go of me.

01:08:20He doesn't. Worse. The hand that's been resting at my waist slides, painfully slow, down the line

01:08:26of my hip. Over my stomach. Over the dip of my hip bone. Lower still, until it settles squarely over

01:08:32me. Through the thin fabric already soaked with sweat and something else. My whole body bows tight.

01:08:37A sharp, high sound rushes up my throat. I bite down on my lip and swallow it. Second stare.

01:08:42Creak. He bends his head. Nose against my scalding ear. And through the soaked fabric,

01:08:47palm, his grinds down on me. Not soft, not hard. Once. Soaked like this. He breathes,

01:08:53low and filthy. And still lying that no one came up. Samir. It comes out a plea. My voice in

01:08:59pieces.

01:09:00Please, my mom. His thumb presses again, dragging a winner out of me before I can swallow it.

01:09:07The hand doesn't move from where it is. Scared now? Third step. Mom's voice is closer.

01:09:16Becca? Why's the door locked from the inside? He looks down at me. Held completely in his

01:09:20hand. Every breath a luxury now. His eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy. He leans

01:09:26to my ear. Word by word. Another grind of his palm. Dead slow.

01:09:31We let your mom see exactly what you look like right now?

01:09:35The doorknob clicks. And turns.

01:09:45He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart. The

01:09:50minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of space.

01:09:54Neither one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat damp side. The sweat glues

01:09:58us together. Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted. I'm not. I can feel

01:10:03the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw. That strength soaking through a thin film

01:10:07of sweat into my- My mom is right downstairs. One creaking staircase away. That's the only thing

01:10:12between me and total ruin. He's got me pinned. One hand splayed across my waist. The other creeping

01:10:17higher. Mom's voice floats up the stairs. Becca? Did your brother come up to fix your AC yet?

01:10:23His fingertips press into me. Daring me to stay quiet. He looks down at me. Eyes bright. Like he's

01:10:28waiting for me to fall apart. I should scream. I should shove him off and bolt downstairs. But his

01:10:33thumb presses down. And I swallow a moan so hard it nearly chokes me. No! No he didn't! I call

01:10:39down.

01:10:40My voice comes out shaking. Like it belongs to someone else. 98 degrees. The AC in my room died

01:10:46this morning. Just gave out. I hate this house. The way it is now anyway. I hate the day mom

01:10:55married

01:10:55Kevin and packed him and his quiet 30-something son into my life. Two years now. Every wrong thing under

01:11:00this roof started that day. Too hot to think. I've kicked off my shorts. A tank slipping off

01:11:06my shoulder and flopped back on the bed to call her. Mom, my AC's broken. I'm melting

01:11:12up here. I know. I know. Her end is all rattling carts and store announcements. I'm at the store.

01:11:18Back soon. Have your brother look at it. He's coming home for lunch anyway. Your brother.

01:11:23Those two words set me off. But my brain won't listen. It pulls him up before I can stop it.

01:11:27He does vac. Fixes AC lines and pipes all day. Always slick with sweat. Last week in the kitchen.

01:11:34Head tipped back. Chugging ice water. His throat working with every swallow. A drop running down

01:11:40his jaw to his collar boine. The muscle in his forearm bunching tight as he cranked a valve.

01:11:45I press my ties together and hate myself the second I do. I hate him. I really do.

01:11:53So what the hell is this? Downstairs. The front door clicks open. The stairs groan.

01:11:59Step by step. Under someone much heavier than me. That's when I remember what I'm wearing.

01:12:04I lunge for the shorts on my chair. Too late. The door swings open. Samir. Work pants. Gray tank

01:12:11soaked through and clinging. Every line of his chest and stomach right there. Toolbox in hand.

01:12:15The hair at his forehead damp and strands. I should look away. I don't. My eyes drag down on

01:12:20their own. His sleep chest. His tensed forearms. And finally... See something you like? His voice

01:12:26comes out rough. The corner of his mouth tipping up. Hot. Heat shoots all the way to my ears. I

01:12:30rip

01:12:31the blanket up over myself. Who... Who's looking at you? Don't flatter yourself. He doesn't look away.

01:12:36The smirk only deepens. His throat moves once.

01:12:40The AC. He steps in. Drops the toolbox. And looks down at me curled up small. Where is it?

01:12:49Over there. I jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter. He doesn't

01:12:53move right away. First those heavy eyes drag over me. Then he comes. The unit sits high on the wall

01:12:58above my headboard. My bed right under it. The room's small and a man his size only makes it smaller.

01:13:03He takes one look and frowns. Get down. He says. Why should I? I dig my heels in.

01:13:08Though it sounds hollow the moment it's out. Two years and this is all I know how to do

01:13:12with him. Bristle. Jab. Push back. Mom remarried. He and Kevin moved in and the house stopped

01:13:18being just hers and mine. I came home for the summer wanting some quiet. And now I share

01:13:22even my breathing room with this stranger. I can dodge him for an afternoon. Not for the

01:13:26long line of summers after. He doesn't argue. One knee on the edge of the bed and he stretches

01:13:31up toward the unit. I shrink into the corner. But the bed's only so big. As he leans, the

01:13:35soaped gray tank brushes my shin. Heat. Sweat. That sun-warmed smell of him. All of it crashing

01:13:41over me at once. His arm works a screw overhead. The muscle bunching and releasing inches from my

01:13:46face. I hold my breath. I don't dare move. No one's downstairs. Mom's still at the store.

01:13:51The whole house is quiet. Just my sun-baked bedroom. Door shut. Sealed off from the rest of

01:13:56the world. The thought sends a hotter prickle up my back. Up here. Door closed. Whatever happens,

01:14:01no one below would know. Move over. He says low. His elbow pressing toward me. There's nowhere to

01:14:07go. His hip is against my drawn-up knees. I'm wedged between him and the wall. Half of me pressed

01:14:11to his side. I told you I can't get away from you. He says, glancing down, his throat moving. Goes

01:14:16both

01:14:17ways. He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart.

01:14:23The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of space,

01:14:27neither one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat-damp side. The sweat

01:14:31glues us together. Skin to skin, impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted. I'm not. I can

01:14:36feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw, that strength soaking through a thin

01:14:40film of sweat into my skin, sinking low in my belly. A picture rises before I can stop it. If

01:14:45that hand

01:14:46weren't reaching for a screw overhead but sliding down my waist instead. I kill the thought. My face

01:14:50burns. I hate him. I think of the wedding day. Him standing there, cold, not even a hello. Two years

01:14:56ago I swore I'd never go soft for this man. Not once. And right now my thighs are clamping together

01:15:01on their own. The wet heat there is impossible to hide. Slick. Sticky. Mortifying. It's the weather.

01:15:09I lie to myself. That's all. Just the heat. Irritated, I try to shift. To find room to breathe.

01:15:15My knee moves and by accident, grazes the inside of his thigh. His hands stop. The whole room goes still.

01:15:21His voice drops to gravel. It travels straight down my ear into my spine.

01:15:26Becca, you'd better not move.

01:15:28I don't listen. My heart's slamming and something hotter than hate eggs me on. I push out again,

01:15:35elbow digging into his side. On purpose. The next second, his free hand clamps down on my waist.

01:15:39A hand big enough to span half of it, too strong to fight, and it hauls me back against him.

01:15:44My gasp

01:15:44jams in my throat. My back hits his scalding, sweat-damp chest. His heartbeat, through two thin layers of

01:15:49cotton, slams into my spine. Once. Again.

01:15:54What are you doing?

01:15:57I keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across my waist. It's cast iron. It doesn't give.

01:16:02I should break free. Drive an elbow into him. Call him a creep. Bolt downstairs. But my body betrays me.

01:16:09It sinks into him, fitting against every scalding inch of him. I can feel his breathing turn rough,

01:16:13his chest rising and downing at my back. He grunts, my elbow jabbing stomach again in the scamble.

01:16:18Quit it. I won't give in, and I'm even more scared he sees through me. So I open my mouth

01:16:22for another

01:16:22jab. Nothing comes out. His free hand lifts and closes around the front of my throat. Not hard,

01:16:27but sure, steady, tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his shoulder. Every drop of blood in

01:16:32me runs cold, then floods back scalding. Two years of fighting, of cutting each other to the bone and

01:16:37he never once touched me. But now his palm cradles my throat, his thumb on the pulse going wild there,

01:16:42and I'm not afraid. Being held completely in his hand, helpless in his grip, it turns me to water.

01:16:46I'm in the same hell you are. His mouth is at my ear, his breath hot and horsey,

01:16:50each word brended in. But you are going to hold still. His breath fans against the side of my face.

01:16:56No more squirming. No more little whimpers making it worse. The hand on my throat tightens a fraction.

01:17:01You hear me? I try to nod. Only then does he ease off. I gulp for air, my heart wild

01:17:07enough to leap

01:17:08out of my chest. For a long stretch, I stay curled against him, not daring to move. His arm stays

01:17:15locked

01:17:15around my waist, never once loosening. And his thumb, against the damp curve of my side, moves

01:17:20slow. Up, then down. Up, then down. Every drag of it sends a current sliding down to the small of

01:17:26my back. I clamp my thighs tighter, and it only makes the want sharper. I want more. The thought

01:17:32scares me. That's when, downstairs, the front door clicks open. I'm home. Mom's voice floats up over

01:17:39the rustle of grocery bags. Becca, did your brother go up to fix your AC? His thumb stops.

01:17:47No! No, he didn't! I call down, forcing my voice into its usual annoyance. He's probably off slacking

01:17:53somewhere again. A beat of quiet below. Then, from below. Let me come up and look at it. You can't

01:18:01sit

01:18:01in this heat. The staircase creaks, taking Mom's weight. One step. My blood goes to ice. I claw

01:18:08at his arm. Let go. She's coming up. Let go of me. He doesn't. Worse. The hand that's been resting

01:18:20at my waist slides, painfully slow, down the line of my hip. Over my stomach. Over the dip

01:18:26of my hip bone. Lower still, until it settles squarely over me. Through the thin fabric already

01:18:31soaked with sweat and something else. My whole body bows tight. A sharp, high sound rushes up

01:18:36my throat. I bite down on my lip and swallow it. Second stare. Creak. He bends his head. Nose against

01:18:42my scalding ear. And through the soaked fabric, palm his grinds down on me. Not soft, not hard.

01:18:48Once. Soaked like this? He breathes. Slow and filthy. And still lying that no one came up.

01:18:53Samir. It comes out a plea. My voice in pieces. Please, my mom. His thumb presses again, dragging

01:19:02a winner out of me before I can swallow it. The hand doesn't move from where it is. Scared

01:19:07now? Third step. Mom's voice is closer.

01:19:13Becca? Why is the door locked from the inside? He looks down at me, held completely in his hand.

01:19:18Every breath a luxury now. His eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy. He leaves.

01:19:23He cleans to my ear. Word by word. Another grind of his palm. Dead slow.

01:19:28We let your mom see exactly what you look like right now?

01:19:32The doorknob clicks. And turns.

01:19:43He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has to come apart.

01:19:47The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into this scrap of

01:19:51space. Neither one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat damp side.

01:19:55The sweat glues us together. Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should be disgusted.

01:19:59I'm not. I can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the screw. That strength

01:20:04soaking through a thin film of sweat into my... My mom is right downstairs. One creaking staircase

01:20:08away. That's the only thing between me and total ruin. He's got me pinned. One hand splayed

01:20:12across my waist. The other creeping higher. Mom's voice floats up the stairs.

01:20:17Becca? Did your brother come up to fix your AC yet? His fingertips press into me. Daring me to

01:20:22stay quiet. He looks down at me. Eyes bright. Like he's waiting for me to fall apart. I should scream.

01:20:28I should shove him off and bolt downstairs. But his thumb presses down. And I swallow a moan so hard

01:20:33it nearly chokes me. No! No he didn't!

01:20:36I call down. My voice comes out shaking. Like it belongs to someone else.

01:20:4198 degrees. The AC in my room died this morning. Just gave out.

01:20:47I hate this house. The way it is now, anyway.

01:20:51I hate the day mom married Kevin and packed him and his quiet 30-something son into my life.

01:20:56Two years now. Every wrong thing under this roof started that day.

01:21:00Too hot to think. I've kicked off my shorts. A tank slipping off my shoulder and flopped back

01:21:05on the bed to call her. Mom, my AC's broken. I'm melting up here.

01:21:10I know. I know.

01:21:11Her end is all rattling carts and store announcements.

01:21:14I'm at the store. Back soon. Have your brother look at it. He's coming home for lunch anyway.

01:21:19Your brother. Those two words set me off. But my brain won't listen. It pulls him up before I can

01:21:24stop it. He does vac. Fixes AC lines and pipes all day. Always slick with sweat.

01:21:29Last week in the kitchen. Head tipped back. Chugging ice water. His throat working with

01:21:35every swallow. A drop running down his jaw to his collarbone. The muscle in his forearm

01:21:40bunching tight as he cranked a valve. I press my ties together and hate myself the second I do.

01:21:47I hate him. I really do. So what the hell is this?

01:21:52Downstairs. The front door clicks open. The stairs groan. Step by step. Under someone

01:21:58much heavier than me. That's when I remember what I'm wearing. I lunge for the shorts on

01:22:02my chair. Too late.

01:22:05The door swings open. Samir. Work pants. Gray tank soaked through and clinging. Every line

01:22:10of his chest and stomach right there. Toolbox in hand. The hair at his forehead damp in

01:22:14strands. I should look away. I don't. My eyes drag down on their own. His sleep chest.

01:22:19His tensed forearms. And finally... See something you like?

01:22:22His voice comes out rough. The corner of his mouth tipping up. Hot. Heat shoots all the

01:22:27way to my ears. I rip the blanket up over myself. Who... Who's looking at you? Don't

01:22:31flatter yourself. He doesn't look away. The smirk only deepens. His throat moves once.

01:22:38The AC.

01:22:39He steps in. Drops the toolbox. And looks down at me curled up small.

01:22:44Where is it?

01:22:46Over there. I jerk my chin at the unit in the corner and pull the blanket tighter.

01:22:50He doesn't move right away. First those heavy eyes drag over me. Then he comes. The unit

01:22:54sits high on the wall above my headboard. My bed right under it. The room's small and

01:22:58a man his size only makes it smaller. He takes one look and frowns.

01:23:02Get down.

01:23:03He says.

01:23:04Why should I?

01:23:04I dig my heels in. Though it sounds hollow the moment it's out. Two years and this is all

01:23:09I know how to do with him. Bristle. Jab. Push back. Mom remarried. He and Kevin moved

01:23:14in and the house stopped being just hers and mine. I came home for the summer wanting some

01:23:18quiet. And now I share even my breathing room with this stranger. I can dodge him for

01:23:22an afternoon. Not for the long line of summers after. He doesn't argue. One knee on the edge

01:23:27of the bed and he stretches up toward the unit. I shrink into the corner. But the bed's

01:23:31only so big. As he leans. The soaped gray tank brushes my shin. Heat. Sweat. That sun warmed

01:23:37smell of him. All of it crashing over me at once. His arm works a screw overhead. The muscle

01:23:42bunching and releasing inches from my face. I hold my breath. I don't dare move. No one's

01:23:46downstairs. Mom's still at the store. The whole house is quiet. Just my sun baked bedroom. Door

01:23:52shut. Sealed off from the rest of the world. The thought sends a hotter prickle up my back.

01:23:56Up here. Door closed. Whatever happens. No one below would know.

01:23:59Move over. He says low. His elbow pressing toward me. There's nowhere to go. His hip is

01:24:05against my drawn up knees. I'm wedged between him and the wall. Half of me pressed to his

01:24:09side. I told you I can't get away from you. He says. Glancing down. His throat moving.

01:24:13Goes both ways. He turns it a few times. Swears. Says the wiring's fried. The whole thing has

01:24:19to come apart. The minutes crawl. The room's hot enough to swim in. The two of us crammed into

01:24:23this scrap of space. Neither one talking. My back's to the wall. Half of me against his sweat

01:24:27damp side. The sweat glues us together. Skin to skin. Impossible to peel apart. I should

01:24:31be disgusted. I'm not. I can feel the muscle in his side tighten with every turn of the

01:24:36screw. That strength soaking through a thin film of sweat into my skin. Sinking low in

01:24:39my belly. A picture rises before I can stop it. If that hand weren't reaching for a screw

01:24:44overhead but sliding down my waist instead. I kill the thought. My face burns. I hate him.

01:24:49I think of the wedding day. Him standing there cold. Not even a hello. Two years ago I swore I'd

01:24:54never go soft for this man. Not once. And right now my thighs are clamping together on their

01:24:59own. The wet heat there is impossible to hide. Slick. Sticky. Mortifying. It's the

01:25:05weather. I lie to myself. That's all. Just the heat. Irritated I try to shift. To find

01:25:12room to breathe. My knee moves and by accident grazes the inside of his thigh. His hands stop.

01:25:17The whole room goes still. His voice drops to gravel. It travels straight down my ear into

01:25:23my spine. Becca. You'd better not move. I don't listen. My heart's slamming and something

01:25:29hotter than hate eggs me on. I push out again elbow digging into his side. On purpose. The

01:25:34next second his free hand clamps down on my waist. A hand big enough to span half of it.

01:25:38Too strong to fight. And it hauls me back against him. My gasp jams in my throat. My back hits

01:25:43his scalding sweat damp chest. His heartbeat through two thin layers of cotton slams into my spine.

01:25:48Once. Again. What are you doing? I keep my voice down and claw at the arm locked across

01:25:57my waist. It's cast iron. It doesn't give. I should break free. Drive an elbow into him.

01:26:02Call him a creep. Bolt downstairs. But my body betrays me. It sinks into him. Fitting against

01:26:08every scalding inch of him. I can feel his breathing turn rough. His chest rising and

01:26:12downing at my back. He grunts. My elbow jabbing stomach again in the scamble.

01:26:15Quit it. I won't give in. And I'm even more scared he sees through me. So I open my mouth

01:26:19for another jab. Nothing comes out. His free hand lifts and closes around the front of my

01:26:23throat. Not hard. But sure. Steady. Tipping the back of my head into the hollow of his shoulder.

01:26:28Every drop of blood in me runs cold. Then floods back scalding. Two years of fighting. Of cutting

01:26:33each other to the bone and he never once touched me. But now his palm cradles my throat. His thumb

01:26:38on the pulse going wild there. And I'm not afraid. Being held completely in his hand. Helpless in

01:26:42his grip. It turns me to water. I'm in the same hell you are. His mouth is at my ear.

01:26:46His breath

01:26:46hot and horsey. Each word brended in. But you are going to hold still. His breath fans against the

01:26:52side of my face. No more squirming. No more little whimpers making it worse. The hand on my throat

01:26:57tightens a fraction. You hear me? I try to nod. Only then does he ease off. I gulp for air.

01:27:04My heart wild

01:27:05enough to leap out of my chest. For a long stretch I stay curled against him. Not daring to move.

01:27:11His

01:27:12arm stays locked around my waist. Never once loosening. And his thumb against the damp curve

01:27:17of my side moves slow. Up then down. Up then down. Every drag of it sends a current sliding down

01:27:23to

01:27:23the small of my back. I clamp my thighs tighter. And it only makes the want sharper. I want more.

01:27:28The thought scares me. That's when. Downstairs. The front door clicks open. I'm home. Mom's voice

01:27:36floats up over the rustle of grocery bags. Becca. Did your brother go up to fix your AC?

01:27:42His thumb stops. No. No he didn't. I call down. Forcing my voice into its usual annoyance.

01:27:49He's probably off slacking somewhere again. A beat of quiet below. Then. From below. Let me come up and

01:27:57look at it. You can't sit in this heat. The staircase creaks. Taking mom's weight. One step. My blood

01:28:04goes to ice. I claw at his arm. Let go. She's coming up. Let go of me. He doesn't. Worse.

01:28:16The hand that's

01:28:17been resting at my waist slides painfully slow down the line of my hip. Over my stomach. Over the dip

01:28:23of

01:28:23my hip bone. Lower still. Until it settles squarely over me. Through the thin fabric already soaked with

01:28:29sweat and something else. My whole body bows tight. A sharp high sound rushes up my throat. I bite down

01:28:35on

01:28:35my lip and swallow it. Second stare. Creak. He bends his head. Nose against my scalding ear. And through the

01:28:41soaked fabric. Palm his grinds down on me. Not soft. Not hard. Once. Soaked like this. He breathes. Slow and

01:28:48filthy. And still lying that no one came up. Samir. It comes out a plea. My voice in pieces.

01:28:54Please. My mom. Hmm? His thumb presses again. Dragging a winner out of me before I can swallow

01:29:01it. The hand doesn't move from where it is. Scared now? Third step. Mom's voice is closer.

01:29:10Becca? Why is the door locked from the inside? He looks down at me. Held completely in his hand.

01:29:15Every breath a luxury now. His eyes lit with something that makes me dizzy. He leans to my ear.

01:29:21Word by word. Another grind of his palm. Dead slow. We let your mom see exactly what you look like

01:29:28right now? The doorknob clicks. And turns.

🍍The Summer the AC Broke: A House Secret Too Hard to Hide | Full Episodes

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