Chapter Two

Red

The aches and pains from the beating I’d taken while fending off the monsters all sang together as I moved to shut the door and lock it behind Gordon. My body was like the fruit that had gotten squished between two watermelons.

I was not a happy stalk. Life was pretty sucky when I couldn’t force myself out of the house to even check that my older brother was okay after his run in with the monsters.

I shuddered at the outcry about the large pan they’d found in the barn, which was ready to… I shivered violently, holding my flowers like a protective barrier.

“Hey, I can go if you don’t want me to stay?” Gordon asked in the sweetest voice. It was quite something, listening to him talk. It did all kinds of things to my fuzzies. I’d not been able to think too hard about it, my fear of the monsters outside overwhelming me.

Was I a bad stalk?

I didn’t think so.

“Red… are you okay?”

Concern was there in the furrowed brow as I switched gears faster than Bart could in his old truck. “I… yes.” I clutched the flowers tighter to my chest. “Do you want a drink?”

Be a polite host. I could do that, couldn’t I? I wasn’t so sure when every time I came within two feet of the pretty goat shifter, I wanted to lean on him. Let him take care of me.

I nearly let out a sigh at such silly thoughts. I swallowed it back and waited as Gordon’s head tilted to the side, the bridge of his nose getting an adorable wrinkle.

“Yeah, got any juice? I don’t like fizzy stuff as it makes me feel all anxious.”

“You get anxious?” I asked as I moved through the house to the kitchen, needing to get away from him before I gave in to the temptation to ask for a…

“I’m a goat with an entire bag of extra libido that can’t leave the house because I can’t control myself. Yep, I get anxious I’m gonna upset folks by…” His pretty green eyes widened as he stopped and slapped a hand over his mouth, as if he’d said too much.

I ran over what he’d said as I stared at him, still holding the flowers; they helped to stop the urge to go and sniff him. He reminded me of a garden in the summertime. Newly mowed grass and an array of flowers, the smell urged me to lie on him and bask in it.

What is wrong with me?

I was too big to be doing that, I’d crush him. My size had never bothered me so much before. Being an omega stalk, other stalks like me were tiny. I was more like a beefcake, the same as Glass. Shaking off my own weirdness, I placed the flowers down with trembling fingers on the counter, making sure not to bruise the petals.

I returned my attention to Gordon, watching his pretty face pink up. His hair was a shaggy, silky mess and made me want to run my fingers through it to see if it was as soft as it looked.

“Why did you stop? I’m the last stalk to judge you. I couldn’t leave the house to go see Glass…” My brain caught onto something, and my eyes widened. “You left the house to come see me.” Then I couldn’t stop my rhubarb lips from running away with themselves. “Why am I different?”

More pretty red colored his cheeks as he glanced down, his feet shuffling on my lino. My gaze caught on something noticeable on the way back up.

I gulped at the protruding bulge. Even when he fidgeted and one hand dropped in front of his zipper, I didn’t appear to be able to look away. I gulped in some air, feeling way too hot, and inhaled a dose of Gordon’s fragrant smell.

I groaned, flushing, and gave my eyes a stern talking to.

Behave yourselves. This is not the time to act out.

Who are you talking to? Tim asked, bringing me back to reality with a thump, when I figured I’d projected to the whole of Valentine with my forcefulness. Oh rhubarbs!

Mind your own business.

I was, then you got all shouty, Red. Is Gordon’s goat giving you ideas?

Please, go away!

There was a noticeable huff, but Tim went quiet a second later, although that didn’t help with how Gordon was now eyeing me. “Sorry,” I mumbled, hoping that would cover every situation.

“I can’t help it—”

“Help what?” I questioned, frowning.

His hand shifted and made sure my eyes were back to misbehaving. All chances of wallowing were impossible with Gordon around. It was like that the first day we’d met, and he’d brought me home and looked after me. He had this ability to make everything feel better—especially when he touched me.

I gulped when he stepped closer. “My libido.”

“Oh… so that’s not… b-because of me?” Brazen much! What was I even thinking?

Reaching out, he gently took hold of my hand, the rough skin on his palm caused tiny shivers to run up my arm as he held my stare. Something in his eyes suggested he was figuring out what to say, when he didn’t immediately answer.

Was this bad?

I released a shuddery breath as his thumb ran over the back of my hand. His scent strengthened and tantalized my nose.

“It is you, too. Mostly you, to be honest. Since I caught your scent, I…” he glanced down at his jeans. “I’ve been suffering—”

My brows merged together. “Suffering?” What did he mean by ‘suffering’?

This was not so good!

“No… yes… shit, not like suffering, suffering. More like, I’m a more randy goat than normal around you. Like I want to rip off your clothes and rut. Only I respect that’s probably not what you wanna do. You know, with me being a goat and what’s been happening to you? And I only came ‘cause I wanted to check up on you and give you the flowers. They looked pretty and reminded me of you, and I thought you might like some pretty in your life right now.”

He let go of my hand and buried his head into both hands, groaning. “I’ll shut up rambling now.”

He thinks I’m pretty!

Beaming at him, my face ached at how long it felt since I’d smiled so widely. “You think I’m pretty?” I asked like a dork stalk, ruining any credibility I might have had.

Way to go!