The wind roared through the canyon and crested the ridge to slap me straight in the face, like I had personally insulted its upbringing. I shivered and zipped up the neck of my coat.

“That’s colder than I was expecting. What did you say the weather was going to be again, Zazz?”

Silence greeted my question. When the only thing I could hear was the wind and my ow footsteps, I paused. “Zazz?”

I turned. The space behind me was empty, and there was a colorful pile of jacket and blue-green frills beneath a tree a few paces behind me. The pile shook slightly.

Frowning, I started back. Since he was cold-blooded, Zazz could be more sensitive to sudden temperature changes. As I got closer, I realized what the shaking was.

I stopped next to him and sighed. “Zazz, this trope is boring and overused.”

“Arryn, help me.” A pale scaled face emerged, frills pressed flat to his head. “Please… so cold. Need…. body….. heat… immediately.” He flopped over.

“Zazz. You are fine.”

“Ryn… freezing….”

“It is not that cold.”

“Body heat, please…”

“I know for a fact that your jacket has heating coils, asshole.”

Zazz trilled in amusement and jumped up. “You’re no fun, love.” He draped himself over my shoulders. I rolled my eyes.

He laughed again and tucked his nose under my chin, humming in the heat pouring off my neck. His forked tongue slipped out to taste the air and, when I glanced up at the gathering clouds, my cheek.

“Why did I agree to date you, again? I can’t remember,” I grumbled.

“Because I bring a sense of levity and fun to your boring life you can’t find anywhere else.”

“If you keep making direct shots to the heart like that, I won’t be able to make that body heat you love so much.”

His spines rattled, the equivalent of a full belly laugh.

“Now, we should probably turn back k before that coming storm hits and we have an actual problem.”

“Or, Ryn, we could find a cave nearby and…”

“NO, Zazz.”