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“No one else at the moment.” I realize what I’ve told him and quickly backpedal, “But attraction is no big deal. It’s purely biological. For the purpose of procreation.”
An image of Dare shrugging out of his shirt and climbing on top of me fills my head, totally unprompted. A spike of adrenaline lights me up inside. My body has no problems with that idea, whether it be for procreation or for pleasure.
His hot gaze drops to my mouth. He repeats the sign. “You lost me. What was this?”
“Biological.” I finger spell.
“And this?”
“Procreation.” I blink rapidly, my cheeks on fire.
“You mean sex.”
Someone as gorgeous as Dare should never sign that word while staring at a girl with those dreamy chocolate eyes. It should be illegal. I need to head to the mayor of the city tomorrow and start a petition.
“Was there a point to this?”
“You’re the one who brought up procreation first,” he points out.
He’s still not signing ‘procreation’ correctly, but I’m not going to fix it. Nope. Not touching that with a ten-foot pole.
Hoping to cool off, I tilt my head to the sky. The wind is blowing harder for some reason. And is it just me or is the forest darker than it was a minute ago?
Dare gets my attention. “Have you dated a hearing person before?”
“You.” I squint to look at him.
I was right about it getting darker. The moonlight is gone. A candle blown-out. I lean closer to him to make out what he’s signing. But closing that distance puts me a couple inches away from his lips. I dig my fingers into the bench to keep them from touching him.
“No, this doesn’t count at all.” He gestures to the distance between us. “This is barely scratching the surface.”
“What do you mean? You’re my boyfriend according to the law. It counts.” There’s an eight-page agreement with both our signatures on it backing me up.
“You think, if you were my girlfriend, you’d be sitting over there and not in my lap?” His eyes are tight and narrowed. “I’m holding myself back with every inch of my willpower. Every time you look at me, every time you smile, there’s so much I want to do for you. With you.” His gaze holds me captive. “To you.”
My hands are shaking as I sign, “What… do you want to do to me?”
I hold my breath as he eases so close that I get dizzy. “What do you think?”
“I think…” My hands falter, “that you need more ASL lessons.” My tongue darts out to meet my lips.
Dare’s eyes, that had been sparkling and reflecting the silver moon, turn dark as the sky. Absorbing the light. Burning shadows.
“I’m afraid for you,” he signs, his stare singeing me.
“Afraid? Why?”
“You’re getting a little too close to admitting you feel something for me too. And when you do, Yaya, I am never letting you go.”
My heart isn’t just beating fast. It’s found its way into my throat and it’s throbbing like a stubbed toe. I blink rapidly, scrambling to gain back control of this conversation. I’ve got to change the subject before I decide his lap does, indeed, look like a comfortable place to set my backside.
Ugh! I’m losing it.
No more swoony Dare staring into my eyes and promising to never let me go.Please and thank you!
That’s when I remember Deej’s sudden jump from Team Yaya to Team Dare. I take hold of that curiosity and cling to it like it’s my last shred of sanity.
“I was told my sister texted you to come over.”