Page 37 of Kiss-Fist (Deaf Hearts #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

ROBBIE

Something is wrong with Thom. When I see him after work, he’s withdrawn, his eyes glinting with worry, his teeth working his bottom lip until it’s red and puffy.

‘What’s wrong?’ I ask, handing him a Vitamin Water and watching as he fiddles with it. He barely ate any of the food I brought to his place, and no one picks at Lupe’s Cantina tacos.

Thom sighs and meets my stare.

‘Rome came to the gym.’

I nearly choke on my chip and pound on my chest to get it to dislodge. He looks worried, pushing his Vitamin Water over to me, and I take a large swig, my eyes watering as I fight for air.

Fucking hell, Rome. What did he do? Something bad, it seems, because Thom is upset.

I’m going to throttle him when I see him next. Thom doesn’t deserve anything that Rome told him, I’m sure of it. He’s jealous and has no right to be.

‘What did he say?’ I ask, and Thom runs a hand across the back of his neck, looking defeated.

‘He said—’ He pauses, struggling to find the words, and my heart goes out to him. He pulls out his phone and starts to type. Then he sets it down, shakes his head, and murmurs something to himself.

I don’t like that I don’t know what he said.

‘Tell me. What did he say?’

He blushes and shakes his head again, picking up his phone and typing some more. He stops and stares at it, looking almost like he’s going to cry. I don’t like that at all. I move toward him, sitting at his side and turning the phone so I can see it.

The words on the screen are so him, misspelled and short, but I fucking adore it.

Thom: he said i’m not smart enuf for u. that Ill alwz hav hearing acent. Im a comprimiz.

I stare at that and then up at him, rage flowing through me. How dare he. How fucking dare him.

Thom: i know u betr thn me. I onw gym but thas all I hav

He swipes at his eyes, and I shake my head, grabbing the phone and setting it down on the table. I straddle him, gently clasping his cheeks and forcing him to look at me .

I use my voice. I don’t like to, but I need him to hear this from me.

“You are perfect, Thom.”

Those beautiful eyes blink at me, watering slightly.

“I love your hearing accent. You’re perfect for me. You’re not a compromise.”

His hands settle on my hips, and he squeezes gently. ‘Sure?’ he asks.

I nod, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. ‘We learn together. You and me. Boyfriends.’

He stares at me for a long time, assessing the truth in what I just said, and then signs, ‘Boyfriends.’

My heart swells at that word, and I bring his hands up to my lips, kissing each fingertip. I can feel the tremble in each one, and I love that I can bring the hottest man to his knees just from this.

When I’m done with his hands, I move to his neck, dragging my lips up to his ear and nibbling on it. I can feel the way his body responds to me, the shiver that moves through him, the hardness of his cock growing against my own.

But I’m not ready for sex. Not yet. I lean back and meet his stare. He just dropped a tiny bomb on me, and I want to ask about it.

‘Wait. You own the gym?’

He doesn’t know the sign for own, so I fingerspell it and watch as he blushes. ‘It’s not big deal.’

I arch an eyebrow at him, and he shrugs shyly.

‘Yeah. I own with brother.’

My other eyebrow joins the first one, and I grin at him. ‘See see, smart.’ He shakes his head, and I hold onto his chin and force him to look at me. ‘You smart. Little different than me, but smart yourself. Trust.’

He looks at me like he can’t believe I said that, but it’s true. He may not be academically accomplished like me, but he’s successful in his own way. And who the fuck gets to determine who’s better than another? It’s a shitty standard to measure people by.

And Rome is right, we are different. He’s hearing, and I’m Deaf, but he’s learning. And he treats me better than any of my exes ever have. Better than Rome did.

This relationship won’t be easy. It will have its ups and downs, but we will get through it together. We will learn together, just like I said we would.

‘You need eat.’

‘Fuck first,’ Thom tells me, using the slang word for fuck , and I let out a small laugh, pulling a smile from him. He’s ridiculous.

‘Okay. Fuck, then eat.’

He nods and surges forward, pulling me closer to him, kissing me senseless.

I’m grinding against him, loving the way he feels beneath me.

I could ride him just like this. Slow, using the floor as leverage.

But Thom has other ideas. He leans us both forward, clearing the tabletop, and, without even breaking a sweat, sets me on it.

I gasp at how he just moves me around so effortlessly. I don’t think this will ever grow old.

His hands drag up my thighs and fumble with the button on my jeans. I lift my hips, assisting him in pulling them down my legs. My cock is hard, the tip slightly wet from precum, and I watch as Thom wets his lips .

‘Dessert,’ he signs, and I let out another laugh.

His eyes twinkle up at me, and he leans forward, pulling me down his throat.

Needless to say, Thom doesn’t eat the food I bought him until much later. And when he does, I feed it to him, his naked body between my legs, his head resting against my bare shoulder. We’re on the couch, the TV flickering in the background. But neither of us is paying attention to it.

The only thing I’m focused on is him. My boyfriend. The one who drives me crazy with his fingers, his tongue, and his heart.

I really like this hearing guy. Rome is wrong. He will belong in the community because he belongs with me. And I’ll start with the ones I know who will be most supportive. Years from now, he won’t ever feel like he doesn’t belong. He’ll have a Deaf heart.

My heart.

I tap him on the shoulder, and he turns to face me, and I wipe a little bit of sauce from his bottom lip. He sighs in happiness, and I ask, ‘You want meet my family?’

He freezes. ‘Family?’

‘Yes. Mine. You want meet?’

He wets his lips, looking nervous. ‘Will they like me?’

I make sure he sees this. ‘Yes. They will love you.’ I sign kiss-fist to emphasize it, and he blinks at me.

He has to trust me on this. My parents will adore him.

My siblings as well. They’ll just be annoying, but that’s how they are with everyone.

And yeah, they might be a little surprised I’m boyfriends with a hearing guy, but so fucking what?

They’ll see how nice he is, how sweet, and they’ll be totally obsessed.

Just like I am.

Taking a deep breath, I brace myself before walking up to my parents’ door. It’s Sunday, so everyone will be here. Both of my brothers, my sister, my brother-in-law, and my nieces are a guarantee.

Sometimes there are aunts or uncles and tons of cousins. Some of them are blood related, and some aren’t. My mom’s side of the family are generationally Deaf. I’m part of a long legacy of Deaf pride and history on that side of the family, and almost all of them live close.

My dad’s family is another story—a typical story.

He was born profoundly deaf from what the doctors told his parents was a ‘genetic abnormality.’ He was born before successful cochlear implants were common, so instead of learning ASL, his parents sent him to an oral residential school, and he was forced through grueling lipreading and speech therapy lessons that never quite took.

We never spoke to his parents growing up, and he doesn’t like talking about them today.

But the community around us, he’s always told me, has made up for that his entire life.

I still think he hurts when he thinks too hard about their lack of acceptance, but my dad’s the kind of man who always has a smile.

He was the first one to embrace my brother-in-law—the first hearing member of the family in…hell, I don’t know how long. He’s never looked at my nieces differently because they’re hearing CODAs either, and they adore their grampy beyond all reason.

It’s why I’m not afraid to take Thom here.

Or, at least, I’m not afraid for Thom. I’m terrified for me. They will never let me live this down.

It’s going to be a lot for me to handle.

I was always a bit of an outsider. I chose to read over socializing any chance I got.

I wasn’t into sports or after-school activities, and while I had my own personal pride, I was never a walking parade for any of my identities.

But most of the time, my isolation was self-imposed.

I know that now. Better than I did when I was young and unsure of myself, at least.

Before reaching for the door handle, I grab my phone and check it. A small part of me hopes that Thom’s classes were canceled and he’s ready to come over now, even though I know talking to my family first is necessary.

I need to prepare them for him. I need to make sure they’re going to be easy. And gentle.

I need to make sure they keep their mouths shut and hands still about certain childhood stories and obnoxious sign names that Thom doesn’t need to know about yet.

Opening our latest text thread, I see the selfie Thom texted me of the two of us. It’s our first photo together. He snapped it last night while I was doing dishes. He snuck up behind me, wrapped one arm around me, and hooked his chin on my shoulder. I smiled out of reflex.

Just like I’m smiling now.

I look…happy. Different from the man I used to stare at in th e mirror every morning. There’s something in my eyes that says this time—whatever this is with him—it’s real. It’s better than anything that came before him.

I’m not ready to say that of course. Not aloud to him or signed to myself.

But it’s something I can quietly acknowledge as the feeling settles in my chest, pulsing like a second heartbeat.

It was the feeling I had all morning that had me up before Thom, watching his face relaxed in sleep, knowing I put that tiny smile on his lips.

I never thought I would be that guy, but here I am.