Page 40 of Kiss-Fist (Deaf Hearts #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THOM

When I said I wasn’t worried, I meant it. I’m overwhelmed, sure, but no one could be as mean as Rome. Although I may not hate him as much as I had before after he used his voice to apologize.

Gotta give him credit for meeting me partway.

As we turn toward the porch, I hear the little noises I’ve noticed Deaf people make when they communicate. Little grunts and smacking lips. As we near, I see that they’re all on the porch, watching us, a man and a woman signing to one another as we approach.

Two guys our age grin as we step forward, and I realize these must be his brothers. They look like him, actually. That dark hair, those dark eyes, the same set of the nose.

‘My family,” Robbie says as he slowly signs who each one is. Mom, dad, brothers, Quinn and Theo. And then there is his sister Alice and her husband Alex, and the two girls, Rose and Daisy .

Then Robbie introduces me, Thom. His boyfriend. He uses the dimples one as my sign name, and my cheeks positively flame.

I move to shake hands but am pulled into tight hugs from everyone. Even the little girls do the same, patting me on the back. The little girl that Robbie said was Daisy peers up at me. “You hearing too?” She signs and voices this, and it takes me aback.

I wasn’t expecting that.

“Yes,” I say and sign at the same time.

She grins. “My dad is hearing like me.”

Those little hands moving are too damn cute, and I glance at Alex, who gives me a grin.

‘Nice to have another in the family,’ he signs, making his wife laugh.

That makes me blush. I mean, I’m not part of the family yet, but fuck, I want to be.

‘You hungry?’ Robbie’s mom asks me and then signs, ‘Thirsty?’

I nod and let Robbie grab onto my hand and pull me inside. The house is adorable, open concept with a few mirrors placed in odd places on the walls, and when I stare at them a little too long, Alex explains, “So they can see behind them, if they need.”

That makes total sense, actually.

I nod my head as Robbie’s mom hands me what looks like some kind of pink lemonade. She signs it, an L shape on her chin, and I copy it.

She grins at me. ‘Cute.’ Then she turns to Robbie and lets her hands fly in excitement.

I’m completely lost, but the blush on Robbie’s face says it all.

She’s complimenting me. They wander off back to the kitchen, and I sit in awkward silence for a few minutes with Alex.

I don’t know the etiquette here. Am I allowed to speak to him when no one Deaf is around, or…

“Chill. I’ll interpret for you when they come back,” Alex offers. “So you’re not completely lost.”

I could hug him. “Thanks. I am learning fast though.”

“Oh, I bet you are. And in this family, you’ll be fluent in a year. It took me about six months longer because I’m terrible with languages. But now, I don’t even remember what it was like not to default to ASL whenever I’m communicating with someone.”

My heart flutters at that. I want to be fluent in a year.

I want to be able to understand them all without any help.

I know when I leave here, my ASL vocabulary will be at least a hundred words higher.

It’s like a crash course and for once in my life, my brain doesn’t seem to be fighting me.

It’s absorbing like I was meant for this.

But that freaks me out even more because what if I fail? What if I just…plateau and it all stops here? Will Robbie put up with me if I can’t get out of my own way?

“Breathe,” Alex tells me. “I can see your panic.”

“I don’t want to screw up,” I tell him, looking left and right to make sure no one is around.

Alex laughs. “Don’t worry, you will. And they’ll make fun of you about it forever. It’ll probably end up becoming one of your sign names.”

The thought horrifies me a little, but I also know that it’s different. They don’t do it to be cruel. Not everyone is like Rome.

I lick my lips. “So, Robbie’s friend?—”

Alex scoffs. “Yeah. You saw him, didn’t you?”

The back of my neck gets a little hot. “He really doesn’t like me. He said something…” I trail off. I don’t really want to relive all of that. It’s not worth it. Not when Robbie makes me feel amazing about who I am. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter.”

That’s the moment one of Robbie’s brothers—Quinn, I think, the older one—appears. He’s watching me intently, and then he flicks his gaze over to Alex who uses Rome’s name sign, an R in a wavy pattern near his head to indicate his perfectly set hair, that I now recognize.

He makes a disgusted-sounding scoff in the back of his throat as he sits. He’s a loud signer—he vocalizes and hums a lot and clicks his tongue. ‘That guy is a fucking moron.’ Alex interprets, but I don’t need him to. I understand Quinn, and I agree.

I nod. ‘True-biz.’ Then I blush. ‘Did I use that right?’

He grins and leans forward to punch me on the shoulder. A…sign of affection? I’m going to guess that’s a him thing and not a Deaf thing because Alex rolls his eyes and points at him to sit back.

‘Don’t let Rome get to you.’ He leans over his thighs again and looks me directly in the eye. Shit. This is about to get serious. ‘Don’t tell Robbie I told you,’ he signs while Alex interprets, and he uses Robbie’s name sign I keep seeing that he won’t explain, ‘but he likes you.’

He doesn’t use the casual like. The one Denver taught us in class. And it’s obvious he means it a deeper way because of the tone in Alex’s voice.

‘I’ve never seen him with anyone the way he’s with you,’ Quinn finishes.

“Not even Rome?” I blurt aloud.

Quinn sits back with a loud “pffft” and waves me off. ‘That guy is a—’ I don’t recognize the sign, and Alex hesitates before he says aloud, “Dick.”

I laugh and make a Y with my hand and tap it in the air. ‘That-that.’

Quinn beams. ‘Don’t worry about him. Not worth it.’

That’s a little easier said than done, considering I showed up to be introduced to Robbie’s family and Rome had beat me over here, but Robbie didn’t look happy about it, and Rome was very clearly being dismissed. So yeah. I can move past it. My insecurity won’t always be nipping at my heels.

And it’s helping that Robbie’s family has gone so far out of their way to make me feel like I belong here.

I’d been almost sick with nerves in the middle of my yoga class this morning.

I almost threw up all over poor Dianne, who would have never forgiven me.

I kept thinking about what I’d do and how I’d handle it if they all looked at me the way Rome did.

There’s a loud stomping noise, and both Alex and Quinn turn to see Robbie’s dad giving them the Glare of Disapproval. In all caps. ‘Go help Mom.’

They shoot up like he lit a firework under their ass, but as I start to stand, he waves me back down to my chair. “Stay,” he says .

It’s always a little startling when one of them chooses to speak, but it’s also important because I know that takes trust, and it’s kind of wild that I’ve earned it. ‘Thank you.’

He smiles and takes Alex’s place. “How far along are you?”

He clearly means with the language class. I grimace. ‘Not long. This is my first semester.’

He nods. ‘I didn’t learn ASL until I was eighteen.’

I blink at him. ‘Eighteen?’ I’m not a hundred percent sure I have that number right, but he mouths it when I sign it and nods.

‘Why?’ Shit. That was such an invasive question, but he doesn’t seem bothered.

‘My mom and dad,’ he signs. ‘They didn’t want to learn. Doctors told them it would be bad for me.’ He’s signing slowly, more in English order than ASL order, which I know is entirely for my benefit.

And I’m horrified by that idea. ‘But…you’re Deaf.’

He smiles, and it looks a little sad. ‘Deaf isn’t always good news for hearing parents. When the kids were born, the doctors all told us, sorry, your baby failed the hearing test, as though being like me and their mom was a bad thing.’

I want to tell him I’m sorry, because I am. But I know that can be kind of condescending, and what the fuck do I know about parenting anyway?

He takes pity on me and smiles, leaning forward and patting me on the knee. ‘All we’ve ever wanted is for our children to be happy. I think you make Robbie happy.’

‘I’m trying,’ I tell him.

His smile grows. ‘I know.’

Dinner comes after, a big, hearty meal full of serve-yourself family-style food that smells amazing. The table is round, and their dining room is massive enough to fit the chairs that need to squeeze into that space.

The girls are shuffled off to a plastic kiddie picnic table in the kitchen, and they’re ear-piercingly loud. It’s odd to be in a room where almost no one reacts to the screaming. Even Alex seems immune to it, but he does catch me staring and winks.

There’s someone waving in my periphery, and I turn to see Robbie’s other brother. His sign name comes quicker than his English name. Theo waits until he has my full attention.

‘What do you do for work?’

I swallow a mouthful of mashed potatoes before I remember with ASL, I can talk with my mouth full. ‘I work at a gym.’

Robbie clears his throat. ‘I think you mean you own a gym.’

I feel heat crawling up my neck. Robbie acts like it’s such a big deal, which, okay, maybe it’s a deal. A tiny one. But nothing about it is glamourous. It’s mostly shitloads of paperwork and making sure people don’t act like fools on machines and kill themselves.

But Dex and I did work very, very hard for it.

I shrug. ‘My brother and I opened it together. I’m more of the silent partner.’ I have to spell most of that, but everyone’s nodding along and tapping their Y-shaped hand in the air, the left side of Quinn’s nose wiggling up in a silent understanding.

‘Amazing,’ Theo insists.

‘Zev works there,’ Robbie tells them all, and everyone’s face is full of understanding.

‘You hired him?’ Robbie’s mom asks me.

I nod. ‘He has a graduate degree’—it takes me forever to spell that one, and god, sometimes I really hate my brain—‘in physical education.’ And there’s another long one.