Page 3

My heart skipped a beat at Tameron’s name, and I knew it probably showed because, being raised by a Deaf family, I had no poker face at all. I’d been trained from birth to express myself in hands and body language first.

But Nash was kind enough not to mention it.

“Keep me posted,” I told him.

He was still chuckling. “You know I will. But I have to get going. You wanna come by for dinner this week?”

“Yeah. Let me know what night’s good.” I felt vibrations under my bare feet and looked up to see Dax in the archway between the living room and the kitchen. I set my middle finger to my chest and flicked it upward. ‘What’s up?’

‘Nothing,’ he signed. ‘Is that your boyfriend?’

He meant Tameron because I’d obviously been talking about him too often and now my dickhead brother was convinced I had a crush. I flipped him the bird and he laughed loudly as I turned my attention back to Nash. “The sooner, the better,” I told him.

Nash snorted. “Your brother? Tell him I said hi.”

I looked back up at Dax. ‘Nash says hi.’

Dax lit up, hurried around the back of the couch, and leaned over my shoulder. He kept his signs slow and exaggerated, like he was talking to a toddler, which kind of worked, considering Nash had the working vocabulary of a deaf toddler. ‘How are you?’

‘Good,’ Nash signed back. His hands moved stiffly in a thick hearing accent. ‘How are you? Nice tie.’

Dax preened as he ran his hand over it. ‘Burberry,’ he signed very slowly.

Nash’s lips curved around the letters as Dax signed them, and then he whistled and shook his hand in front of his body. ‘Wow. Fancy.’

‘Just finished a huge job.Paid well,’ Dax told him, then straightened. ‘See you sometime soon?’

Nash gave him a thumbs-up and Dax looked satisfied before wandering out. When he was gone, Nash zeroed in on me. “What was he signing when I couldn’t see him?”

I flushed, but there was no way I was telling him Dax was mocking me about having a crush, which was absurd.

I didn’t have a crush on Tameron. I just—objectively—enjoyed the way he looked.

Eye candy hurt no one, dammit. But Dax seemed to think it was more, and he was going to give me endless shit about it.

Which, of course, was what baby brothers did.

And it was very probable he was right.Maybe I did have a crush.A tiny one.

“He was mocking me for being a single loser.”

“Aww, you’re not a loser, hun,” Nash said soothingly.

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, Dad. Anyway, before you go, any word on the gym thing?”

“Oh shit! Yeah, that’s why I called in the first place. We got the go-ahead. Check your work email. They sent you a contract for the yoga classes. I’m not sure if those times and dates will work for you, but they have a separate soundproofed room on site that you can use.”

My whole body unwound, almost like he’d pushed a relax button on me. “Seriously? Fuck, I don’t care what times they have. As long as it’s wheelchair accessible, I will make it work.”

“Sweet. I’ll let the crew know we’re back in business. Talk soon?”

I nodded, and when the screen went black, I laid my head against the cushion and allowed myself to breathe fully for the first time in weeks.

We had a solution, and even if I had to ask my students to make some adjustments, I had a feeling they’d figure out how to make the times work if it meant no more warehouse.

Sitting straight, I swiped open my phone screen and navigated to my work email. And there it was, the email from the gym.

“Dear Mr. Adams,” I read aloud, “yada yada, yoga room available Monday to Thursday yada yada…” My eyes speed-read through and then came to a screeching halt. Would you be interested in filling in for the teacher we had who just quit? We had ten regular students two days a week.

Okay, that wasn’t so bad. And since my hours were going to be reduced and this county promised to be less hellish than San Francisco, maybe I could squeeze in a little extra here. This job wasn’t just a hobby. It felt as important as everything else I did.

I kept reading, and that was when I saw the student log. My eyes scanned the names, and my heart beat double-time when my gaze fixed on the last one. Tameron H .

There was a tiny chance it wasn’t Nash’s Tameron, but in all honesty, how often was I going to come across that name?

I didn’t know if I was elated or terrified because the man seemed to be annoyed by every single thing I did, said, or signed.

But maybe this was the universe giving me a chance to turn things around. Maybe…

“Mm!”

I looked up at the sound of Dax’s voice, and he walked over, dropping to the cushion beside my feet.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

I waved him off. ‘Nothing. Nash found a gym so I don’t have to keep working in the warehouse.’

Dax raised a brow and his face told me he didn’t believe everything I was saying. ‘And?’

‘And they want me to take on a few more students.’ There. Not a lie…just maybe not the entire truth.

He stared a few moments longer, then leaned back with a sigh, dropping it. ‘Better than where you’re at now, right?’

I snorted. ‘True-biz. Anything is better than that place. Though maybe you should go. You’d be perfect for the circus.’

He stared at me for a beat, then lunged and attempted to smother me as I doubled over in laughter. Dax eventually had me pinned and shoved his wet finger into my ear. I yelped and shoved him off, and he sat back with a smug grin.

‘Asshole,’ I threw at him.

His grin widened. ‘You’re my favorite brother.’

‘I’m your only brother.’

Dax shrugged, then grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. The moment settled, and my eyes went back to my phone screen. Tameron H . I wondered what his last name was and if there would ever be a chance—even a tiny one—that he and I could ever be friends.