Page 21 of What It Means To Be Found

I had no idea how to act around Eloise.

What was the social construct for this situation?

I had responded to her voice memos, saying that we should talk. She never responded to that, so I assumed that meant that she didn’t want to. However, she showed up here at the gym, knowing that I would be here with Courtney. Did that mean that she wanted to talk? Was I misreading her signals? Did she understand how difficult it was for me to communicate with someone who wasn’t competent in ASL?

She definitely checked me out, that much was obvious when I finished my reps on the bench press and caught her eyes. Eloise had a similar look on her face during the game once I left the penalty box. A look that almost took me out of the zone based on how easy to read she was.

She liked what she saw.

What threw me off was how she quickly punched Josh in the arm after we made eye contact, but I had to focus, so I hadn’t let myself think too much about the horny eyes she had blatantly given me during my game. But then I saw her horny eyes again tonight, catching her staring at me as I pressed what I assumed to be over twice her body weight.

She was attracted to me, that much I was sure of. What I couldn’t quite figure out was if she wanted me to do something about it. I assumed that if she really liked what she saw she would make the first move. Considering the communication barrier we had that, possibly, she had a kink about.

I was still holding Eloise’s wrist, warring with myself about how to approach this subject with her. Her breathing was shallow, her cheeks were flushed, and her pupils would expand if I stared at her directly for too long.

Suddenly, she tugged her wrist out of my grip and blurted, “I read alien erotica.”

I stared at her, my mouth parting at the sudden confession. That was…unexpected. Her face immediately turned tomato red, angering the freckles that dotted her nose.

Okay, I signed, feeling the confusion take over my facial features.

“I-I don’t know why I told you that.” Eloise closed her eyes as she set her weights on the ground, before covering her face with both of her palms. She was clearly embarrassed. Was she shaking? “I’m so sorry. Could you just,” she waved her hands at me, expecting me to cough something up I guess, “Get on with it already?”

What? I asked. I couldn’t keep up with the conversation we were having.

“Just say whatever you were going to say to let me know you aren’t interested,” Eloise rushed out on an exhale, scraping a hand down her flushed face again as her eyes avoided me. Let her down? So, those voice memos were about me? She is, in fact, interested in me?

“You know what,” Eloise waved a hand in between the both of us, “It’s okay, you don’t actually need to tell me. I already know. Don’t worry about it.” She nodded as she placed both of her hands on her hips, taking a deep breath through her nose and exhaling through her mouth as she lifted her head to stare at the ceiling.

Know what? I asked, but she wasn’t looking at me. She didn’t see my signing. My heart was racing, she had both confirmed my suspicions and assumed that I wasn’t interested in seconds.

I was interested.

I was very interested.

Did Eloise seem a little high-strung? Yes, but I was willing to look past that. Maybe it was because I hadn’t had sex in literal years. Maybe it was because Eloise was hot as sin. Whatever the reason was, I wanted to take this opportunity by the reins if it was available.

But I couldn’t fucking do that if she wouldn’t look at me.

I wouldn’t be able to get a word in with her even if I did vocalize.

I felt my frown take over before I thought better of it, stepping forward and wrapping one of my hands on the side of her face. Fingers behind her ear and my thumb on the line of her jaw, I forced her to lower her gaze from the ceiling and look at me. Her clear blue eyes widened in shock at the physical contact, and part of me scolded myself for touching her again without clear and obvious permission, but I was running out of options.

I held her gaze, relaxing my frown so that I wouldn’t scare her.

Courtney had already told me multiple times about how harsh my resting bitch face was.

I had already used it unintentionally on Eloise multiple times, I wasn’t about to fuck up another social interaction between us again.

I quickly let go of her face, now that I had her attention, and signed Stop. Her lips slammed shut at the word. I still had no idea how much ASL she really knew, but she managed to know basic core words at this point. How was I going to explain this to her in a way she would understand?

“You losers ready?” Courtney spoke up from behind me, making me clench my jaw at her timing. Like fuck was I going to try to explain myself to Eloise with Courtney nearby. I frowned, making Eloise’s eyes narrow a little in reaction. I gave up, stepping away from Eloise before I bent down to pick up her weights, handing them back to her.

Eloise took them again without a word.

“Tens? Wow, you’re really pushing yourself today, Lo.” Courtney winked at Eloise before grabbing her own weights.

I tried not to look too irritated because it wasn’t anyone’s fault really.

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