Page 67 of What It Means To Be Found

I had made a lot of headway in my ASL in the last few weeks. As far as I knew, nobody else knew I was taking online classes because, well, I hadn’t told anyone. Except Logan. But he never asked me about them. This was probably due to the fact that hockey season was back in full swing, and his schedule was significantly busier. This made sneaking around our friends to meet up with him much more difficult. Yet it also gave me more time to focus on the language I was determined to learn. I had a feeling Logan held himself back from asking me about my lessons when we met up, though. He was receptive to helping me with signs and sentence structure whenever I asked, usually after we hooked up at his place or mine.

I wanted to be braver, though.

The day Logan and I made out like teenagers in the bookstore in Orange, I had tossed a few signs around in front of Beck, who didn’t make a big deal out of it but just smiled at me.

Today, however, I was stepping it up. I had given online presentations with my choppy sign language a number of times already, so I was sure that my friends could fill in the blanks for me or correct me if I signed anything wrong. It was time for me to show off what all I had learned the last few months though.

Courtney and I had baked for everyone tonight.

Nothing fancy, just some classic chocolate chip cookies.

Beck and Adam showed up first, then Taylor strutted into the townhome seconds before Josh ran inside and tackle-hugged his fiancée onto the couch. After we all rolled our eyes at how physically affectionate Josh and Courtney were with each other, everyone had snagged a couple of cookies for themselves and were settled in various places around the kitchen.

It was then that, finally, Logan showed up.

God, Logan was so handsome.

He had cut his hair recently, making his dark curls look a little tamer compared to the haphazard mess they usually were. They were a little damp, as if he had just showered. Which made sense if he was coming straight from practice.

He smiled politely at Susan who, after embracing him in a one-arm hug, shuffled down the hallway toward her bedroom for the night.

Logan toed off his sneakers, making his way towards the dining area, fist bumping Adam and Taylor in greeting and saluting Courtney and her fiancé, before landing those dark eyes on me.

I gave him a nervous grin, trying my best to keep my body from blushing under his gaze. Based on the way his eyes heated as he rubbed the side of his neck with the scars, I had a feeling he was onto me.

Oh well.

I swallowed once, trying to play it cool while everyone else chatted around us.

I leaned a hip against the counter, my body language the air of confidence, as I lifted a chocolate chip cookie with one hand and signed to Logan with the other.

I gently pointed at him directly before signing my question, Are you hungry?

Logan’s eyebrows went up, every muscle in his body stiff as he watched me sign. I thought I noticed a faint, very faint pink color tinge his cheeks and ears.

I cocked my head to the side in confusion and signed to him again, You hungry? I even held the cookie a little more in front of me, refusing to believe that he didn’t understand what I was asking him.

“Oh my god,” I heard Taylor snicker before clapping their hand over their mouth.

“What?” Beck asked, following their gaze to look at me.

“Lo…” Taylor asked after lowering their hand from their mouth, “What are you signing right now?”

I frowned, my cheeks heating from embarrassment but not entirely understanding why.

I froze, looking back at Logan again, who had one arm crossed against his large chest while the other came up to smother a smile he was clearly trying to hide.

I glanced back at Taylor before it clicked in my brain.

Oh my god.

It was happening again.

I pressed my lips together, the heat in my face making me want to fan my shirt away from my body before I decided to feign innocence.

Because I was signing wrong.

I wasn’t asking Logan if he was hungry, by making a grip shape with my hand and stroking it down my throat to sternum once. I was asking Logan if he was horny, by making a grip shape with my hand and stroking it down my throat to sternum multiple times.

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