Page 18 of Touch In Excess

Hen was fighting off a huge grin. Skye could see it in the way his lips were twitching. “Go on.”

“Movies are out because if you wear your hearing aids, it hurts, but if you don’t, you can’t understand the dialogue, and none of the theaters around here have open-caption showings.”

“Yes,myhearing aids,” Hen said, rolling his eyes.

Skye ignored him. “You thought about an art museum, but that seems too on the nose because he’s an artist, and you don’t want him to think you’ve reduced his wants and likes down to his job.”

Hen collapsed forward on his desk. “Baby, you are too fucking cute, and you are overthinking this.”

Skye scrubbed his hands down his face with a loud groan. “Iknow. I need help. I don’t know what to do.”

“Have you two talked about this date?”

Skye shook his head miserably and lifted his hand to sign, ‘No.’

“Honey…”

“My schedule’s been packed, and he’s been a little unresponsive over text unless it’s three in the morning, and you know I’m not a night person.”

Hen gave him a look full of pity. “Yeah.”

“And also…I know this sounds cheesy as fuck, but I want to surprise him.”

Biting his lip, Hen tapped his bright purple nail on his chin, then straightened. “The aquatic rescue center.”

Skye was more than familiar. It was Avan’s favorite place to unwind. The place ran like a pseudo-aquarium in order to raise funds for their coral reef rehab efforts—something Avan was really, really into. He’d dragged the guys out there more than once.

And it wasn’t a bad idea. The place was decorated by local artists and had tons of sea life sculptures and interactive exhibits. The only person who hadn’t enjoyed it was Jet because the place didn’t have any accessible tours for him.

“If he’s an artist, he’s probably a really visual guy, right?” Hen asked.

Skye couldn’t answer that honestly, but he felt like it was a safe bet. “Yeah. He also doesn’t like places that are really loud and chaotic, so if we go on a weekday…”

“That could be very romantic.”

“You think a midafternoon weekday date could be romantic?” Skye asked.

“Honey, I think anything is romantic if the two of you are interested in each other. Or, well, ifI’minterested in someone. What’s my boyfriend’s name, by the way?”

Skye rolled his eyes and laughed. “Rami. And sorry for being a doofus. I’m just nervous, I guess. This is a first for me.” Okay, not his first, but his first in a long, long while.

Hen stood up and walked around the desk, stopping in front of Skye. He was shorter than him, but he rose onto his toes and cradled Skye’s face between his hands. “Take a deep breath, and every time you start to freak out or feel any kind of doubt, remember that you deserve to be happy.”

“Hen—”

“No. You and the other guys went out of your way to make sure that I was allowed to be myself. That I have always been allowed to be myself. You made this a safe space for me, and I will be damned if I don’t return the favor.”

Skye’s insides went soft. “Okay.”

Hen grinned and leaned in, kissing his cheek. “Now, go away, or I’m gonna give you work to do.”

Skye held up his hands in surrender, then turned on his heel and hurried out of the lobby, making his way back toward his cottage. Halfway there, he took out his hearing aids and stood still while his equilibrium adjusted to the sudden dullness in sound. He still struggled with feeling off-balance since hisleft ear was now profoundly deaf, but after a beat, everything righted itself.

It was nice, sinking into a silence that was starting to feel as natural as hearing once had. It allowed him space to breathe at the end of a long day. Like taking off a pair of shoes that were half a size too small.

He made it to his fence when he heard a muffled shout, and he turned to see Stone leaning against his gate. Stone said something else, but Skye quickly shook his head and pointed to his ears.

‘Sorry,’ Stone signed. ‘You okay?’

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