Page 26 of Tameron

Just one orgasm was all I needed.

“Uh. You okay?”

I snapped back to reality, almost forgetting I was in the middle of class, standing half a foot away from Tameron, who had dropped out of the pose. I swallowed heavily. “Sorry. That’s great, everyone. Carefully come back up to center, stretch yourarms to the sky, then let your hands rest in prayer over your heart.”

I watched Tameron move fluidly out of the pose. He wobbled a bit but took the initiative and sat in the chair as his palms pressed together and hovered just above his heart center.

‘Good,’ I signed to him with some caution. I’d used signs a few times in class before, and Tameron had always gotten irritated when I did. I knew he didn’t like to be othered, but I also knew that in a room like this, it was easier for him to understand.

The music was low, but the room didn’t have the best acoustics.

‘Thanks,’ he signed back, surprising me.

I grinned as I headed back to the front of the room. “Let’s pause for water,” I signed the word water quickly. “Then we can begin our cool-down.”

Everyone looked relieved, and I tried not to take it personally as they all reached for their water bottles and the room filled with chatter. I did my best to not be obvious when I watched Tameron as he stretched, then took a few long drinks from his metal bottle with the firefighter logo on the side. Nash had obviously given it to him, but it sent a little thrill up my spine to see it.

A strange sort of possession that I had no right to feel. But I let myself anyway. It wasn’t going to go anywhere. He was straight, and my crush most definitely had a dead end.

“How’s Knives?”

My head whipped around to find Tameron a few feet away from me. I was getting dressed after rinsing off, my shirt halfwayover my arms. “She’s wonderful, as usual. She has a new favorite sleeping spot.”

Tugging my shirt over my head, I let it drop halfway down my abs before reaching for my phone. I felt like one of those ridiculous new dads always whipping out their phones to show baby photos. But I couldn’t help it. She was adorable. Swiping through my gallery, I found the one I’d planned to send him later that evening.

Knives had discovered she was exactly big enough to curl up on the end of the banister. It was a large square block of wood, and it wouldn’t be able to hold her for long, though I had a feeling she’d figure out a way to make it work.

Holding the phone out, I watched Tameron fight the urge to coo. He looked up with big Bambi eyes. “Okay. That’s too cute. If your station does a firefighters and kittens calendar next year, you’ll probably quadruple your budget.”

I laughed, pulling the phone back to look at her squishy little face. “I think you might be right. I may run that up the flagpole and see if I can get approval.”

Tameron looked pleased with himself as he headed to his locker. Only then did I realize he was in nothing more than a towel, and my face flushed as I turned away to give him privacy. I swore I could feel him peeking over at me a few times, but I tried to keep it casual as I packed my bag.

“So,” Tameron said. I glanced over to see him fully dressed and readjusting his hearing aids. He had bone-conductor ones that attached behind his ear with a magnet. “Big plans for tonight?”

I let out a soft laugh. Leave it to him to ask me that today of all days. It wasn’t like I was ashamed of my plans, but I tried to be comfortable in public spaces like the gym. Though Tameron did live in a house full of men who were not straight, so he was probably the safest heterosexual guy to hang around with.

“What?” Tameron pressed.

I took a breath, then lifted my hands to sign instead. ‘I’m going out to a club.’ I signed slowly, spelling club so he’d get it.

‘Club,’ he repeated on his fingers. It took him a second, and then his brows flew up. “Oh. Oh. Like a—” He gave the sign for dancing.

‘Yeah.’ I nodded my fist, then finally reached down and tugged on the hem of my shirt so it covered my stomach. Tameron jumped, and I worried suddenly that showing off my skin had made him uncomfortable. “It’s been a while,” I told him as I walked closer to the bench and sat next to my bag.

“So…a hookup kind of thing?”

“Yeah. Sorry if that’s TMI.”

“If it’s what?”

‘TMI,’ I fingerspelled.

At that, he rolled his eyes. “Do you know the house I live in? Nothing is sacred. Not shitting schedules, not showering schedules, and these days, not even fucking schedules. Plus, I lived in the barracks.”

I didn’t know much about the military. My family was generationally Deaf, so even during times of war, they were left behind. Not that they minded. The Deaf community thrived during World War II. They were some of the only able-bodied men who’d stayed back and their employment had skyrocketed…until the war ended.

And then it was back to second-class citizens again for far too many years.

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