Page 29 of Tameron

“Anything, honey.”

“Dayton’s brother owns a garage and offered to let me tinker with cars some time. Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, I am getting pretty bored, and I have no idea what I could do for a job, you know? My ASL isn’t good enough to work in the Deaf community, but I can’t always get by with my hearing aids either.”

Dad’s whole face lit up. “You mean like we used to do with the Chevy?”

“Yeah, exactly like that.”

Dad’s smile widened. “That would be wonderful. You loved doing that, and you were good at it.”

“I was?”

“Of course you were. Your brain has always worked that way. You understand how things fit together, how they work. It’s why you were so good at your job in the Army.”

That was true. I’d had a knack for figuring out how something worked or how to fix what was broken. The way my brain processed information made it easy for me to understand how different components worked together. It was why I’d been so good at what I did…until I wasn’t anymore. Now, I was the broken thing, except I couldn’t fix myself.

“Do you think I could make a career out of it?” I asked hesitantly.

“Why not?” Mom said. “Your dad did pretty well with his plumbing business.”

“That’s different. He owns his own business.”

“So could you one day,” Dad said. “But start small. See if you even enjoy it first. Take Dayton’s brother up on his offer.”

“Dax,” I said. “His name is Dax.”

Mom’s face softened. “You sound like you’ve found some good people there.”

“I have.” My voice cracked a little. “I really have.”

“Then trust them,” Dad said. “Trust yourself too. You’ve always had good instincts.”

Had I? Because my instincts about Dayton had been way off. I’d been so determined to dislike him that I’d missed what a genuinely nice guy he was. Hell, I was going to be his wingman tonight at a gay club. Talk about a one-eighty.

“Thanks, guys. For everything. For learning ASL, for supporting me…”

“We love you, honey,” Mom said. “We always will.”

After saying goodbye, I sat there for a while, staring at my blank phone screen. My parents were learning ASL. They were actually making an effort. And they thought I was strong.

Maybe I was. Maybe all this time, I’d been stronger than I’d given myself credit for.

My phone buzzed with a text from Dayton.

Still up for tonight? No pressure if you’ve changed your mind.

Nope, I’m in. What time?

Can you be here at nine? Club doesn’t get busy till ten anyway.

Sounds good.

That meant I could at least watch part of tonight’s movie for our weekly Friday movie night. That had become a thing when we’d discovered Bean had grown up in a conservative religious home and hadn’t been allowed to watch TV or movies. Or listen to anything but religious music, for that matter. The kid had amassive deficit in his pop culture knowledge, so we’d taken it upon ourselves to educate him. And since Bean needed a lot of sleep and was usually in bed by nine, we always started right after dinner.

Our movie night group had grown, now including Heath and Jarek, Creek’s and Bean’s boyfriends, respectively. They were both good guys, but even if I hadn’t clicked with them, it would’ve been hard to resent them since they took great care of Creek and Bean. Jarek especially was so good with Bean, who could barely remember his own name on bad days. Jarek had endless patience with him. I loved seeing them both so happy, even if it stung a little. Thank god Nash was still single, or I’d feel like a total loser.

It had been Nash’s night to cook, but he’d opted for Chinese takeout instead, which was rare for him. He looked tired, a little pale. Maybe he’d had a rough call at work? He didn’t talk much about what he saw on the job, but it wasn’t always pretty, I reckoned. Even rarer was that he allowed us to eat in front of the TV so we could start the movie. With my plate piled high with orange chicken, kung pao, steamed edamame, and a big scoop of brown rice, I settled in one of the reading chairs.

Tonight’s choice wasThe Mummy, courtesy of Heath. “It’s a classic,” he insisted. “Required watching for every bisexual man. And if you’re not gay or bi or pan already, you will be after watching this.”

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