Page 91 of Kiss-Fist
Thom sighs and meets my stare.
‘Rome came to the gym.’
I nearly choke on my chip and pound on my chest to get it to dislodge. He looks worried, pushing his Vitamin Water over to me, and I take a large swig, my eyes watering as I fight for air.
Fucking hell, Rome. What did he do? Something bad, it seems, because Thom is upset.
I’m going to throttle him when I see him next. Thomdoesn’t deserve anything that Rome told him, I’m sure of it. He’s jealous and has no right to be.
‘What did he say?’ I ask, and Thom runs a hand across the back of his neck, looking defeated.
‘He said—’ He pauses, struggling to find the words, and my heart goes out to him. He pulls out his phone and starts to type. Then he sets it down, shakes his head, and murmurs something to himself.
I don’t like that I don’t know what he said.
‘Tell me. What did he say?’
He blushes and shakes his head again, picking up his phone and typing some more. He stops and stares at it, looking almost like he’s going to cry. I don’t like that at all. I move toward him, sitting at his side and turning the phone so I can see it.
The words on the screen are so him, misspelled and short, but I fucking adore it.
Thom: he said i’m not smart enuf for u. that Ill alwz hav hearing acent. Im a comprimiz.
I stare at that and then up at him, rage flowing through me. How dare he. How fuckingdarehim.
Thom: i know u betr thn me. I onw gym but thas all I hav
He swipes at his eyes, and I shake my head, grabbing the phone and setting it down on the table. I straddle him, gently clasping his cheeks and forcing him to look at me.
I use my voice. I don’t like to, but I need him to hear this from me.
“You are perfect, Thom.”
Those beautiful eyes blink at me, watering slightly.
“I love your hearing accent. You’re perfect for me. You’renota compromise.”
His hands settle on my hips, and he squeezes gently. ‘Sure?’ he asks.
I nod, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. ‘We learn together. You and me. Boyfriends.’
He stares at me for a long time, assessing the truth in what I just said, and then signs, ‘Boyfriends.’
My heart swells at that word, and I bring his hands up to my lips, kissing each fingertip. I can feel the tremble in each one, and I love that I can bring the hottest man to his knees just from this.
When I’m done with his hands, I move to his neck, dragging my lips up to his ear and nibbling on it. I can feel the way his body responds to me, the shiver that moves through him, the hardness of his cock growing against my own.
But I’m not ready for sex. Not yet. I lean back and meet his stare. He just dropped a tiny bomb on me, and I want to ask about it.
‘Wait. Youownthe gym?’
He doesn’t know the sign for own, so I fingerspell it and watch as he blushes. ‘It’s not big deal.’
I arch an eyebrow at him, and he shrugs shyly.
‘Yeah. I own with brother.’
My other eyebrow joins the first one, and I grin at him. ‘See see, smart.’ He shakes his head, and I hold onto his chinand force him to look at me. ‘You smart. Little different than me, but smart yourself. Trust.’
