Page 74 of Kiss-Fist
“God, you’re right. I’ve lost it.”
“You have.”
He snorts and rubs his hand over his forehead. “Michael. He’s…oh god, he’s just a rodent.”
“Yeah, man. He’s just a hog in the ground.”
That makes him laugh even louder, his body doubled over as his goggles fog up from unshed tears.
“He is. Oh god. I know. I’ve lost it, but seriously, Thom. You have no idea how bad he is. He really is from hell.”
“I’m sure he is.”
“Like I think he burrowed down there, met Satan, and came up with a plan to torment me.”
“I don’t think Satan is invested in you or groundhogs.”
Leaf stands up and pulls his goggles from his face with an audibleschwoop. He wipes at his eyes and sighs.
“Okay, I get it. I get it. I do. I won’t put up the cameras.How about pizza and beer instead? Something a normal person would do.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”
He grins at me, and then his eyes twinkle. “And then I’ll show you the footage of Michael. I want you to see what I’m talking about, and why I’m going crazy.”
“Yeah, alright,” I say because I like Leaf, and I think he’s going through it. And also because I’m hungry and I want more advice on this Deaf get-together I agreed to.
I need help, and Leaf is the one to give it to me. Groundhog and all.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THOM
“I’m panicking.Or having a heart attack. Or having heart panic. Is that a thing?”
Dex gives me a flat look as I frantically throw clothes around the room. “I mean, you barely know one another. Is it really that big of a deal?”
“Yes!” I spin around, offended as fuck. “Our relationship is fragile right now. The wrong pair of jeans that make my butt look flat and it will all be over.”
“There’s literally not a single piece of fabric on this Earth that could make your butt look flat, Thom. You do way too many squats for that.”
Maybe he’s right. I turn toward the mirror, moving left and right to look at my profile. Okay. Robbie isn’t going to hate my butt in any pair of jeans. But it still matters. Itfeelslike it matters, anyway.
I hate being this worked up, but the night we spent together hasn’t changed the fact that there are pieces of ourlives that are fundamentally incompatible. That can change the more I learn his language and the more I come to understand his culture, but I can’t push a button and make myself fluent, which is why tonight is important. Not only does Robbie need to still like me, but his friends need to like me too.
“What’s this?” Dex asks as I go for a tight, silky black T-shirt that shows off the curves of my pecs.
I pull it over my head, then frantically try to tame my hair back down as I squint at him. He’s holding the little see-through container full of earplugs that Leaf shoved at me before I left. “Earplugs.”
Dex frowns. “Earplugs.”
“It’s a Deaf show,” I tell him as I attack my hair in the mirror with a comb.
He snorts. “Isn’t that an oxymoron?”
I turn to face him. “What?”
“That you need earplugs if the thing is for Deaf people. Like…do they want you to pretend to be Deaf?”
