Page 76 of Kiss-Fist
My heart sinks toward my feet. I hadn’t told Dex why, only that Robbie couldn’t make it indefinitely. “Uh, well. Yeah. And I get it. It’s not fair if he has to sit at a table not able to understand what anyone is saying and only getting bits and pieces. I’m not fluent enough to interpret for him.”
Dex bites his lip and nods. “I get it. It would suck ass if Aminah took me to see her family and no one spoke English.”
My relief is physical. He gets it. “I think he’ll say yes eventually. But you have to put work in.”
“You’re lucky I love you,” he says. We don’t say the L word to each other often. It wasn’t a thing growing up, and while I do love him—he’s the only family that’s ever mattered to me once my parents shut me out—it’s still hard for both of us to express it.
“I know I am.” If he were anyone else, I would have hugged him. Instead, I punch him hard in the arm, then jump half a foot when my phone begins to buzz. “Shit!”
It’s Robbie letting me know he’s here. I respond quickly.
Thom: Come up. The door’s open.
He hasn’t been to my place before, and I feel nervous about it. I fish my shoes out from under my bed, but there’s only one, so I finish my frantic hunt for the second one in the living room just in time to see the front door open.
And fuck me. Robbie looks like a goddamn wet dream. He’s wearing tight jeans and a button-up with his sleeves rolled to his elbow. His hair is neatly styled and not the wild mess it usually is from running his hands through it.
From the gentle scent I catch as I sway close to him, I can tell he’s freshly showered.
‘Delicious,’ I sign when I stop and ogle him.
His cheeks pink, and he leans in, but before I can snag a kiss, he pulls all the way back. It takes me a second to realize why. Spinning, I see Dex hovering a few feet away. He looks…nervous?
That can’t be right.
He looks down at his phone, then clears his throat, tucks it into his pocket, and raises his hands. ‘Hi. How are you?’
Robbie’s brows fly up, and his lips twitch into a half smile. ‘Fine. How are you? Dex, right?’
Dex looks panicked.
‘He hasn’t gotten that far,’ I sign, although it probably comes out more like, ‘he not know many signs,’ but it works. Robbie understands, giving me a little nod, and then I add, ‘I gave him the app.’
Robbie snorts a laugh and shakes his head. ‘It’s fine.’ Then he sticks out his hand, and Dex shakes it. It lasts only a second before Robbie turns to me. ‘Ready?’
‘No.’
He blinks. ‘Why?’
I pinch my fingers to my thumb and tap my cheek. ‘Kiss’
He rolls his eyes and jerks his head toward Dex, who holds up his hands in surrender and backs out of the room. He probably doesn’t know that sign, but he can infer.
I grin at Robbie triumphantly. ‘Happy?’
He shrugs.
‘Afraid of PDA?’
At that, his hand darts out, and he pinches my chin.Hard. He takes a step closer. ‘No. But he’s your brother,’ he signs.
All facts. But they don’t matter when it comes to Robbie’s lush, gorgeous mouth. ‘I don’t care.’
He huffs, then leans in and gives me what I’ve been begging for. His tongue slips into my mouth, hot and demanding, but just as I start to lose myself in him, he pulls back.
‘Ready now?’
I hate him. Except I don’t. I really, really don’t. So I make a show of tucking my hard dick into my waistband, just to let him know how much I want him.
