Page 13 of The Love Duet
Chapter 5
Roxanne~
The meeting with my parents had gone well.Thirty minutes before school had started, Royce had shown up on my doorstep, ringing the doorbell and texting me at the same time.When I had answered the door, he had floored me by asking if my parents were home because he’d like to meet them.
A quick five minutes later, Royce Cameron had been introduced to my parents, and there’d been no awkwardness or drama.Hands had been shaken, greetings greeted, and promises to speak more later had been made.Then, when Royce had opened the car door for me this morning, just like he’d had on Friday night, that’s when it had occurred to me that Royce Cameron had the manners of a gentleman, and it was a very nice thing to see, especially in this day and age.
Now, parked in the student parking lot, I was sitting in his car while he was opening the door for me yet again.After helping me out of the vehicle, Royce grabbed my book bag from my hand, then tossed it over his shoulder, letting it land on top of his own book bag.
Grabbing my hand, we walked through the parking lot together and towards class.Yosemite High was an open campus, so it wasn’t closed-in like some other schools.It was nice during spring and fall, but kind of miserable during summer and winter; harsh weather was no joke.However, I did like the rain.The rain was soothing, in my opinion.
As we made our way through the walkways towards my locker first, it was hard to ignore the stares, though I didn’t blame them.It was rumored that Royce hadn’t been interested in dating anyone here, so this had to be a shock.Plus, throw in the fact that I’d never had a boyfriend since starting high school, and this little PDA was bound to send tongues wagging.
When we finally reached my locker, Royce smiled down at me.“Are you okay?”he signed.
“Yeah,” I signed back, smiling up at him.“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Everyone’s staring,” he signed, but the shake in his shoulders showed me that he was laughing.
I nodded.“Yes, they are.”
“Does it bother you?”he asked, still signing.
I shrugged.“Not really.”
Royce gave me a terse nod before letting me open my locker and get to business.However, the second that I opened my locker, Royce had me trapped inside the door, his hands coming up to cradle my face, and the second that his lips touched mine, my knees threatened to give out.
His lips were firm, but soft.They were thorough, but tender.They were sexy, but sweet.Royce Cameron knew how to kiss, and he tasted like a hint of mint and pure perfection.
My hands slid up his chest until my arms were wrapped around his neck, and I kissed him back, not caring who was watching.While I hadn’t expected such a bold move, I wasn’t sorry that he’d made it.I’d been wondering since Friday what his objective was, and now I knew.While kissing didn’t necessarily mean commitment, Royce Cameron wouldn’t be kissing me if he weren’t serious about me.He just didn’t seem like the type to toy with people.
When he finally pulled his lips off mine, he dropped his forehead to mine, his chest heaving as rapidly as mine was.“I’ve been wanting to do that since last year,” he confessed, talking precisely enough for me to read his lips.“And it’s all that I’ve been thinking of since Friday.”
I leaned back, so that I could sign to him.“Royce-”
“You’re my girlfriend, right?”My eyes widened at him being so direct.“I mean, it’s okay to kiss you, right?Since you’re my girlfriend, yeah?”
Royce Cameron’s girlfriend.
“You want me to be your girlfriend?”I signed.
His brows knitted in confusion.“I-” He went to signing.“I don’t understand.”I pointed between him and me, then re-signed the question, and his brows immediately jumped in understanding.“Yes, I want you to be my-” He stopped, then signed the word girlfriend by spelling it.
My heart was threatening to explode inside my chest.I’d never heard of a boy wanting to date a girl badly enough that he would learn an entirely different language just to be with her.It was also sweet how he wasn’t embarrassed to mess up his signs.I knew that he didn’t feel entirely comfortable with his limited knowledge of ASL, but I loved that he was still brave enough to try.
I nodded, then signed, “Okay.”
His smile carried across his entire face.“Yeah?”he signed.
I nodded again.“Yeah,” I signed back.
