Page 15 of The Love Duet
Kaley’s mouth dropped open, clearly offended.“Well, fuck you, Royce Cameron,” she spat.“You didn’t need to talk to me like that.”
“Yeah, I did,” I argued.“You were implying that my girlfriend wasn’t worth the effort, and that’s simply not true.She’s worth more than the effort, and I have every intention of taking that girl with me to the fucking altar.”
Too angry to give a shit about snacks, I stormed off, leaving Hudson to fend for himself, though it was a crappy thing to do.None of this was his fault, but I couldn’t hang out there any longer.I was furious, and not just at Kaley’s jealousy.Roxanne Rafferty was beautiful, and her inability to hear did nothing to diminish that.Kaley mentioning Roxanne’s deafness was an inexcusable low, and I thanked God that I’d never dated Kaley Frost.
Heading out of the courtyard, I rounded the corner of the math building and saw Roxie and Pepper sitting in the same, quiet, safe corner of the picnic section in the lunch area, and I didn’t think as I headed straight for them.
When I approached them, they both smiled up at me, but my guess was that I didn’t have a very good poker face, because their smiles immediately fell from their faces.
Roxie was the first to sign at me.“Are you okay?”
I dropped on my haunches, placed my hands on her hips, then said, “You’re beautiful.”
She quickly glanced over at Pepper before looking back at me, then repeating her question.“Are you okay?Is everything alright?”
Letting go of her hips, I signed, “I’m fine.”Then because I still needed to learn a lot, I voiced, “I just don’t think that I’ve told you that yet, and I want you to know that I think you’re so fucking beautiful, Roxie.”
“Hey?”We both looked over at Pepper.“If you talk at the same time that you sign, she’ll know what you’re trying to sign to her.”As I stared at her, I realized that Pepper always talked while she signed when I was around, like my father had suggested.“She can read lips, so I think it’ll help you learn faster.Roxie can correct you as you speak.”
I looked up at Roxie as I signed, “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she signed back, nodding.“It can’t hurt.”
I smiled up at her, but I was still in my feelings something fierce.I was so fucking angry, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it because I didn’t get like this often.So, I put my hands back on her hips, then dropped my head in her lap.
When Roxie’s fingers started running through my hair, I wanted to stay like this forever.Being near her felt so peaceful that it didn’t matter that Pepper was sitting with us.It also didn’t matter that we hadn’t even been on a real date, had known each other long, or could communicate fluidly.
None of that mattered.
The only thing that mattered was this girl and making sure that no one ever got through me to get to her.While there were a million Kaley Frosts, there was only one Roxanne Rafferty, and I was going to protect her like the rare gem that she was.
Chapter 6
Royce~
It’s been three months, and they’ve been perfect months.We’d had our first Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas together, and my parents absolutely adored Roxie.Even Quincy had taken to her when they’d first met, and he wasn’t easily impressed.
