Page 84 of ILY
Thom, of course, bounds over and tugs me into a fierce hug the moment I’m close enough. I would think him hanging out with Robbie and his family and friends is rubbing off on him with all the touchy and feely, but I know it’s just him.
Which is probably why he fits in so well.
Thom lets me go, then leans back and gives Thorne a very slow, very long up and down. Thorne is unmoved by Thom’s sudden guard dog act, but I’m not surprised. They’re the same height and pretty much the same build, but I haven’t seen Thorne look shaken by anything except Michael, and that was only the one time.
“Hey,” Thom says after a long beat.
I roll my eyes. ‘Stop being weird,’ I sign. ‘This is Thorne.’ I wave at the rest of the table and re-make the introduction, speaking and signing because I know that Dex isn’t past his first semester of ASL yet.
Dex just snorts and shakes his head at his brother’s posturing. He waves and signs, ‘Sit down.’
Thom flips him off but does what he says, settling back into Robbie’s side. I can feel Robbie’s heavy gaze as he takes in the both of us. Then he leans forward and waves a hand at Thorne.
‘You sign?’
Thorne nods. ‘I’m still learning. I’ve taken a couple years of ASL.’
‘Why?’ Robbie demands.
I turn to Thorne. ‘You don’t have to answer that.’
He grins softly and shakes his head. ‘It’s okay.’ Turning back to Robbie, he tilts his head and pulls his hair back to show his hearing aids. ‘I have Ménière’s. Hearing declining. Probably fully Deaf in a few years.’
Robbie’s eyes widen, and then he looks at me. ‘Cursed?’
I groan loudly as Thorne touches the back of my neck and repeats the sign with a little wiggle of his finger to let me know he’s asking.
‘I love the Deaf community,’ I sign that with a kiss-fist. ‘But I was ready to be done signing all the time.’ Thorne immediatelystarts to look shattered, but I quickly shake my head. ‘I moved here and made Deaf friends. Then I met you. I’m happy.’
Thom makes a loudawwwnoise after he finishes interpreting what I’m signing for his brother. ‘You two are so cute I want to vomit.’
I flip him off and steal a quick kiss before turning back to the table. ‘You want to interrogate him?’
Robbie’s eyes light up. He looks like he’s about as stressed as I am and needs to let off some steam. I feel like a few drinks and dancing might be better for that than grilling my new…shit, is he my boyfriend? I don’t even know, and we haven’t really said the words.
God, we need to have a few chats about what the hell all of this even is. But for now, I let Robbie rapid-fire questions at Thorne.
It’s clear he’s testing his ability to sign, as well as trying to catch him in a lie, but Thorne is patient and sweet and stays close to me, glancing at me for clarification every time he’s lost.
It’s…nice. Not as relaxing as I’d hoped, but not terrible either.
We move on after the food gets to the table though, and eventually, Robbie detaches himself from Thom while he and his brother are having some argument about gym equipment, and he slides into the empty seat beside me.
‘You okay?’ he asks between us.
‘Yeah, fine.’
He lifts a brow as if to say, ‘Really?’
‘Okay, not fine. I’ve been better. But I’ve been worse.’
‘Michael? Or new relationship?’
‘Both,’ I have to admit. ‘Thorne is the good part, but I didn’t expect to meet anyone, so it’s…’ I hesitate as I struggle to find the right words or classifiers—anything that’ll help medescribe all these new feelings. And shit, that’s it. ‘New. It’s new. Unfamiliar. I don’t want to fuck it up, but I think I already have.’
Robbie frowns. ‘How?’
Oh, I am not getting into all that right now. I want a good night. I don’t want to think about bloody shoes or serial killers or the fact that Thorne only met me because he was trying to get enough evidence to arrest me for the crime of keeping a man locked in an underground dungeon while I looked for something on the dark web to blow up a groundhog.
