Page 24 of The Tides Between Us

“I know I don’t,” he said matter-of-factly. I was more amazed at the fact that he could understand what I was signing. Or else he was piecing it together based on certain words he could pick out. “I want to, Giana. For once, please just let someone else do something for you.”

His words were like a bolt of electricity to my spinal cord. They fissured, the shock dispersing itself throughout my body. He may not have known me long enough to know, but he had been able to make his own conclusions since meeting me. And damn him for being right.

I didn’t like help from others. I didn’t like people trying to accommodate my needs. I appreciated anyone who took the time to learn ASL so it was easier to communicate, but I also didn’t mind handwriting and typing things. It was something I had grown accustomed to. I preferred my independence. The sense that I didn’t need anyone for anything and I sure as hell didn’t need them treating me any differently or like they needed to shape themselves for me.

Declan extended his left hand with his palm facing the ceiling. His movements were sharp as he opened his right hand and brought it down to his left palm at a ninety-degree angle.“Stop.”

My eyebrows pulled together and I raised both hands with my palms facing upward as I shook them.“What?”

"Get out of your head, princess,” he said with simplicity as he closed the distance between us. He stopped as his toes reached mine. I tilted my head back to look up at him. “Stop overthinking everything. If I didn’t want to learn, I wouldn’t.”

Pulling my lips between my teeth, I nodded as I released it. Specks of green and gold swirled in Declan’s light eyes. I was close enough that I could count them. He was just within my reach and I balled my hands into fists in an effort to resist reaching out for him. There was something about him that was drawing me in. I was slowly being sucked into his vortex.

He pointed both of his pointer fingers forward. He formed aDon both hands with his fingers and tapped them together. They were tilted forward slightly, almost at an angle. My gaze collided with his as he lifted his eyebrows and pointed at himself.

“Go on dessert with me.”

My eyebrows pulled together. I pointed at him, turned my hands so they were palm-up, and curled my fingers toward me. I made the sign for dessert, tapping the twoD’s together twice at an angle. Forming aYon each hand, I bent my elbows with my hands by my face and lowered them toward the ground with my palms facing the ceiling.“You want dessert now?”

Confusion laced itself through Declan’s expression. “Fuck,” he mouthed in frustration. “I’m confused.”

I quickly grabbed a piece of paper from my desk and the pen moved fluidly across the surface.You said to go on dessert with you.

Declan closed his eyes momentarily before he set the paper down and looked back at me. “I was trying to say go on adatewith me.”

My heart was racing in its cage. My breathing had picked up and I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as a pit of warmth was building.

I lifted my hands, making twoD’s. I held them upright with my pointer fingers pointing directly at the ceiling. I tapped my other fingers together twice. “Date,” I mouthed simultaneously.

Keeping my fingers in the same shape, I tilted my hands to face him, more at an angle. I tapped them together twice. “Dessert,” I moved my lips with the sign.

Declan slid his tongue along the inside of his cheek. “Well, shit,” he said as his shoulders deflated. “I really butchered that, huh?”

A smile pulled on my lips.“Ask me again.”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed, biting back a smile even though those damn dimples refused to be concealed. His eyes glimmered and he signed the words to me again, this time using the correct sign.

“Go on a date with me.”

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and nodded.“Okay.”

His grin was earth-shattering as it spread across his face.“Okay.”

CHAPTERELEVEN

DECLAN

As I pulled up in front of Giana’s building, she was standing there waiting for me. Her long midnight-colored hair hung down her back in cascading waves. She had it pulled away from her face, with a few pieces framing it. The soft breeze blew the wisps of hair across her face as I stepped out of my car and walked over to her.

She was wearing a yellow dress that stopped mid-thigh, looking fucking delectable. It was her color, the perfect contrast against her features. Her bright blue eyes shined back at me as I walked up to her. She walked down the steps and we met at the bottom.

“You steal the air straight from my lungs,” I said softly as I closed the small amount of space between us. My fingers slid against her silky skin as I pushed the stray tendrils of hair away from her face. “You look beautiful.”

A pink tint crept across her cheeks and a smile broke out across her lips. She lifted her hand, touching her chin with her fingertips before pulling her hand away, her palm facing upward.“Thank you.”

"Shall we?” I asked as I motioned toward the Jeep. I made sure to put the top back on before picking her up, just in case she didn’t want it to mess up her hair.

Giana nodded and she stepped around me before stepping closer to the vehicle. My strides were longer than hers and I reached the door before her. She waited, a shy smile still on her lips as I pulled it open for her and helped her inside.

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