I pulled up my phone and opened up the Notes app.
Sorry, I can’t hear anything now. Maybe this isn’t the best match.
I shoved my phone into his hands, and he read the words quickly, knitting his eyebrows together. He typed out a response, his thick thumbs ridiculous on the delicate screen.
I’m not that well known, but I am the captain of Austin’s new rugby team, and you were yelling about us being on a date.
I took the phone back, read his words, and shook my head.
Are you in the closet? Is this some kind of experiment for you?
He thinned his lips, shook his head, and turned to go. DAWIE was in big, bold letters across his back, accompanied by the number seven.
Shit. I probably could’ve been a little more discreet. I called after him, but he didn’t turn around.
“Wait. Are you pretending not to hear me? That’s rich.”
His shoulders tightened, but he kept walking. Yeah, I probably deserved that.
Looking at the massive steak in my hand, I went ahead and tossed it into the basket.
“Fuck it. I’m going to make this for myself.”
CHAPTER 3
RHYS
“Well,thatwas an unmitigated disaster.”
I walked into our apartment and dropped next to Tyler on the couch.
“It couldn’t have been that bad,” he said, putting down his gaming controller.
“Oh really? What’s my pet peeve?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
“People who tailgate. Bad in cars, worse when standing at the grocery store.”
“True. There’s no reason for you to push your grocery cart into my ass. But that’s not my biggest pet peeve.”
“Oh.” He held up a finger. “People who don’t listen. And you hate it when people try to guess what you’re trying to say when you stutter.”
“Yep.”
“Oh my God. Did the guy do that?”
“Well, he didn’t rush my words, but I’m pretty sure that was because the batteries on his cochlear implant died.”
“He was Deaf?”
“Hard of hearing, I think?”
“That’s not really his fault, though, is it?”
“He knew he was going on a date and hadn’t bothered to, I don’t know, charge his battery? It went out right as I walked up to him. He made a joke about him not being able to hear and me not being able to speak, so…”
Tyler’s lip curled up in disgust.
“…yeah. He got mad when I asked him to be quiet about the date since I wasn’t out to my team, and he asked me if I wasexperimenting.”
