“How do you know?”
“Because I asked your roommate. She checked your calendar and cleared the date with me.”
“You are so sneaky.” She snuggled into him. It was a bold move but being near him made her feel things she hadn’t before. Things she liked. A lot.
His arms curled around her as he relaxed against the back of the couch. As she closed her eyes to enjoy the moment, his lips touched her head. So amazing what that little touch did to her.
How long they sat that way, she wasn’t sure. For all she knew, her CIs had shorted out, and he was gabbing away a mile a minute and she had no idea. Though she probably would have felt the vibration from his voice.
“I’m an awful host,” he said minutes or maybe hours later. “I never offered you anything to drink or a snack.”
They both went to the kitchen where he poured her some soda and got a glass of water with lemon for himself. After rummaging through the cabinets, he pulled out a tin of cookies and put them on the table.
“Help yourself.”
“Yeah, I’ll just shove cookies in my mouth and then you’ll never know what I’m saying.”
“Even then, I’m sure I would understand. You mentioned you’d had speech therapy. You must have been the star pupil.”
“It was easier once I had the implants. I could hear what I was saying and what words actually sounded like. Evan had it the worst, because his hearing loss is the most profound.”
Blake’s expression showed confusion. “Evan certainly isn’t as clear as you, but I get the gist of what he’s saying at times.”
“He also had extensive speech services. All the kids in our family had them.”
“Except Brian, right?”
“No, even Brian needed speech. Remember he grew up with Deaf parents. What he heard as language when he was a baby and toddler wasn’t what most children hear as they’re learning. So, yeah, he started SLP services by the time he was two. But once he got to school, he caught up quickly.”
“Because he finally had role models for correct speech?”
“You catch on fast. Must be a bright student yourself.”
His eyes gleamed with mischief. “Eh, I did all right. Only sixth in my med school class. We can’t all be Einsteins.”
“Sixth. Of course.” She shook her head and frowned.
“Don’t tell me you aren’t bright as well. You went through college and now graduate school. You’ve got to have some smarts to get that far. I know getting as far as undergraduate alone is difficult for many deaf people. You’ve surpassed that.”
“Eh, I did all right,” she mimicked him, and he laughed.
“So your sign name must be something to do with how smart you are.”
“Hardly.” She didn’t want to get into this discussion as Evan was the one who gave her the sign name.
“What is it? You never told me. Once I get fluent in ASL, I’ll need to know. Can’t very well be fingerspelling your name when I’m with your family.”
Did he realize the implications of what he’d just said? That he’d be with her family often and that he’d be fluent in ASL, meaning her family might potentially approve of him more. Her mother was smitten already, but then her mom had a thing for dimples like she did. Deanna merely lusted after him. Her sister couldn’t tell her enough how hot he was and that she should grab hold and not let go. Good advice, but she didn’t want to be clingy. Evan had told her he hated women who got too clingy and wouldn’t shake off easily. Granted, it wasn’t like he’d ever had a long-term relationship. A few months was about as long as any girl lasted with him.
“Your sign name? You’re stalling.”
“Fine. It’s this.” She made a C with her hand and swirled it around a few times from the top of her head down. “The letter C and the word curly because of my hair. I’ve had these curls since I was a toddler, and as soon as Evan saw them, that’s what he called me.”
“Why were you reluctant to tell me?”
“Because, if you say curly with only one finger, it looks like the word crazy, and once Evan knew that he teased me all the time. Still does every now and then.”
Pushing aside his glass, Blake shifted closer and took her hand. “That’s okay. I think we all need to be a little crazy to make it in this world. I don’t mind at all. As long as you don’t.”
