I shrug. “Sue me for practicing basic hygiene.”
“Leave your brother alone,” Mum signs to Milly.
“Thanks,” I say, shooting her a grateful look.
I immediately want to take it back when she adds, “Though I would have thought with a larger dating pool, you would have found someone special to bring home to meet us by now. Surely there are loads of nice girls and hot men beating down your door.”
Jonathon chokes on his water, while my sister and her best friend giggle at my expense.
“Seriously, Mum?” I splutter, then turn to my dad. “Are you going to help a guy out here?”
The traitor just laughs. “If I’ve learned anything in my twenty-eight years of marriage to your mother, it’s that I’m always on her side.”
Mum’s lips twitch. “I’m teasing, honey. But it does seem like a waste to spend Saturday night at home. I’m sure there are some parties. Or have you tried one of those dating apps?”
I mutter a curse under my breath before croaking out, “Please stop.”
I love my family, but sometimes I think they take the piss out of me just for fun.
“Relax, Zac,” Mum says with a chuckle. “I’m just messing with you.”
“Not funny.”
Before she can press me any further, I turn the attention back to my sister, signing, “I heard Jonathon finally asked you to the formal.”
My distraction works, with Jade and Amelia launchinginto an animated back-and-forth about dresses, shoes, and hairstyles. I half-listen as I dig into my food, grateful for the change of subject.
They’re signing slower now. Clearer and more deliberate.
Jonathon’s eyes flick between their hands as he tries to keep up. Jade pauses now and then to explain a sign to him, and my heart warms. He said earlier he’d do anything for her, but actions speak louder than words.
It’s clear he’s impressing my parents as well.
Their approval grows when he offers to help clean up when we finish eating.
“Suck up,” I sign to Milly behind his back, teasing her.
She sticks her tongue out, but I know she’s pleased. It’s important to her that we all approve of him.
As much as I try, I’m unable to relax on the couch after dinner knowing what’s coming tonight. My mind is on a certain dark-haired stranger, but I’m thinking of an excuse that will get me out of the house without my sister giving me shit. She’s perceptive, and she knows I was lying about staying in tonight. There’s no getting past someone who relies on sight to communicate; she picks up on every tell. I’m just grateful she hasn’t pulled me up on it.
I know she’ll grill me tomorrow.
There’s no need to worry about how I’ll get away without questions though, and I breathe a sigh of relief when Jonathon offers to take the girls out for ice cream. Only Amelia will know I’m not home later, when she sees my bed empty.
I try to focus on the highlights after they leave, but I keep glancing at my watch. At half past nine, I give up and grab my keys and mask.
My stomach flutters with anticipation as I drive towards the club. I can’t stop thinking about what it will feel like tohave his strong hands all over my body. To feel him pressing me into the sheets.
I haven’t been in a room before, and I’ve only hooked up with two other people at the club before him. There’s something about him. The way he makes my heart beat faster, the magnetic energy he brings—he’s unpredictable, and he makes me feel reckless in a good way.
There’s something dangerous about not knowing who he is, like standing too close to a flame just to see how long you can take the heat, and for the first time in a long time, I’m not over-analysing, not holding back. I’m just feeling.
It’s impossible to deny, it feels good to burn.
Knowing my car is too noticeable to park too close to Euphoria, I park behind the movie theatre and make sure my mask is in my pocket before walking the three blocks to the club.
I’m early, but I want to have a drink to calm my nerves before my shadow arrives. It didn’t escape my notice that he wasn’t drinking either time we hooked up, and I don’t need to be rip-roaring drunk to do this. I just need something to take the edge off and maybe try to ignore a certain dark, broody, off-limits captain who keeps trying to push his way into my thoughts.
