“Asshole.”
He chuckled again. It had movement but not so much sound. I sensed the rise and fall of his shoulders and the push and pull of his breath.
“This is kind of cool,” I told him as he continued to feel my words. “Did you just come up with this?”
Tap.No.
“Oh, so you’re touching all the ladies mouths in the dark?”
A huff. Tap.No.
I blinked a few times. “Why doesn’t anyone know you’re deaf? Oh sorry, let me rephrase…Does anyone know you’re deaf besides me?”
Tap. Tap.Yes.
“Viktor?”
His fingers trembled against me briefly. Then he tapped twice.Yes.
“Does Halden?”
No. Then he hesitated and tapped twice. So that must’ve been amaybe.
“Kane?”
Yes.
That one surprised me. I really didn’t think Kane knew, but maybe it was less about not knowing and more about not drawing attention to it.
“Is it meant to be a secret?”
No.
“Oh,” I said, and his thumb grazed over my chin. “Just no one really noticed or asked then?”
Tap. Tap.
My shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry.”
He tapped me once. A little forcefully.
I frowned. “I’m just trying to be a friend, Rafe.”
No.
My frown deepened. “You don’t want me to be a friend to you?” I didn’t realize until after I asked the question and his hands fell still against me, that it was a bit of a loaded question. I cleared my throat, trying to find a different question to ask, when he tapped meonce.
No.
No. He didn't want me to be his friend. That could mean a number of things, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to unpack it. “I wish you could ask me questions,” I said through a nervous laugh. “This is hard.”
Rafe dropped his hands then, leaving my lips feeling strangely numb and cold. He must’ve taken what I said as me wanting the conversation to stop altogether, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The silence would've made the chamber so much worse.
But then his hand was suddenly back, cupping my jaw, thumb sweeping across my mouth like before. I went still, thinking he was trying to hear me again. I moved to ask him what was wrong, but then warmth pressed against my mouth.
A kiss. He kissed me.
It landed quick, too quick for me to process—just a press of his mouth against mine, rough and desperate in the dark. For a moment I froze, my heart vaulting into my throat, unsure if it had really happened. And then he did it again, harder, and the truth of it crashed through me.
