“Shit. Sorry,” I say and lift my hand to sign that before remembering she’s hearing.
“It’s fine. I wasn’t looking where I was going either,” she says. Her voice is sweet and soft.
I grin at her. “I’m Dex, in case you forgot.”
Her lips quirk up. “Trust me, I didn’t forget. And Lexi, in case you forgot mine.”
“Not a chance,” I reply, and I see the small blush on her cheeks.
“Are you a student here?”
“Not a full-time student. I’m taking ASL since my brother’s dating Robbie.”
Her eyes widen. She’s a professor too, one that signs, soclearly, she knows him. “I’ve seen him around. Guy with the abs.”
I lift the edge of my shirt, knowing damn well I’m flirting. But it’s hard to care when her cheeks flush just a bit. “We’re both blessed. We own the gym a few blocks up from here. PUMPT?”
“I’ve seen it,” she says with a small grin, then her phone buzzes and she groans. “Sorry, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a class I need to get to. It was nice to meet you, Dex.”
“You too. And if you ever want to stop by, I can hook you up with a sweet discount.”
Her eyes meet mine, and she wets her lips. “I may do that, Dex. Idolove a hard workout.” And with that, she walks into the classroom, my eyes trailing after her.
Fuck, she’s fun. I can already tell. I mean, she’s not Rome, but she seems nice and might even end up liking me.
And she sure isn’t mad I’m hearing and learning sign like Rome is.
No, I won’t think about that guy anymore. He’s taken up way too much of my headspace. And fuck, he’s gone for the next three years. He didn’t even tell me he was leaving. In fact, he never even responded to my message. It makes me feel like a fool, trying with him. I shouldn’t have bothered.
I should have taken those blowjobs for what they were. Release. Pure and simple. Because they were obviously nothing more for him.
Hell, it’s time to forget about him, forget he exists and move on.
And if Lexi lets me and if we vibe with one another, maybe I’ll take the risk and see if there’s a future to be had.
CHAPTER FIVE
ROME
The plane shudders through turbulence,knocking me out of my half trance. I got zero sleep last night, and it’s entirely one man’s fault.
Dex. God help me.
Fucking Thom’s brother was not in my life plan. It wasn’t in my retirement plan. It wasn’t in my last-man-on-Earth plan. After my shitty-as-fuck ex, I never planned on going near a hearing guy again. I’m not foolish enough to think every hearing person on the planet is a bad guy. I love Rhett like family. He’s got a massive Deaf heart and has always made everyone’s life easy. But there’s a difference between guys like Rhett and guys like Dex.
Guys who are trying and guys who want to skate by with the bare minimum. Though that might be unfair because Dex is trying. He’s just new. I don’t have the patience for that, and I never have. And if I were ever capable of it, my ex cooked it out of me a long time ago.
But that’s what makes this so much worse.
Dex caught me at one of my most vulnerable moments, and I let go of all that anger just long enough to let him in past my walls, and now I have nothing more than regret sitting like a heavy weight on my chest.
It doesn’t help that I’m still nursing a minor heartbreak over Robbie falling in love with a hearing himbo. I’m not delusional enough to think I will ever be good enough for him, but I thought he’d choose better.
I thought he’d choose a man who didn’t make me feel even worse about myself. I realize that’s not totally his problem, and he really doesn’t have any commitment to me, but seriously? What the fuck does Thom have that I don’t? Well, apart from being a giant walking golden retriever and big muscles?
It’s hard to believe Robbie’s into that kind of person. He’s like me—a grumpy dick, bitter at the world, exhausted from working twice as hard for half the recognition, always being fucked over by hearing guys. When we first met, we agreed on this. Hearing people were just too hard, too complicated to deal with, and would always turn on you in the end.
And then he had to turn into a fucking traitor.
