Page 99 of ILY
‘We can walk slow together. Let these two power walk without us.’
‘I swear to god,’ Robbie signs, ‘if they break out in a sprint, I will sit down and protest.’
I grin and nod and wave the two brothers ahead of us as they open Dex’s back gate and start toward the walking path. We trailbehind, the morning cool and quiet, Robbie the best company for a man who has a hangover.
Thom and Dex don’t exactly sprint, but they’re walking just short of a jog, and I see geese off in the distance. I can’t help but smirk to myself as we duck under a couple of low-hanging willows.
I wave at Robbie once Thom and Dex aren’t looking back at us. ‘I have a secret.’
Robbie’s eyebrows rise. ‘What? Tell me. Need distraction from this torture.’
I grin and sign as small as I can. ‘I think Dex and Roman are fucking.’
Robbie trips over a root, and I catch him. Thom must hear the noise that comes out of Robbie’s throat because he rushes to his boyfriend and immediately begins to fuss.
‘Are you okay? You need to stop?’
Robbie doesn’t look as annoyed as he might have before he and Thom started screwing six ways to Sunday in every room of their house. He’s gentle as he pushes Thom back. ‘I’m fine. Go back to your gross exercise.’
Thom grins widely, catches Robbie by the chin, and kisses the breath out of him before jogging off to catch up with Dex.
Robbie waits until they’re not paying attention, still a little pink in the cheeks when he asks, ‘Sure?’
I nod, trying to hide my grin. ‘Roman was here this morning. Looked mad. He forgot his phone too. When he grabbed it, the screen turned on, and sex sounds were coming from the speaker.’
‘Porn?’
‘No,’ I answer with a smile. ‘Dex and him. B-J,’ I spell Dex’s name ‘Sex’ the way I’d been doing the night before.
Robbie’s lips twitch, and he slaps a hand over his eye. ‘Gross. I don’t wanna know.’
‘You have to know if I know.’
He sighs, then bursts into laughter, which is catching because I can’t help falling into a fit of giggles. It lasts a few hundred feet before either of us calms down.
‘Why is this so funny?’ he asks once Dex and Thom stop looking at us sideways.
‘Because Roman swore never to be with a hearing guy, and of all people,’ I remind him, ‘he chose Dex, who isn’t even through with his first ASL class yet. And after the shit he gave you and Thom?’
Robbie’s face falls, and his steps slow to a stop. ‘God, he really was a huge dick, wasn’t he?’
I nod my fist. I wasn’t around for all of it, but I was given all the piping hot tea. Robbie’s brothers have loose hands when it comes to any kind of gossip, and Roman has never been quiet about how he feels when non-signing hearing people get into relationships with Deaf.
‘It serves him right. He could use a little public humbling,’ Robbie signs. His arms start flagging, and I appreciate that he feels just as exhausted as I do. He glances around, then nudges and points to the grass. ‘Come on. Let’s go hide over here. I refuse to walk another step.’
He points to a large tree with a thick trunk, and I feel something relax in my body. Hangovers are for the fucking birds. I’m never doing this again.
Or, well, I am not doing this for a long while, at least.
I follow Robbie to the cool grass and settle in, my body thanking me for the break. I really am too old to be doing this to myself. I also make a mental note to visit the gym more often because I’m also too young to be totally taken down by a night out.
My gaze falls back to the path, where Dex and Thom are happily speed walking down the trail, completely clueless to the fact that they’ve lost the two of us to the ground.
As I lie back, I sigh as the ground sinks beneath me, and Robbie drops down, letting out a hum of satisfaction.
Our faces turn toward each other, and I lift my hands. ‘Those gummies nearly did me in last night.’
He snorts. ‘Same. Strong.’
