“What are you doing with your hands?” David asked.
“Sign language. Ben is deaf but he can read lips. When you speak to him, please face him so he understands.”
David slowly tilted his head toward Ben while Calvin stared at him, dumbstruck.
“Nice to meet you,” Calvin said, his lips moving slowly. He glanced over to Matt, as if listening to something he had said, then returned his attention to Ben. “So…I just talk like I usually do and you can understand me? Without the sign language?”
Ben nodded and smiled, thankful Calvin wasn’t a mumbler or fast talker. He withdrew the phone from his back pocket and typed out a quick message on his phone app that created large text notes on the screen. Turning the phone to face his new housemate, he waited for him to read his message.
“Lipreading isn’t perfect, but I have enough practice to catch most of the conversation. Texting and writing stuff down works too,” Calvin read out loud. He pursed his lips and nodded, as if digesting the bits of information. “Cool.”
A sigh of relief escaped Ben. He didn’t want to be in the man’s crosshairs. He didn’t like the idea of being in anyone’s crosshairs. Especially not one of his housemates. He glanced over at David. A chill traveled up his spine as those coal-colored eyes swept every inch of his body. The man’s tongue snaked out between his parted lips, then swiped across his upper lip. “It’s very nice to meet you.” He spoke slowly, his gaze skipping to Ben’s face, his features, and down his torso.
Ben stared, his mouth suddenly dry as the hairs at the back of his neck rose in warning.
“Do you speak?” David asked, his eyes sparking with something dark Ben didn’t want to dwell on.
He slowly shook his head, his pulse kicking up a few extra beats and his stomach somersaulting.
A smile curled the corner of David’s mouth. “I bet you scream.”
Ben’s eyebrows twitched. A handful of words that should have been easy to read, if it weren’t for the jittery nerves always making him second-guess his skills. But the gleam in David’s eyes, the wickedness of that twist of his mouth into a smirk… No, he hadn’t misread the words.
The breath caught in his throat. He inched back one step, then another until his back hit the wall. He whipped around, gasping when the wall was actually Julian.
“What did he say to you?” Julian signed. “He didn’t speak out loud.”
Ben turned back toward three pairs of prying eyes—two questioning and one mentally shredding each piece of clothing off his body. David had either wanted to tease him and test his lipreading skills or this was a hint of what was to come.
He just wasn’t sure which.
Oftentimes, he ignored his instincts, trying to seek the positive in a person. But sometimes, regardless of how hard he tried, there was no good in sight.
He returned his attention to Julian, still battling with himself if he should stir up trouble in the house. This was a new start and he didn’t want to screw it up. But this was one time he couldn’t ignore the warning flags in his head. After taking a deep, centering breath, he signed to Julian what David had said to him.
Julian inhaled, a breath so deep it swelled his body to his full six-foot-three height. Matt wrapped an arm around Ben’s shoulder and pulled him close, as if shielding him from the wrath Julian was ready to unleash. The control tightening the muscles along Julian’s jawline was mesmerizing and stole Ben’s attention. The house owner took a step closer to David, then another. He spoke to David, but Ben couldn’t make out the words with the different way Julian’s lips moved, as if he were gritting his teeth to hold back his temper.
David slid a casual glance over toward Ben. He winked and slowly turned toward the stairs, taking one leisurely step at a time as if unfazed by whatever Julian had said.
Ben’s gaze skipped from one man to another, waiting to see who would be the first to speak, desperately wanting to know what had been said.
Calvin waved his hand to get Ben’s attention. “He’s an asshole.” He turned his face toward Julian and shrugged. “Yeah, I know, but whatever. I said what everyone else was thinking.” Calvin returned his attention to Ben. “You have to show me how to sign bad words so I won’t get in