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Before Wren could take the phone back, his own buzzed. He stopped, holding up a finger, and he dug into his pocket. When he saw Ravi’s name on the screen, relief flooded him, so powerful he almost wanted to cry.
Ravi: Where u?
Wren: Dog park. Need boyfriend SOS.
Ravi: One min. At the corner.
Wren put his phone back into his pocket, and the second his hand was free, Mark shoved his phone into it. ‘Why don’t you give me your number? We can spend time getting to know each other while I work on my ASL. And my friend is a speech therapist if you ever wanted to learn to talk.’
Wren’s whole face went hot, and his hand shook a little as he shoved the phone back. It boggled his mind, the audacity some people had. He should have been used to it, considering that was the way he was raised, but it would have never occurred to him to say some shit to a total random stranger he’d met at a dog park.
He didn’t reply, and they stood there awkwardly for so long, Wren briefly considered just calling Mouse over and taking off without a goodbye. Mark was still staring at his phone like he was waiting for a message to magically appear on the screen, and Wren was counting down the seconds before Ravi arrived.
He jumped when he felt a tap on his arm, and he looked over at Mark, who was standing even closer. Wren’s stomach twisted, and he prayed to God he wouldn’t be put in the position to fight some guy off—because he would, and a small part of him wanted to, but he knew it wouldn’t do him any good.
“This isn’t a good idea,” he signed, not giving a shit if Mark understood him anymore. “I’m not interested in you. This is a waste of both of our time.”
Mark opened his mouth and started speaking, and for a second, Wren attempted to understand him, but then he saw movement at the gate. He almost laughed as he glanced over to see Ravi jogging across the grass toward him.
Mouse took immediate notice and started racing over, and Ravi stopped to give him a kiss between his ears before crossing the distance and grabbing one of Wren’s hands.
“Hey, babe,” Ravi signed as he rose onto the tips of his toes. He pressed a soft kiss to the corner of Wren’s mouth. “What’s going on?”
“This dude is a little persistent,” Wren said, and when he glanced over, Mark was already fifteen feet away and moving quickly.
Ravi’s face fell into a scowl. “Did he try something?”
“Nothing worse than bad YouTube ASL and asking me out. He just wasn’t taking no for an answer,” Wren told him.
Ravi’s glare deepened as he watched Mark, who was now all the way on the other side of the park with his dog. “What the fuck is wrong with people?”
Wren passed a hand down his face and sighed. “I don’t know. But I’m ready to go. I feel like an ass because Mouse is having fun, but…”
“He’s already been here twice today,” Ravi interrupted. “I took him after breakfast and then before my two o’clock class.”
Wren stared down at his dog with a look of disappointment. “Liar.”
Mouse opened his mouth, and his tongue lolled out.
“Let’s go,” Ravi said, tugging on his hand. “Or I’m gonna go over there and pick a fight. I’m in no fucking mood with people today.”
“Wanna talk about it?” Wren asked before clipping the lead back on Mouse.
Ravi shook his head. “Not really. We had a club meeting today, and the new guy decided to advocate for removing the ace and aro people from the group.”
Wren blinked at him in shock.
Ravi still looked freshly pissed. “What made it worse is that there were like five people who agreed with him. He gave some passionate speech about how ace and aro people might not be what society considers normal. They don’t face systematic oppression, so it doesn’t count, especially if they’re in straight-passing relationships.”
Wren bit his lip, shaking his head. Aromantic was one of the labels he’d been toying with since he realized the way he felt about his dates wasn’t the way everyone else did. He’d read definition after definition, and sometimes it really fit, and sometimes it didn’t. He felt lost at sea, but the one thing he thought he could count on was being accepted in the queer community. He’d talked about it with Ravi a ton—since he was asexual and understood in ways most people didn’t. Ravi was far more confident than he was, but right now, he looked small and angry and a little hurt.
It was bullshit that anyone would make Ravi feel like he didn’t belong.
“Is he old?” Wren asked. “If he’s old, I can kick his ass.”
Ravi shook his head with a small laugh, then held the gate open for Mouse and Wren to pass through. They matched steps, and Ravi rolled his shoulders back before answering him. “My age—maybe younger. I think he’s a sophomore. And I know that some people just need education, you know? It’s a shitty take, but people can grow. I get that.”
Wren nodded. “So, you want to help him?”
