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Her mouth quirked as she read the signs. “Okay, one chocolate and one of the Blue Moon.”
Noah felt a small surge of vindication. He’d reduced the beer and used it to infuse the custard, and he had a feeling it would go over well. He had a feeling Adam would be a mixture of proud and annoyed when he finally saw it.
“What’s that over there?” the woman asked as she handed over a twenty.
Noah made the change, then followed her gaze to where Adriano was leaning against the table and teaching three teenagers how to sign something. The angle wasn’t enough for him to see, but by the grins on their faces he didn’t think it was a favorite color.
“My market partner is Deaf, so he’s teaching everyone signs for free cookies,” Noah explained.
The woman frowned, but the little girl jumped on the balls of her feet. “I learned that at school! I can…I can say this!” She widened her stance like she needed the balance, then signed on her small little hands, ‘My name Melody.’ She spelled her name with the careful, slow fumble of a new learner.
Noah waved his hands in applause. “Very good,” he said, then signed it. “Do you want to go learn something else? My friend Adriano is very nice.”
The mom looked dubious, but the girl was too excited and took off ahead of her. “Does he live here?” the mom asked, inching toward the end of the table.
Noah’s heart sank a little, but he shook his head. “No. He lives and works in LA, but he’s taking time off.” Though, in truth, he didn’t really know how long Adriano planned to stick around. He glanced over to see that Melody had gotten Adriano’s attention, and she was showing him the handful of signs she knew—her name, age, a couple of the colors.
Adriano beamed, then squeezed his body through the gap in the tables and knelt down in front of her to teach her something else. ‘My favorite animal horse,’ he signed very slowly, murmuring the words along with his hands.
The woman softened a bit. “He’s good at that.”
Noah couldn’t help his smile as he watched the girl copy him until she had it right. “Yes, he is.”
“You come back and show me what you remember, and you can have more cookies,” Adriano told her as they finished.
Melody’s cheeks were puffy, crumbs on her lips, and she signed, ‘Thank you,’ before her mom took her hand and they wandered off.
Noah stepped back as Adriano eased back into the booth, and this time, he didn’t feel worried as Adriano stepped in close. ‘You’re cute when you’re teaching little kids.’
Adriano rolled his eyes, but he put one hand at Noah’s waist and dug his fingers in. ‘You’re cute all the time.’ He brushed a kiss over his lips, then turned back to rearrange the cookies as another customer approached, and Noah got back to work.
* * *
By seven,Noah’s stomach was growling, and the last thing in the world he wanted was something that came out of Bubbe’s kitchen. He was entirely sold out of the beer and chocolate sufganiyot and only had two of the raspberry left. Their cookie supply had dwindled down to almost nothing, and the sign booth had shut down when Adriano had given the very last one to Melody who returned to show him she had remembered everything he taught her.
‘Food?’ Adriano asked.
Noah nodded. ‘Yes, please. Something with greens, though. No more junk.’
Adriano chuckled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. ‘Be back soon. I’ll find something good for us.’
‘Thank you,’ Noah told him, then leaned on the counter as he watched Adriano bob and weave through the slowly dwindling crowd. He checked through his wares one last time, then the cash box, which was overflowing. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough to make up for the hole he was in, but it was something. Adriano had already sent the first five videos off to his friend for editing, and they’d be back this week for the pair of them to watch and approve.
Then…then the first one would be posted.
Noah had reluctantly signed the contract accepting sole rights over the content. He’d added in his bank account, he’d accepted all terms and conditions, and had tentatively agreed to a trip at some point in the future to visit Adriano’s lawyer to sign a better contract that would protect him from what Adriano’s ex-agent might do.
But for now, Adriano assured him it would be fine. After all, Xander owned Sylent, not Adriano.
‘Adriano is for you,’ his lover assured him late Wednesday night after their hearts began to beat slower, and their heavy breathing began to ease. ‘He can’t have the piece of me that’s here with you.’
It was an almost I love you. It was something more than just I like you, at least. Noah had been on the verge of confessing then. He was deliciously sore and sated in more ways than he could have dreamed. And he was…he was happy. He was romanced. He was content. The more he got to know Adriano, the deeper he fell.
There was no glass shattering with him.
Noah startled when someone cleared their throat, and he turned to see Adam and Fitz standing at the edge of the table. Adam’s face settled into a smirk. Noah knew he’d been caught, but he didn’t much care anymore.
“You know, until right this moment, I thought Fitz was a fucking liar,” Adam said. “I didn’t think you’d actually show up.”
