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Maybe, he thought to himself, there would be a way to trade jobs. As long as Ravi’s bosses were okay with Bodhi taking the coffee bar instead of the counter since he was shit at reading lips and shit at being able to hear people giving orders, it would work out just fine.
Ravi would love it. And so would everyone else.
And it wasn’t like Bodhi was planning on making this his career. He wanted to…well. He wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t this. It wasn’t serving coffee all day. He wanted to write a book and maybe teach. Hell, maybe even travel and visit all the places he’d read about in his books. He wanted to put his feet in ancient footprints fossilized in mud and preserved for thousands of years. He wanted to trace his fingers over mosaic tiles and sit in dry baths where the long dead had once soaked.
His current life was just a steppingstone.
It was just a moment.
This was just…
Bodhi’s thoughts came to a skidding halt when he realized that he was being watched. And not just by his brother and Wren, but also by Caleb who was standing in the doorway. Bodhi realized his fingers were stimming again, and he quickly curled them into fists.
Were they trying to get his attention? Was his body being too loud?
“Sorry,” he offered.
Caleb’s frown was deeper than normal—conflict in his eyes—and Bodhi could see his shoulders move in a sigh before he signed, “You can go home. We’re not opening back up today.”
“I know. I wanted to bring my brother in. Like I said I would.”
“Yes,” Caleb said, and he stepped closer to Ravi who stood up. “I appreciate you bringing him by. I think he’ll be a perfect fit.”
Bodhi felt like he was choking on his heartbeat even as he nodded, because it wasn’t anything he didn’t already know. Hell, he was the one who said it to Caleb in the first place. “Great.”
“I’ll stick around and show Ravi what he’ll be doing, and Wren can work on his schedule,” Caleb told him.
It was nothing more than protocol, so Bodhi didn’t know why numbness settled over him. He caught his brother’s eye and saw Ravi’s face was…something. The expression was new, and Bodhi wasn’t in the mood to try and figure it out.
“Why don’t you stay and wait for me,” Ravi offered.
Bodhi quickly shook his head. It was bad enough knowing Caleb would be just as charmed as everyone else by Ravi’s easy nature. It would be worse sticking around to watch it all happen. He was still reeling from his crush on the one man he shouldn’t want, and he wished his heart had a switch so he could turn the damn thing off because it wasn’t fair.
“I’m going to grab food and study.” He wrapped his arms tightly around himself and started for the door when he heard a faint thud behind him. He paused only a second to see Wren’s hands moving, but he could only catch a couple of very familiar words.
“Always…asshole…you…”
Wren had always been kind to him, so he was probably being defended. But it didn’t matter. He’d come there to get Ravi hired and that’s what he’d done. Hurrying back down the hall, he made it out of the doors before a hand caught his shoulder and he jumped, spinning around.
Caleb stood there, his face as unreadable as ever. Bodhi braced himself for more unkindness, but after a beat, Caleb lifted his hands. “Thank you for bringing your brother in. It’s been hell on earth since that video hit the internet, and we really need the help.”
Bodhi’s heart skipped through a staccato beat. “No problem,” he finally managed.
Caleb rubbed the back of his neck before shaking his hands out. “You can stay if you want. I didn’t mean—”
“No,” Bodhi interrupted.True biz. “I have a lot of homework to finish.”
Bodhi couldn’t tell if Caleb was relieved or not. He was expressive in ways Bodhi was still trying to figure out how to read. “I’ll see you soon,” Caleb finally offered.
Bodhi nodded and turned away, rushing through the door and almost smacking directly into someone standing just outside of it. He let out a sharp cry and almost toppled to the side, but caught himself on the railing.
Luke threw his hands up in surrender, then he quickly signed, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It was my fault. I’m okay.” It was mostly not a lie. “I was just heading out.”
“You look upset,” Luke said.
Bodhi laughed in surprise. “I’m okay.” Also not technically a lie. Hewasfine. Hurt feelings weren’t dangerous or life threatening, and he’d been dealing with Ravi overshadowing him for most of his life. “I need to go back to campus and study.”
