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“Good?”
“Best,” Bodhi answered with one sugar-covered hand. “Thank you.”
Caleb waved him off. “You deserve more than just this, but I wasn’t sure how long we were going to be stuck out here.”
Bodhi’s object permanence issue reared its head again as he remembered that they were expecting a visit. From a campus officer. Because his grandparents refused to accept boundaries.
“Hey,” Caleb said, waving his hand gently at Bodhi. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier.”
Bodhi shook his head and set the crêpe down, chasing his last bite with more tea before he swiped his fingers clean. They felt vaguely sticky, so he rubbed them on the cup’s condensation until the sensation eased.
He took a breath of the morning air, which was more soothing than he expected it to be. “It hurts my feelings when you think I can’t handle myself.”
Caleb looked stricken. “I know. I know I shouldn’t have come here to butt in with your—”
“No,” Bodhi interrupted in a rush. “Not this. Not now. Before. About the bar.” He took a breath. “I’m really glad you’re here. They still make me feel like a terrified kid sometimes.”
Caleb’s expression shifted into something a bit more pained instead of guilty. “I know that too. I like you so much. And I’m sensitive to the way people treat you because I fucked up with you for so long. I don’t want to be the only person making changes, and your family should know better.” Caleb ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “And if not everyone, Ravi should. Why does he make you go places that are uncomfortable for you?”
Bodhi wanted to be annoyed again, but in truth, he’d been asking himself the same thing the night before. Yeah, he’d agreed to go. But it had been to shut Ravi up about it. And he was well aware how often he did that just to placate his brother rather than stand up for himself.
So why was he getting annoyed with Caleb?
He knew damn well Caleb didn’t think he was a child incapable of taking care of himself. The problem was, the language Caleb had used had been too close to the same as everyone else. He needed to start searching for the nuance.
Bodhi looked at him. “I want it to be different with you.”
“Different?”
Bodhi shrugged. “I want you to be different from everyone else. I want to feel…” His hands hovered in the air, twitching slightly from his nerves. He wanted to say normal, but that wasn’t it. He wanted to say special, but that made him feel pathetic.
“Youaredifferent,” Caleb told him. “To me, you’re different. You’re like no one I’ve ever met before. You make me want to be better than I have been.”
Bodhi shivered all over. It was everything he’d ever wanted to hear from a partner. It was better than any fantasy he’d ever come up with on his own. And then he remembered Caleb telling him very plainly how he wasn’t in a place for more than just friendship and casual affection.
A friendship with a few perks and benefits.
He swallowed heavily, trying to find the right thing to say, but he wasn’t given the chance. The side door opened, and Martinez stepped out. Caleb stiffened again and Bodhi once more wondered what the hell was going on with him, but he wasn’t about to ask right then.
Martinez walked over with all the usual swagger of a campus cop, and he pulled a little pad out of his pocket, setting it on the table. “Do you mind if I sit?”
Bodhi gestured to the third empty chair and Martinez pulled it out, perching on the very edge like he was posing for some Victorian portrait. The image in his head was so vivid, it took all of Bodhi’s control not to laugh.
“Why do you sign?” Bodhi asked.
Martinez’s eyes cut over to Caleb for a long second. “My sister’s Deaf. I met a lot of my Deaf friends through her.”
It made sense. He had the accent of a person who’d been signing for a long time, but not often enough to be natural at it. “Is that why they sent you?”
Martinez shrugged. “I was the first person to pick up the call, but I know what dorms you and your brother stay in, so I recognized the request.”
Bodhi’s face went hot. “What?”
Martinez’s eyes went wide. “Notjustyou two. Most of the other Deaf students, since I’m the only officer on campus who knows ASL. It makes handling complaints easier on the department. We want to make sure everyone here has the same access to information. I’m promise I’m not a creep.”
Bodhi relaxed a fraction and offered him the best smile he could muster in that moment. “Are my grandparents gone?”
Martinez shook his head. “They left the room but they’re in the lobby waiting on your brother.”
