Chapter 4 #2
Well, I’m not fancy, so it’s perfect for me.
Thanks for cooking. He had also thanked her for attending his baseball game a few days ago.
He’d gotten teased by his buddies on the team for going with Mercedes to get ice cream instead of out to Barney’s for a celebratory drink.
They’d all hinted that the two of them would be getting it on after.
Hardly. Not that he’d done anything to dissuade them from their thoughts.
He’d never insinuate he and Mercedes were having a fling, but he couldn’t help what immature guys thought.
You cooked. I’ll clean. He picked up his plate, then took hers, too. Once he got the dishes rinsed and in the dishwasher, she’d wiped the table clean. Want to watch a movie? he signed.
Hopefully, she’d pick something with a lot of action.
He hated the intellectual movies that had too many subtitles.
He couldn’t always follow them. Often the closed captioning was incorrect, or there was too much of it on the screen at once for him to get everything.
It was embarrassing that his reading ability was so slow.
In the living room, Mercedes pointed to a large book. “I thought I’d read for a bit. I’m in the middle of something good. But feel free to turn the TV on. It won’t bother me as long as you keep the volume down.”
He made a disappointed face. What? I can’t blast it at full volume?
She laughed and settled herself in her chair, her legs tucked under her. She was so feminine, it humbled him. Too bad he was a rough around the edges road construction worker who got dirty every day.
He spent a few more minutes tidying up the kitchen.
Bonus points for him. The grateful smile she threw his way had him vowing to tidy better every day.
But there was only so much cleaning he could do and still see her.
That’s what he’d really wanted tonight. Not necessarily to watch a movie, but to spend time with Mercedes.
Should he search for something to watch?
There weren’t any games on tonight, though he supposed he could find some sporting event somewhere on the hundred channels they got.
Would it distract her? Get her attention so she’d abandon her book and sit closer to him?
Probably not. She loved her books and rarely put them down once she’d gotten into them.
Sighing, he settled on the couch and looked around the room.
The remote was on top of the TV, but he didn’t get up to retrieve it.
His Heavy Equipment book was on the coffee table, beckoning him.
The flashing screen had pulled him away from this book too many times.
Who was he kidding though? The book baffled him more than educated him.
The pictures he understood and could usually figure out.
Unfortunately, the instructions that went with the pictures, the ones that were imperative to understand, went right over his head.
Grabbing the book, he flipped through the pages and skimmed over the copy.
It felt like he was back in school, only now he didn’t have an aide by his side who helped him when he got stuck.
Because his older brother, Brian, had gone to the public school, Evan had gone, too.
The school had convinced his parents to send him, saying the special education program would provide someone to assist him.
He’d received speech services as well. Still, he’d struggled every single day he’d been there.
He often wondered if he’d still be as stupid if he’d gone to the deaf school that Carli and Deanna had gone to.
They’d both managed to get into—and complete—college.
Carli had even gone on to get her Master’s degree.
Evan had barely managed to graduate high school.
Was he really an idiot, or had being around all deaf students and teachers given his sisters an advantage? He’d never know.
He had to stop with the negativity. He wasn’t stupid. He’d been able to learn lots of stuff on his job. But he still sucked at reading and therefore writing. He lowered his eyes to the book again, hoping they wouldn’t glaze over as always.
The diagrams helped him figure some of the instructions out, but still too many of the words and sentences confused him.
The exhaustion he’d felt in school crawled back in and made him close his eyes and sigh.
Lazy. That’s what some of the staff had called him.
He didn’t pay attention long enough to get the information inside his brain.
He couldn't help it if he zoned out when the text was too hard for him to understand.
A slight vibration got his attention. Mercedes glanced his way, concern on her lovely features. “Do you need help with anything in that book?”
Her comment about the calendar with the guys reading “real” books and not comic books slid back into his mind.
He’d never admit it, but the comment had cut him deeply, had made him feel embarrassed at how low his reading level was.
She sat there with some big book in her lap as she waited for his answer.
As much as he’d love for her to sit next to him and guide him through the text he was unsure of, he hated appearing stupid in her eyes.
He couldn’t bring himself to do it, ask her for help. Not right now. He didn’t need her pity.
Clenching his jaw, he stood and tossed his book on the coffee table.
As he walked into the kitchen, he said, “It’s fine.” Even though it wasn’t. He hunted through the fridge for something to nibble on and peeked back into the living room. Mercedes sat, book in her lap, a frown on her face.
Great. He’d screwed that up, too. Could he win at all when it came to her?
Even though she was Carli’s friend first, they’d also been friends for a long time.
He and Carli were only fifteen months apart.
They’d shared quite a few friends, and Mercedes had been the best of them.
There were many times that he’d come over here just to hang out with Mercedes even when his sister wasn’t here.
Now that he lived here, why was it any different? Were they spending too much time together. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? Should he be absent more often? Yet it was also his home now. He shouldn’t have to stay away to make things more comfortable.
Was he being overly emotional about the reading thing? Overanalyzing their new roommate relationship? Possibly. He grabbed a Swiss Roll from the fridge and opened the package that held two of the chocolaty treats. Might as well share.
Back in the living room, he took one and set the other one—still in the wrapper, because he’d forgotten a napkin and she hated mess—on the table next to her. “There are two.”
When she gazed up at him, the smile on her face nearly knocked him over. It didn’t hold any of the negative emotion he’d just been thinking about. It was pure beauty and grace.
“Thanks. You know I love these.”
He nodded, then settled back on the couch.
Once he’d devoured the Swiss Roll, wishing he’d kept the second one, he picked up the remote and turned the TV on.
Mercedes threw him another perfect smile, then focused on her book again.
Okay, having her look at him that way was definitely worth giving up the other Swiss Roll.