Live Out Loud by Marie Meyer

Author:Marie Meyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2017-05-01T16:00:00+00:00

“Hungry?” Harper signs and leans over, pulling on a pair of leggings. I didn’t know that sign, but seeing the word on her lips, I catch the drift.

“How do you sign, ‘starving’?” I ask.

Smiling, she repeats the sign for “hungry,” only slightly more dramatic. I make a C shape with my left hand and replicate her motion, facial features and all.

Harper raises her hands in the air, shaking them.

Grabbing my hand, she fits her fingers between mine, and opens her bedroom door. Bobby pops up from his post, tail wagging, happy to see us. “Hey there, little guy. Did you get locked out?” I bend down and scratch behind his ears. Immediately, he falls and rolls onto his back, needing a few belly scratches.

Harper crouches beside me, ruffling Bobby’s fluffy ears, smiling contentedly.

Standing, I grab her hand, and we walk down the stairs, Bobby trailing behind. I can’t remember the last time I held hands with a girl. Becky Lambert in the fourth grade, maybe? I know she’s the first girl I kissed. Or did I kiss McKenzie Swanson and hold hands with Jessica Oliver? What the hell did I do with Becky Lambert? Shit. My left eye starts twitching. Too many fucking girls.

Making a sharp right into the kitchen, I stop in the doorway. There are cupcakes everywhere; the counters, the table, the stove, the top of the refrigerator, even on a couple of the chairs. I throw a look at my feet. This is a dog’s wonderland, but Bobby obediently sits just outside of the kitchen, recognizing his boundary. Such a well-trained dog. If I were him, this kitchen would be a chocolate cupcake murder scene, and I’d be dead, because, you know, dogs and chocolate.

Tapping Harper’s shoulder, she spins around, piercing me with her green eyes. “You didn’t tell me you had a cupcake fetish?” I joked.

Finger-spelling and moving her hand in a wave motion away from her chest, Harper signs and mouths, “C-U-P-C-A-K-E fish?” Eyes drawn tight, she looks very confused.

I shake my head, laughing. “No.” I pinch my fingers together, signing the word. I can’t get enough of the look on Harper’s face when I sign—like someone’s thrown a switch for a spotlight, she glows like she’s in the goddamn sun. Not wanting that radiance to dim, I clumsily shape my fingers into the letters she taught me. “F-E-T-I-S-H.”

“Oh,” she mouths, nodding. Turning on her heel, she walks across the kitchen and pulls open a drawer. With a brown crayon and a Post-it in hand, she scribbles on the paper and hands it to me.

My roommate’s a baker.

Giving Harper a thumbs-up, I snatch a cupcake from the counter and peel the paper off. I’m not as well mannered as the mutt.

Even though it’s chocolate, and not butterscotch, which my favorite, it’ll do. Popping the whole thing in my mouth, it’s an instant chocolate overload, with a hint of something else. What is that flavor?

I chew, trying to place the weird, savory tang mixed with the chocolate.

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