Shorts to Jump Into - 2. A New Friend (All In)

Prompt 460--First Line: “Who invited you?”

A New Friend

"Who invited you? I don't recognize you."

Devyn knew this was a bad idea. Michael had assured him it would be fine, but he wasn't so sure. He'd never met most of these people before, but they were Michael's friends, and it was just a beach party, so he thought he'd be able to skirt the edges unnoticed until he could find Michael.

The guy in front of him cocked his head curiously when he didn't answer. Of course, he couldn't. At least not verbally. He swallowed convulsively, tucking his hands under his arms to keep them from flying and spilling his secret. He really needed Michael. Now.

His bright blue eyes cast around for his boyfriend's familiar figure, but in the dark he could only make out a sea of bodies highlighted by the flickering light of the bonfire.

The brunet took a long swig of whatever was in the label-less bottle. "Not much for talkin', huh? I can dig that."

Devyn shook his head, still attempting to pick Michael out of the mix, and wishing this guy would just leave him alone. He pulled out his phone, quickly sending a text to Michael letting him know he'd arrived.

The other teen stepped in closer, but Devyn refused to give ground. He didn't want to appear cowed by the bulkier guy. "I'd be glad to show you around. Introduce you to the team."

Devyn felt the guy's bare chest rub against him as a heavy arm was thrown over his shoulders, and he nearly dropped his phone in the sand. He wasn't sure what to make of the guy's sudden closeness. Was the guy attempting to intimidate him, or just overly friendly, or maybe just too drunk to realize how close he'd gotten?

Devyn shoved his arm out against the guy's ribs, hoping he'd get the hint. Devyn's phone chimed, and he quickly thumbed a reply.

"Who's that?" Mr. Friendly tried to peer over his shoulder.

"Brice!"

Deyvn's head shot up at a familiar voice as relief flooded through him.

"Get your hands off my boyfriend!" Michael snapped at his teammate.

Mr. Friendly, Brice, jerked back, his eyes widening in shock. "Aww, shit, man. I had no idea." Devyn braced for a slur or maybe even a punch now that the guy realized he was gay. Instead, Brice leveled him with a guilty smile. "Ya coulda said something, man. Ya made me think you was free game," he slurred.

Devyn's mouth dropped open. Okay, so maybe he was gay.

"He can't talk, dumbass," Michael said, as he shoved Brice in the bicep. Devyn relaxed as Michael smoothed a hand over his cheek before asking, "Was this big jerk bothering you, Dev?"

Devyn smiled as his hands flew into motion. 'No, he's just being friendly. He wanted to show me around.'

"I bet he fucking did," Michael growled, and Devyn felt a surge of pride at his boyfriend's display of jealousy.

Brice cocked his head. "You understood that? What he just did with his hands?"

"Yes. It's called sign language," Michael drawled as if Brice were particularly slow.

"But... but...he's not..." Brice leaned in closer to Michael. "He's not...deaf, is he? I thought he could hear me..."

Devyn narrowed his eyes slightly. ^No, I'm not deaf,^ he worded silently at the boy, shocking Brice again.

"He can hear just fine. Just can't talk. He uses sign and texts to communicate," Michael explained tersely, obviously irritated by his drunk friend.

"That's so cool!" Brice suddenly blurted out. "Show me another sign!"

"How's this one?" Michael snapped, flipping his friend the 'bird'. Devyn couldn't help the silent chuckle that had his shoulders shaking.

"Yeah, so funny man," Brice said before ignoring Michael as he turned back to Devyn. He dug out his phone. "Hey maybe you could add me to your contacts. We could get together sometime, and you could teach me—"

Michael abruptly stepped in front of Devyn, crossing his arms as he leveled Brice with a glare. "Are you fucking hitting on my boyfriend in front of me?"

"Hey, man, I'm sorry," Brice was pleading, his eyes looking over Michael's shoulder, taking in Devyn who was hiding a smile behind his hand. "I remember you saying your boyfriend might be coming, but hell, I didn't expect him to be so damn adorable."

"Brice," Michael bit out, "you're not helping your case."

Brice held up both hands in a gesture of surrender, still holding his phone in one hand and the bottle in the other. "Jus' saying. But seriously. I was just being...well, me. You know that, Mike. I didn't mean nothin'."

Michael exhaled sharply before nodding. "Yeah, yeah. I know. But man, you can't hit on every cute guy you see. Someone's going to deck you one day."

"Yeah, I know," Brice mumbled. He looked up hopefully at Devyn again. "Can we be friends, though? I'm not that bad of a guy, really."

Devyn offered a smile smile, starting to nod, but Michael wasn't pleased with his friend's sociable nature.

Michael crossed his arms as he narrowed his eyes at Brice. "And if you hit on my boyfriend again, the guy decking you is going to be me."

A couple characters we haven't seen in a while...