{"id":20740,"date":"2022-09-04T17:50:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T21:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=20740"},"modified":"2025-09-29T21:55:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T01:55:37","slug":"loud-and-clear-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20740","title":{"rendered":"Loud and Clear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loud and Clear<\/em> (2016) Aidan Wayne<\/a><\/p>\n

\"LoudI just needed to reread this is all.<\/p>\n

This is a romance, but it’s also about the huge difference that money and power can make.<\/p>\n

Jaxon:<\/p>\n

\u201cServes you right for being the smart one,\u201d he said, shouldering his phone so he could clear away his dishes. <\/p>\n

\u201cShut up.\u201d Tatyana always got touchy when Jaxon brought up that he was the stupid one in the family.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Caleb:<\/p>\n

Sucks. Sucked. Had to hand over the presentation, clients thought he was stupid <\/em>and he wasn\u2019t, had worked so freaking hard, not his fucking fault that sometimes he just couldn\u2019t talk<\/em>. Not his fucking\u2014 He wasn\u2019t stupid<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t bother,\u201d he said, nodding at the notepad. Caleb looked up at him and frowned. \u201cI mean. You can write, if you wanna, if that\u2019s better for you, but\u2014\u201d he did sigh this time, letting it all out in a rush \u201c\u2014 I can\u2019t read.\u201d <\/p>\n

Caleb\u2019s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Jaxon averted his eyes. \u201cI know, okay? But there it is. Dumb as a brick.\u201d Caleb scowled so hard that Jaxon actually jerked back a little. <\/p>\n

\u201cI-if yo-you a-a-are du-du-d-d-dumb f-f-for th-th-that, h-how do yo-y-you think I f-f-feel?\u201d he spat, quick and choppy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Caleb had spent his whole life fighting with a world that judged him on one single trait. Stamped stupid <\/em>on his forehead in bright-red ink because he couldn\u2019t get them to listen to what he had to say instead of how he said it. He knew what that fucking felt like. But he also knew he was a privileged bastard who\u2019d gotten good grades without much trouble, who\u2019d gotten into great schools as a result, who worked hard, yeah, but who\u2019d also had the method and means to get to where he wanted to be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Caleb grinned. \u201cHi. How are you?\u201d <\/p>\n

Jaxon beamed. \u201cI\u2019m fine<\/em>,\u201d he signed. Signed<\/em>! \u201cHow are you<\/em>?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou speak ASL<\/em>?!\u201d Caleb signed back, sure his eyes were bugging out of his head. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnly a little,\u201d Jaxon said. \u201cI tried to learn some basics. Thought it might make things easier for you if you could sign at least a little to me. I didn\u2019t get to learn very much. I only had a few days. But it\u2019s not that hard to learn! It\u2019s just memorization, so even I could get it through my head.\u201d His smile was bashful, but he still looked nervous, like he was waiting for Caleb\u2019s approval. <\/p>\n

This man had started learning ASL for their first date<\/em>. And he was good<\/em> at it. <\/p>\n

And he thought he was stupid<\/em>?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This story just makes me feel better about the world.<\/p>\n

Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne I just needed to reread this is all. This is a romance, but it’s also about the huge difference that money and power can make. Jaxon: \u201cServes you right for being the smart one,\u201d he said, shouldering his phone so he could clear away his dishes. \u201cShut up.\u201d Tatyana […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,668,292,608,196,742,148,41,26],"tags":[379,530,597,544,535,644,783],"class_list":["post-20740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-comfort-read","category-ebook","category-neurodiversity","category-novella","category-physical-health","category-queer","category-reread","category-romance","tag-aidan-wayne","tag-disability","tag-dyslexia","tag-mm","tag-neurodiversity","tag-asl","tag-stutter"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5ow","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21883,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21883","url_meta":{"origin":20740,"position":0},"title":"Loud and Clear","author":"Michelle","date":"May 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne He turned on the light in his car and squinted. Those were letters, all right. Probably there was even a sentence. Caleb had written something on the receipt. Huh. Curious, Jaxon bent over the words, trying to sound them out. Caleb\u2019s handwriting wasn\u2019t messy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loud and Clear","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Loud-and-Clear.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21319,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21319","url_meta":{"origin":20740,"position":1},"title":"Loud and Clear","author":"Michelle","date":"November 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne Another mental hug for me. Jaxon was getting the feeling that was his default way of coping with the world. Blanking himself out when things got tough. Jaxon used to do the same thing but with anger, till he\u2019d gotten better ways to cope.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loud and Clear","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Loud-and-Clear.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24916,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24916","url_meta":{"origin":20740,"position":2},"title":"Loud and Clear","author":"Michelle","date":"September 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne \u201cServes you right for being the smart one,\u201d he said, shouldering his phone so he could clear away his dishes. \u201cShut up.\u201d Tatyana always got touchy when Jaxon brought up that he was the stupid one in the family. He didn\u2019t know why; it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loud and Clear","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Loud-and-Clear-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23607,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23607","url_meta":{"origin":20740,"position":3},"title":"Loud and Clear","author":"Michelle","date":"May 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne This is probably one of my favorite novellas, one I reach for when I'm feeling terrible and need to get out of my own head. \u201cDon\u2019t bother,\u201d he said, nodding at the notepad. Caleb looked up at him and frowned. \u201cI mean. You can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loud and Clear","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Loud-and-Clear.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18308,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18308","url_meta":{"origin":20740,"position":4},"title":"Loud and Clear","author":"Michelle","date":"September 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne Jaxon is a cab drive--and a good one, despite the fact he can't read. He turned on the light in his car and squinted. Those were letters, all right. Probably there was even a sentence. Caleb had written something on the receipt. Huh. Curious,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loud and Clear","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Loud-and-Clear.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13782,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13782","url_meta":{"origin":20740,"position":5},"title":"Loud and Clear","author":"Michelle","date":"January 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne Let me state first that the cover may be innocuous, but it also gives you completely the wrong idea about the book. There are no car chases are action scenes, it's just that one character is a cab driver in the city. Jaxon may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loud and Clear","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Loud-and-Clear.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}