Tobias:
Hurry up.
I’m out the door in the next instant.
* * *
I love having a job where I can make my hours and work from anywhere. Days like today make me love it even more.
I walk into Tobias’s house as if it were my own and plop my things onto the kitchen table.
I hear him jog down the steps and come to a stop as he rounds the corner to the kitchen. He shakes his head and leans his hip against the counter.
He studies me with a scowly smile—it’s a thing with him. I smile back despite his facial expression. I know Tobias better than he thinks, and even though he’s looking at me like I’ve just disturbed him, he’s in a good mood.
“If you keep looking at me like that, you’ll get a funny wrinkle in the spot between your eyes.” I move around the table and try to reach over the counter to press my finger to that spot on his face, but he swats my hand away.
“So?”
“So, you’re too young for wrinkles.”
“Maybe I want the wrinkles. Some women love the older man look.”
I let out a bubbling laugh.
“Sure. Maybe the young ones. Are you planning to start robbing the cradle, Casanova?”
He groans. “Don’t call me that.”
“Okay, Casanova.”
“Seriously, Nat. It’s been years.”
“That doesn't change the fact that the night we met, I was convinced you were pulling the ultimate line on me. Or lines. Like a whole scheme.”
The sound of his laugh warms me. His laugh is like home; I’ve missed it for the past few weeks.
I’ve been busy with wedding plans and preparing for the party next weekend. It turns out that picking out the right place settings and making a list of your friends and family is a lot harder than it sounds. It doesn't help that Griffin and I have the opposite taste in many things. Ergo, we can’t pick a spot for a honeymoon. He wants sightseeing, checklists, and plans. I want sun and relaxation and to spend time together without being required to be somewhere.
It wasn’t that his ideas were terrible. In fact, they’re places I hope to see one day, but not for a honeymoon. Griffin wasn’t getting it, and we were getting frustrated. We ended that specific call just minutes ago. I got out of my car, grabbed my things, and headed into the one place I knew put me at peace: Tobias's house.
I still can’t believe I’m having an engagement party. I didn’t think I’d be the kind of girl to go all out. I’m not, but Griffin wanted to do all the wedding-related planning, and I didn’t have any reason to tell him no. He wants us to celebrate as much as we can. What kind of girl would argue with that? I just do what he asks at this point.
“Well, you were in for quite the surprise the night we met, weren't you?” Tobias moves around the counter, watching me as he takes a seat at the table.
“More than I ever thought possible. Did you already order the pizza?” I ask.
“It’s four o'clock.”
I shrug. “We used to eat dinner this early all the time.”
“Yeah, and then party and eat a second dinner at ten or eleven. My body can’t do that anymore.”
I nod. “Is that what the eight-pack staring back at me says?”
He glances down at his body quickly, then smirks.
“Okay, so maybe there are still a lot of things I can do with this body.”
