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“You’re right. No more second-guessing.” I nodded to punctuate my declaration. “And no more judging anyone else.” I looked at Mellie as I said this, hoping she would understand my unspoken apology.
“That sounds like a good plan, Charlie,” Mellie said, graciously, as Raquel came back into the room and passed out drinks. “Now, why don’t you tell us about the new projects you’re working on?”
And with that, I moved on from worrying and feeling awkward. I loved what Tobin and I had together, and it didn’t matter what anyone else thought about that.
We spent the rest of the evening talking and drinking and eating far more than was healthy and at ten, Grace herded Kenny, Mellie, and I into her truck to drive us all home. Raquel had decided to spend the night at Layla’s.
On the way home, I texted Tobin to let him know I’d be there soon and that I’d call him when I arrived. He’d offered to drive me, but he needed to get up early and the girls and I already had a system worked out, so there was no need for him to screw up his schedule. Though I expressed my appreciation for his willingness to do so by giving him a spectacular blow job yesterday.
“How come you call Toby Tobin?” Kenny asked, with a slight slur.
I looked at her and took a minute to think about her question.
“I don’t know. He introduced himself as Tobin, so that’s what I called him.” I paused and scrunched my face. “And Toby just sounds like a kid’s name. That’s what his parents call him.”
“Did ya ever ask him ‘bout it?” Kenny plopped her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. “You don’t like being called by your name.”
Horror swept through my tipsy brain as I looked at her, aghast. Had I been using a name he didn’t like? After I’d made a fuss about mine?
“Oh, no!” I cried, panicked. “He probably hates me.”
“He does not hate you, Charlie,” Mellie said from the front seat, obviously more sober than me and Kenny. “Just ask him what he wants you to call him. But maybe wait until tomorrow.”
“No, I have to ask him tonight,” I insisted as I searched through my bag for the phone I’d just had in my hand.
“Just wait until you get home, then. You’re supposed to call him when you get there, anyway. And stop freaking out.” Mellie’s firm instructions settled me just as I located my phone. I left it where it was and zipped up my purse.
“You’re right. No need to worry. I’ll call him when I get home.” I repeated the words in my head until Grace pulled into my driveway.
I got out of the truck after a round of goodnights and hurried to my door. My moment of panic had sobered me up, and I had no problem getting inside and locking up behind me. Then I kicked off my shoes and dug my phone out again, before making a stop in the kitchen for water and heading straight to bed.
I stripped down and crawled under the covers, dialing Tobin’s number as soon as I laid down. I was so focused on my question that when he answered, I didn’t even return his greeting.
“Do you want me to call you Tobin or Toby?” I blurted out.
Silence.
“Hello?” I finally said.
“Why hello, Charlie. How was your night?”
“It was good. Did you hear my question?” Why wasn’t he answering?
“I did. Did you hear mine?”
“I said it was good,” I replied, annoyed by his lack of response. Didn’t he understand how important this was? “Do you hate that I call you Tobin?”
This time, he gave me a real reply. “No, not at all. Why? Did someone tell you I hated it?”
Great, now he was worried.
“No, no,” I rushed to explain. “It’s just that Kenny asked why I didn’t call you Toby and if I’d asked what you wanted, and I realized I hadn’t. And that maybe you hated being called Tobin like I hate being called Charlotte and…”
“Charlie, stop.” His stern command made me take a breath. “I would have told you if I didn’t like it. I actually prefer Tobin. My family and people I’ve known since childhood still call me Toby, but I don’t have strong feelings about it like you do with being called Charlotte.”
I thought about what he said and decided it was enough for me. “Okay.”
“Okay?” He sounded terribly confused.
“Yes. Okay.” What more was there to say? And now that we’d resolved that pressing issue, the night started catching up with me. “I’m sleepy.”
Tobin chuckled. “Okay, little fairy. Did you lock the door?”
“Yep.” I snuggled into my pillow and let out a sigh.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you, Charlie.”
“Love you, too.” I had just enough energy left to end the call before passing out with thoughts of Tobin dancing in my head.
