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They are perfect together. He was never meant to be anything more than a friend to me. Hell, he’s more of a brother to me than Toby is.
Speaking of Toby, like I have no control over myself at the moment, my eyes drift over to find him, of course, watching me.
But he’s not the only one. Bishop is sitting next to Toby, glaring over at us. What's his issue? Is he mad at me for something? We seemed fine this morning. Did I do something wrong between now and then? I can’t think of anything. Is he mad I didn’t text him back and put my phone away? If so, that's stupid.
Ryan wraps his arm around me, and my head whips to the side. “What are you doing?”
“Giving Toby something to be jealous over.” He grins, then kisses me on the nose.
My brows jump. “Why would you want to help me make him jealous?”
“Because I think he’s a fool. He has an amazing girl right in front of his eyes but he’s too blind to see it. Or maybe he does see it and just won’t do anything about it.”
It’s like he can read my mind. I’m not normally into playing games, but what Toby did hurt. And maybe I want him to feel a little bit of that pain too.
So, I lean into Ryan’s side and look over at Bee. She’s giving us a weird look because I already told her there's nothing going on between Ryan and me.
“Toby is watching,” I admit, my cheeks going pink.
“Ahh, gotcha.” She smirks.
“Don’t get me started on Toby,” Jonas sighs.
“He’s not giving you a hard time, is he?” I ask him.
“Nah, he seems to be cool now that we’re not together. Or at least, he doesn’t look like he wants to rip my head off anymore.” He swings his gaze over to Bee. “That would be your brother's job now.”
“Why would my brother want to rip your head off?” Her brows scrunch in question.
He shrugs. “Probably has to do with the fact I told him I was going to court you.”
Her eyes widen in shock. “What? You told him that?” Then her brows furrow again. “Court me? What are we, in the fifties?”
“I’m not stupid to think you're just going to start dating me right off the bat. It's gonna take time. We date and get to know each other outside a friend setting. And that's fine by me; you are worth the wait.” He winks, then turns his attention back to me, but I don’t miss the shock on B’s face. Ugh, they are so stinking cute. “Anyways, back to Mr. Grumpy-ass. He’s been a nightmare at practice. So damn moody, to the point that some of the guys have started tossing tampons in his locker,” he snickers. “And by some guys, I mean me.” Jonas grins.
I burst out laughing. “You didn’t!”
“I did,” he chuckles. “And then some of the guys followed my lead. But, I mean, he’s been so fucking moody. And the anger he has... I’ve never seen him like that before, Lilly. I’m not sure what's going on with him, but there's something wrong.”
Something in my gut doesn’t feel right. Is there something more going on with Toby? There’s a lot about him I don’t know anymore. He clearly has become someone different since he started SVU. But is there something more than just growing up?
I haven’t heard him have any night terrors since the night after I saw him fighting. And I’d know because every night, I've found myself standing by his door, listening, waiting for him to cry out my name like his world is ending. Because even though I’m pissed at him, I still care. And the idea of him hurting like that kills me. I don’t know what the night terrors are about, but clearly, they have something to do with me.
Biting my lower lip, I look over to Toby’s table again, but he’s not there anymore. And neither is Bishop.
“So, what's everyone talking about?” I jump when Bishop takes the free chair on my other side. I blink up at him, and he grins down at me with a beaming smile. “Hey, il mio cuore.”
He brushes Ryan’s arm off my shoulder and replaces it with his own. I look over at Bianca in shock, and she’s watching with an expression that is similar to mine.
“What do you want?” Bianca accuses.
“What? Can’t I come sit with my bestie?”
“You haven’t since we started the school year.” She narrows her eyes. “So, why now?”
“I don’t know if our girl here told you, but I’ve missed her like crazy the past two years, and with hockey being most of my life, I’ve neglected our friendship. And for that, I’m gravely sorry about and disappointed in myself. So, I’ve vowed to spend all my free time with her now.”
Bianca snorts a laugh. “Oh, really?” she crosses her arms. “What? Did you make your way through all the puck bunnies and now you're bored?”
