Chapter 17
Toby
S o, yeah, apparently wall sex wasn’t just for books.
Dex was fucking strong , though. Holy shit. Like I still wasn’t sure how that had been physically possible. I knew he had muscles, but day-um.
I roused from my stupor enough to realize that I was literally sprawled on top of the man, and he was laying on my floor. “That can’t be comfortable,” I murmured, starting to lift myself up.
His hands only gripped me tighter, and he rumbled, “It’s fine. Laying on the ground has never bothered me.”
I leaned up and looked at him then, feeling sad thinking about him lying on a cold floor. The slight rumbling that I had felt underneath me seemed to stop. I swear, I felt like he had been purring, which was slightly insane.
“I want you comfortable,” I said, staring down at him. God, his eyes were beautiful.
“I’m comfortable as long as you are,” he rumbled, and I almost melted into a puddle of goo. How was I so fucking lucky that he had decided to be interested in me ? Not that I was, like, totally lacking in self-esteem or anything. I was a kick-ass writer. I had friends. I was fun. I gave damn good head, too. I was good boyfriend material, although I occasionally got lost in my own fantasy world.
But Dex—well, obviously he was hot as hell, and I felt lucky that we got to fool around. But he was fucking sweet, too. Of course I’d always been attracted to his sexy exterior, but there had always been something about his badass vibes combined with his slight awkwardness that was totally endearing. Then he went and did shit like say he was gonna protect me, and he fixed my house numbers and put up lights and said we were boyfriends, then he ravaged me in my hallway, cleaned me up, and snuggled me.
And then had the nerve to say that he was comfortable as long as I was comfortable.
Fuck.
I was not going to recover from him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, gently rubbing his hand up and down my back.
“You’re just too good, you know that?” I answered.
“I’m really not, Toby,” he said seriously.
“Pfft,” I muttered. “You’re good in all the ways that count. No one is perfect. I know that, despite the fact that I write books with romance.”
He rumbled some form of agreement, and I felt like he wanted to argue with me more, but he settled on saying, “I’ll be perfect for you, Toby. You just tell me what you need.”
I looked up at him again, resting my chin on his chest. He didn’t even complain about my pointy ass chin digging into him. “I’m not perfect either, you know. I make up backstories for everything. I get lost in my imagination. I suck at home improvement and cooking.”
He only smiled. “I like your imagination. And I can cook and do home improvement.”
I pecked him on the lips then got up, and he hesitantly let me go. He got up too, and we both gathered our clothes. Well, I gathered my clothes, and he grabbed his shirt.
“I want…” I paused, unsure how to continue. “I want you to be yourself. It won’t work if you don’t. I’ve had enough relationships to know that.”
Because I did want a relationship with Dex, and he seemed to want one too. Maybe things were moving quickly, but we’d been neighbors for months before this. It wasn’t like I just met the guy a week ago.
He nodded, kissing me on the lips again and grabbing my hand, his shirt in his other hand. I felt like he was ready to lead me out of the house, but hello—still naked here.
“Umm, did you still want to do lunch and have me hang with your brothers?” I asked. “You guys are welcome here, or I can go there, but I do need to get dressed,” I joked.
Dex gave a low growl, looking at my body with heat in his gaze. I was so here for that rumbly, sexy sound he made.
Focus, Toby. Food . His guests.
I waited, and he apparently got himself under control, because he answered, “You want to come over? We have food and can make brunch.”
I flushed, because, yeah, I probably didn’t have much in the way of food, and no one wanted me cooking. I nodded then, asking, “When do you want me?”
Dex growled again. “Always, Toby. I always want you.”
Fuck. He was gonna kill me with sweetness. I was not gonna survive this man.
I promised to be over in an hour or so, and I did not shower again after Dex left. I thought he would have happily had me go over right at that moment, but I had a few author things to take care of. I wasn’t going to get any writing done, but I did need to catch up with my cover designer and check in with Amy. I also needed to get dressed and look presentable. Sure, Dex had seen me in pajamas and sweats and nothing at all, but I could still make a good impression.
Yesterday I didn’t even know what to call him, and today I was meeting my boyfriend’s family. Well, I’d met them already, but this was, like, really meeting them. I tried to take a deep breath. Dex liked me. Dex was sweet. His brothers seemed nice. Everything was fine .
With that thought, I stepped out my door. I realized as I did so that there wasn’t a package on my porch. Huh. Dex hadn’t brought anything in with him when he’d knocked on the door, either. I wonder what the deal had been with the truck? I’d have to ask Dex.
I walked over, nervously thinking about what I was gonna say. I might have been mumbling a bit to myself, and I flushed when the front door opened before I even made it up the last step.
“Toby!” Dex called, coming over, grabbing my hands, and kissing my forehead.
Fucking.
Swoon.
Worthy.
He led me into the house, where Jude was perched on a kitchen island stool and Corbin was working over the stove. I looked around. His house had a pretty similar layout to mine, which made sense since they were built at the same time. I think Patricia’s house had been the original one on the property, and the first owner had sold off chunks of land and these two houses had been built.
The layout was similar, but my house was definitely more… crowded. I’d lived there for longer than Dex, so that made sense, but he also seemed like he just didn’t collect a lot. The walls were pretty bare, but he had furniture, and everything was clean.
“Hey Toby!” Jude said, eyes bright with a half a smile on his face.
“Don’t say it,” Dex warned me quietly, but Jude only stared at me expectantly. It took me a second, but I remembered him listening to the Beatles as they had driven up. I smiled back and said, “Hey Jude. Don’t make it bad.”
Both Corbin and Dex groaned at the same time, but Jude laughed happily. “That never gets old,” he said, winking at me.
“I assure you, it does,” Corbin said, his back to us. He opened a cabinet, took out some plates, and turned to hand them to Jude, who walked over to the table to start setting it.
“Can I help?” I asked, and Corbin handed me the silverware next, then grabbed a roll of paper towels to hand to Dex.
I was totally ready for awkward, but the guys didn’t let it get that way. They just sort of carried on and included me in the preparations, joking about music and teasing each other good naturedly. If I had any doubts about their relationship, it was definitely put to ease through the preparations. They interacted just like family, and I didn’t sense any underlying sexual tension between them. Not that I doubted them when they’d said they were brothers, but hey, I’d read my fair share of adopted brother romances. (What? Taboo was hot when done well!)
They seemed to switch off who was at the stove, but somehow I never ended up there (thank goodness). By the time we all sat down, there was a spread of bacon, eggs, sausage, rolls, butter, jam, juice, and potatoes. It looked like enough to feed an army, but once the guys started eating, I reassessed that.
They could eat . I guess all those muscles used a lot of calories.
We chatted easily as we all ate, and by the time the food was gone, Jude was finishing a story about Dex trying to ice skate. Everyone at the table was chuckling, and it was just… nice. I figured out that there were five brothers in all—Dex, Corbin, and Jude, obviously, and then Liam, who was apparently a computer genius or something. Atlas was the fifth brother, and they didn’t say too much about him, other than that he was a loner. I sensed there was a story there, and I tried not to fill one in with my imagination.
“Do you have any brothers?” Jude asked me.
“No. Only child, and my parents and I… Well, we aren’t close. We talk on holidays,” I said.
“Yeah, most of us grew up as only children too, but when Wilder adopted us we got a whole mess of brothers out of the deal,” Jude said. “I’m obviously the cute one,” he added, winking.
Corbin rolled his eyes, Dex growled, and I couldn’t help laughing.
“Obviously the troublemaker,” I joked, adding, “Dex is the cute one.”
Dex grabbed my hand next to his on the table, holding it. He wasn’t at all shy about his affection in front of his brothers, and it was really awesome. I’d dated in the past, and sometimes guys didn’t like PDA, which I totally understood—it wasn’t for everyone. Some guys just weren’t touchy-feely in general, but that definitely didn’t seem to apply to Dex. He had no problem holding my hand, kissing me, or just generally being affectionate.
I loved it. Not only did I love being touched, but I loved how it showed that he was proud we were together. He’d introduced me to them as his boyfriend, for goodness sake. I was still having a hard time getting over that. It was pretty freaking awesome.
We all cleared the breakfast dishes together, and Dex took a few scraps and left them on the open windowsill, muttering something about not getting shit on, which made everyone laugh. I sensed there was a story there. That and the caw I heard reminded me of the delivery van from that morning.
“Oh, hey, I thought I saw a delivery van coming up my drive this morning. They didn’t leave anything?” I asked.
The guys all looked at each other, and Dex seemed to be rumbling in his chest. I just sort of stared, getting a little more nervous as no one answered.
Finally Jude said, “Well, look at the time. Corbin and I are gonna go and check out the house next door!”
Corbin looked at him oddly. “We already did that.”
“We’re going to do it again,” Jude ground out between clenched teeth.
“Why?” Corbin asked, looking confused.
Dex just kept growling, and Jude came over and gave him a pat on the shoulder before sighing at Corbin. “Dex and Toby need some alone time,” he said, eyebrows raised.
Corbin raised his eyebrows then, asking, “Are they going to have sex again?”
Oh. My. God.
I knew I turned bright red, Dex growled even louder, and Jude sighed and leaned his head back, probably praying for patience. Corbin just looked even more confused, like he had no idea what he’d said wrong.
Jude finally looked at me. “I’d apologize for him, but Dex is just as bad, and you’re stuck with him.” He smiled at me then, walked over to Corbin, and grabbed him by his sexy man-bun. Corbin growled at him (must have been a thing in their family), but Jude just dragged him out of the house, and I heard them bickering as the front door slammed.
I smiled after them—I had a bad feeling about the delivery, but they were kind of hysterical—then looked over at Dex, who looked at me possessively. Usually that look was hot, but I didn’t think he had good news for me.
“Dex?” I asked.
He came over and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tight. I could feel his nose pressing into my neck, and he was totally sniffing me, which was weird but also kind of sweet, although I was too nervous to be turned on at the moment.
“We took care of it,” Dex mumbled into my neck.
“Ok,” I said, hugging him back. I enjoyed the closeness for a moment before I asked, “Took care of what?”
I mean, I probably didn’t want to know, but at the same time, I couldn’t not know. I’d just make up worst case scenarios in my head. Curiosity and my imagination was what made me a good writer. It also made me an anxious mess sometimes, but we couldn’t have everything in life.
Dex growled again, and I guessed that the delivery was something from my stalker. It made sense as to why everyone had gotten all weird when I mentioned it. I was trying not to freak out, because it meant the guy knew where I lived. Unless the guy himself had been the one making the delivery.
If that was the case, had they killed the delivery guy? Although the van would still be here if they had, right?
“What happened to the delivery guy?” I asked.
“He’s quitting his job,” Dex mumbled.
Ok, so still alive then, and probably not my stalker. “Why is he quitting his job?” I asked. Had they terrified him that much?
“He realized he worked for a bad human,” Dex answered.
The phrasing and tone was odd, but I didn’t have time to figure that out. “Dex, what was in the delivery?” I asked.
“Flowers,” he growled.
Ok. Flowers didn’t seem so bad, but… “Were they, like, dead flowers? Or poisonous flowers?” I asked.
Dex gripped me tighter. “They had cameras in them.”
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Goosebumps rose on my arms and I gave a shiver. “Cameras?” I squeaked out.
“And listening devices,” Dex added, gripping me even more tightly.
It kind of felt like he was all that was holding me together, and I heard him making soft shushing sounds as he picked me up and carried me over to the couch, settling me on his lap. I was shaking, and I couldn’t seem to stop.
It had definitely been my stalker. I mean, I thought that, but knowing it… And he had tried to listen and watch me. I would have taken those flowers into my home. He would have seen and heard… I gave another tremble, and Dex bit down on my neck. The slight sting stopped my spiral of panic and grounded me, although I still felt all kinds of fucked up.
“I’ll take care of you,” he murmured when his teeth let go.
“He knows where I live,” I whispered.
“Yes,” Dex answered simply. “I’ll protect you.”
He held me as my thoughts raced, just letting me process everything. I probably needed to call the police. I needed to tell Amy, too, and see if he had sent anything else. I loved my house, and I always felt safe there, but now… It didn’t feel safe anymore.
“It’s my home,” I muttered, and I knew that probably didn’t make any sense to Dex.
“I’ll stay with you,” Dex answered. “Unless you’d rather stay here.”
“Ok,” I answered, adding, “I have to work, though.”
“That’s ok. You can work here, someone can stay with you, or you can be home and we’ll keep an eye out. We have cameras and lights outside.”
I sighed in relief. Dex would take care of it. We snuggled for a moment longer and I got myself under control, and then something occurred to me.
“Cameras outside?” I asked, pulling back and looking at Dex.
He looked almost… sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck, answering, “Yeah. The lights are cameras. I didn’t want anyone sneaking up on you.”
Ok. That was… sort of sweet. Sort of stalkerish, but he was my boyfriend, so that made it ok, right?
“I didn’t put any in your house,” Dex added, looking proud of himself.
Did that mean he’d thought of it and decided not to? Well, at least he had some boundaries, I supposed. I didn’t stop to question what it meant that I didn’t think I’d mind so much if Dex was watching me in my house. That was sort of sexy… in theory anyway.
“Don’t worry, Toby. We’re going to take care of it,” Dex added, holding me tightly.
I just relaxed against him, here for the cuddles. I had work to do, and phone calls to make, and I still felt super icky thinking about the stalker apparently knowing where I lived, but Dex was going to take care of me.
I trusted him to do just that.