Page 32

Chapter Thirty-Two

Tobias

The car drops me off in front of the Letwick Hotel.

Warm lights spill from the tall windows, while the sky gets darker by the second.

I glance across the street at Seattle’s Central Library, which is one of my favorite buildings in the world.

The glass structure is beautiful, especially at night with the outside lights mirroring off it.

I’ve been here a few times for different events and even stayed once with Charlie.

Surprisingly, it was one of the more calmer nights, and that’s with a middle-of-the-night skinny dipping session.

Of course, security came, but once they saw who it was, they laughed and walked off, knowing they’d be paid well to keep quiet.

The lobby is nothing less than luxurious.

Everything sparkles. People around the bar are shoulder to shoulder, both standing and sitting, chatting with colleagues and friends.

I have no idea what this charity event is for, but I’m counting down the minutes until I’m off this date so I can go home and get to sleep.

The sooner I do that, the sooner I can wake up and go to Theo’s in the morning.

His invitation for dinner turned into an invitation for breakfast. After I agreed, he told me I could stay for all three meals and snacks, too. He’s kind of adorable.

I’m a few minutes early, and I’m worried my date won’t be able to find me with the number of people standing around the bar, so I stay a short distance away, hoping they will be able to recognize me from my photos.

Or for some crazy reason, I’ll be able to spot them.

I’ve become pretty good at picking out my dates from crowds.

The bar is a rectangle, with shelving in the middle that looks like it was shaved right from a tree.

The top is decorated with leaves and vines and twinkling fairy lights, which gives it a whimsical but classical look.

The sitting areas are full of modern but expensive furniture, all of which must be new because I don’t recall this being here when I was here last. Though, I was pretty drunk, so who knows?

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Someone steps up to my side, tall and lean. The words have nails of ice clawing up my spine, but it isn’t the words that have me cringing. It’s the voice .

I know who it is before I look, and I can’t imagine my night getting any worse than this. Had I known he would be here, I would have declined this date without a second thought.

“I’m working, Brandon. Leave me alone,” I say simply, trying to hide my annoyance. I don’t need him knowing he’s getting to me, and I don’t need my date coming up to me and finding me all pissed off. It would be just the thing Brandon would do.

From the corner of my eye, I see him turn his head toward me, that snake-like grin crossing his face.

“Oh, I know,” he says slowly. “I’m the one who booked you.”

My head whips in his direction, a million curses on the tip of my tongue.

I snap my mouth shut, taking a breath so I don’t make a scene.

All the while, he just keeps staring. Smiling.

Laughing. He’s dressed in a three-piece charcoal grey suit.

His hair is slicked back, and I think his nose got a little bigger. And I’m going to fucking kill him.

Foxy has a strict policy when it comes to dates, and only if someone is dying or being born are you allowed to leave after accepting. She takes her business very seriously. I can’t afford to get fired, and again… I won’t let Brandon have the satisfaction of that.

“You lied,” I grit out.

He shrugs. “Maybe.”

“That’s in violation of the contract you signed.”

Had I seen his name on a request, I would have forwarded it to Foxy and made sure she banned him. I never thought he would stoop so low…

“Are you going to sue me?” he asks.

“Maybe I will.”

Shrugging again, he says, “Have fun trying. You know I’ll drag that entire business through the mud, making Foxy wish she never met you.”

I grit my teeth so hard my jaw aches. He’s not lying.

His family is wealthy, and even though Foxy is too, there are plenty of things we do that we shouldn’t do that he could dig up and potentially ruin her business with.

And in turn, ruin a lot of people’s lives.

The guys who work for her rely on that money to survive. She relies on it to survive!

“Why, Brandon?” It’s all I can think of to say instead of telling him to run into traffic.

“You wouldn’t agree to come, so this was the only other option.”

“I didn’t agree because I didn’t want to come with you. This is exactly why I hate you. You know that, right? You’re a manipulative bastard,” I growl.

“Brandon Arnoult, is that you?” an older gentleman says as he steps up to us, offering his hand to Brandon like he’s looking at Jesus. “Goodness, it’s so nice to finally meet you in person.”

“You as well, Tanner. This is my date, Tobias.” He gestures to me, and because Foxy is on the line, I put on a smile and offer my hand. It’s shaking, so I try my hardest to calm the hell down.

“My wife is around here somewhere,” Tanner says, making a show of looking around before bringing his gaze back to Brandon. “So how are you? Will we be seeing you any time soon?”

“It’s possible,” Brandon answers easily. “My father wanted me to wait until everything was finalized, but I’ll likely stop by in the new year.”

“Wonderful. I hope to see you then. Have a lovely evening.”

“You too,” he says.

If Brandon were someone I liked, I’d ask him what that was about, but I don’t fucking care. Seeing him interact kindly with someone has only made me more angry. How dare he pretend to be a nice person?

“If you try talking to me for even a second after tonight, I will get a fucking restraining order. You’ve gone too far,” I hiss before walking off and squeezing through some people to get to the bar. If I’m going to deal with him tonight, I need to be drunk.

I stare down at the words typed out on my phone, finger hovering over the send button but too afraid to send it.

I miss you .

It’s too much. And I’m drunk. Maybe I only miss Theo because I’m drunk and Brandon is an asshole. I’d rather be in the bowels of hell than here with him, so of course being with Theo would be better.

I really do miss him though. I shouldn’t tell him that I miss him.

I’m the one keeping boundaries here and saying things like this will grey them.

I’m the one who said this is a friends with benefits only situation.

That I don’t do the relationship thing—and won’t.

I told him he better not fall in love with me, yet… I really, really like the guy.

But you can miss friends, right? Even if you’re fucking them? It doesn’t have to be a romantic thing… right ?

Fuck, I don’t know. I don’t know!

I lean back on the toilet, not using it in any way other than to hide from Brandon, who is annoying the hell out of me.

While we sat at the dinner table, he put his hand on my leg four times, and I slapped him away each time.

I told him if he did it again, I would not hesitate to stab him with my steak knife.

I guess he believed me, because he didn’t do it again.

Being drunk around Brandon is dangerous.

Not because I’m worried about doing anything with him, but I don’t want him to see me vulnerable or with my walls down.

He doesn’t deserve those parts of me. Not after he ruined them all.

Theo deserves those things. He deserves someone to treat him well, make him smile, and fuck him hard just the way he wants .

My dick thickens at the thought of him beneath me, my dick buried in his tight ass. I can already imagine how he’s going to respond to me, and fuck, I really want that.

Screw it.

I hit send and shove my phone into my pocket once I stand and get my balance.

I leave the stall, wash my hands and head back to the event.

When I get to my table, Brandon is deep in conversation with the fire chief, who we were sat with.

His wife is with us, along with a pop singer from the area and her date, who I think may be a football player.

Dessert waits for me, some kind of tiny chocolate thing that wouldn’t fill a toddler. The worst part about these events is the food.

It’s not about portion size, it’s about quality.

No, actually it’s not. I want all the food. And right now, I need it to soak up all this alcohol before I piss off a lot of people. My boss included.

“Tobias, I’m so glad you’re back,” Brandon says with a smile. “I was just telling Oswald that you’re the best physical therapist at our Seattle location. His mother is scheduled for a surgery in the middle of next month, and he was debating where to take her to recover after.”

I put on a smile. “ABD is a wonderful place.”

“So I hear. Brandon almost has me convinced to get my mother in.” Oswald chuckles, causing his face to get a little red. He’s a ginger with bright orange hair and a rusty beard.

“What can we do to convince you?” I ask.

“I suppose a tour would be nice.”

“We can do that. Name the time and place,” Brandon says, reaching for his wine.

“How about Monday? Say, five?”

“Perfect. Tobias will be there to show you around.”

I glare at him. “I’m working,” I grit out through a smile.

He grins back. “Exactly. How convenient it’ll be to give him a tour.”

“At my other job, Brandon. Don’t you remember?” I keep my voice as sweet as possible, but I swear I’m about to knock him out with the bottle of wine and spit on his unconscious body.

“I’m sure they’ll make an exception.” His smile turns smug, and he sips his wine, bringing his attention back to Oswald. I pull my phone from my pocket and when I see I don’t have a text back, I focus on my one-bite dessert and getting more drunk.