“You have to want sex, Brooks! All guys do. And I’m supposed to be your mate. That sucks for you! And I said it again, and now I’m mad and—”
“Toby.”
Toby snapped his mouth shut and looked up. “I’m sorry.”
“What if we start over?”
It wasn’t what he expected Brooks to say.
“Huh?”
“What if we date? You know. Like, oh, normal people? Although I hate that expression, in this case it works.”
“Normal?”
“Yeah,” Brooks said.
“I hate that word too.”
“See? Something else we have in common. So let’s date. The whole thing. Dinner. Movies. Heck, I’ll even take you bowling or something equally ridiculous. And we get to know each other. We see what happens. I’ll promise to keep my hands to myself unless you say otherwise. Deal?”
Toby processed the offer, looking for some loophole he was missing. It seemed crazy. “You’re going to want to—”
“Have dinner with you. Talk to you. Get to know you. And if I’m lucky, I’ll get you to read one of those books of yours to me.”
“You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
Toby hid his face against Brooks’s chest and tightened his hold. How could he say no? Easily. Because he didn’t want to hurt Brooks. He didn’t want to disappoint him or cause him one moment of pain.
But he was too selfish for that. He wanted to get to know Brooks too. He even wanted to go bowling with him. And he wasn’t exactly a huge fan. Who thought wearing shoes worn by a ton of random strangers was a good idea? Not to mention sticking your fingers in the holes of the balls?
No. Just no.
He trembled a little as Brooks ran his big hand down Toby’s spine. “So, Toby, will you go on a date with me? Um, tonight, if you want. I, um, haven’t had dinner yet, since we skipped taco night, and I know a place not too far from here.”
Toby would have thought it was a line except Brooks’s stomach growled. Very loudly. It somehow made it all the more real. He pulled away and looked up at him. “I’d love to have dinner with you.”
He shouldn’t. But he would.
Because whatever this thing was, whatever had brought him here to this crazy place to meet this special man—no, wolf—Toby wanted to see what would happen. He wanted the life he’d dreamed of. A little spark of hope flamed up inside him alongside a little fire of desire he’d tried to snuff out long ago.
Brooks grinned. “Excellent. And, um, sorry for the… uh… beast.” He glanced down at his stomach. “But I’ve gotta admit, the timing was kinda epic.”
“It was indeed.”
“Do you like bar food? Because this place I know has the best food around.”
“I’m willing to give it a shot, but, um, I thought Nick didn’t want me to leave?”
Brooks grinned. “Don’t worry. He won’t mind at all once I tell him where we’re going. Come on, then. Get your shoes on and let’s go.”
Toby’s stomach fluttered, a happy little nervous bubble that tried to escape as a laugh. He held it back, barely, and fumbled with his shoes until he finally gave up and shoved his feet into them. Brooks stood at the doorway with his hand reaching out. Toby slipped his into it.
Outside, Brooks opened the passenger door to his truck and waited for Toby to climb in. They were really doing this. Going on an actual date. The butterflies in Toby’s stomach danced a jig. He let out a nervous laugh as Brooks rounded the front of the car. What was he doing?
Brooks smiled at him as he climbed in and settled in the driver’s seat. “Nervous?”
The butterflies attempted the dance of the sugar plum fairies. “A little.”
“Me too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I haven’t been on a date in a while. I guess you could say I’ve had a dry spell.” Brooks shrugged as they reached the end of the driveway and waited for the gate to open. “Why are words weird? What does dry spell even mean?”
Toby laughed, probably for longer and louder than he should have, but it was so true. “I don’t know,” he finally managed to say between bursts of laughter. “But words are absolutely weird.”
“Tell me your favorite word.”
“Petrichor,” Toby answered, without even pausing to think.
Brooks glanced at him and smiled. “I don’t even know what that means.”
Toby grinned. “It’s the smell after it rains. You know the one I mean?”