“Oh, but you do, youreallydo. Firstly, the Tin Man just wants a heart. Now we know you have a heart, but you don't share it with anyone, and you definitely haven't given it to anyone as far as I know. You're too busy lookin' after us and the ranch and not doin' anythin' for yourself. You're also a little hard-nosed and tough to crack, like metal. get it, tin..."
"Yeah, yeah. Quit callin' me that," I grumble.
He snorts. "Not goin’ to happen, Tin Man. But let's get to the liquorin’ up part, andthenyou might be in the right headspace to talk to me. You may say it was nothin', but there's somethin' between you and Charlie. Or therewas. Either way, you're either going to tellmeabout it since you just gave me a lecture about Dee,or–”
“Or what?” I wince at my completely unwarranted sharp tone. “Sorry.”
He waves me off. “Or, you can do what I did, and pour it all out to the old timers at the Cow and see whattheysay.”
I pull into a parking space outside the bar and kill the engine, dropping my forehead onto the steering wheel with a groan. “God no. Then it’ll be gossip fodder for the entire town.”
“Aha!I knew it. Thereisa story to tell, enough to gossip about anyway. Take it from me, you can’t bottle allthatup. It’s not good for you.”
Turning my head, I shoot him a questioning look. “Tobias Jacob Graham, you have not bottledanythin’up in your entire life.”
“Exactly! So be more like me, quit doin’ that shit andshare.”
“I need a drink.”
His answering grin is almost as big as his face. “Well let’s go do that.”
“You better not hurt my truck,”I mumble as Toby speeds along the highway back toward the ranch.
“Sorry, can’t hear you over the music,” he replies, turning up ACDC’s Highway to Hell that’s hurting my ears. Not because it’s bad, because it’s loud, and Toby wasn’t lying when he said he was going to liquor me up.
I shake my head and lean back against the seat, cracking the window open so that I get some cold air blowing on me.
Toby glances at me with a mischievous grin. "You're a hard nut to crack, you know that, Tin Man?"
"Quit with the Tin Man crap," I groan, my head throbbing in time with the bass drums.
"Spill the beans then. Helps take my mind off the fact that my One isn’t here, and I stupidly promised you that I’d tellhereverythin’ by Christmas. Which is like a month away.”
“Call and tell her now. Don’t wait,” I murmur, slowly closing my eyes.
“Nope. I agreed to Christmas. Stop changin' the subject. Tell me why you blanked when you saw Charlie? Did you date her, is that it? Not sure how I wouldn't remember her if you did though. It's not like you dated a lot in high school, or after, in fact."
“She dyed her hair. Used to be blonde,” I mumble before I let out a sigh.
I run my hand through my hair. Maybe itistime to talk about it, then I can get some sleep instead of all these random thoughts racing through my head all the time.
"OK," I say, my voice filled with resignation. "We were friends back then. That's all."
"Friends?"
"Yes. Friends," I begin, my gaze fixed on the road ahead. "Best friends. We did everythin' together, and shared everythin'."
"Everythin'?" he asks, waggling his brows.
I ignore him and continue. "She was a junior, but she was doin’ senior classes with us 'cause she was super smart."
“Mags’s daughter is a smarty pants then, got it. Explains why she’s not with a lug like you then.”
“Tobes,” I growl, the sound hurting my ears.
“Sorry. Sorry. Continue.”
“One day I realized that what I felt her for her wasn’t just friendship. It had been more all along. She was it for me. I didn’t evenseeanyone else. All I could see was her.”
