“I don’t… Did you say I should go out with a P.E. teacher? And buy a Ford Fiesta?”
“You could always go with a Nissan?”
Toby stared at her. “You think I’m that fucking boring?”
She laughed. “Do you… not aspire to own a mid-sized sedan?”
Time seemed to blur as the truth hit Toby like a flying missile. No, he didn’t aspire to have a mid-sized car, a mid-sized love, or a mid-sized life. He aspired to come home in a cherry red Aston Martin to his waterfront apartment and find Tabby naked in his bed, begging for another round.
But how the fuck would she know that?
How would anyone?
He’d heard of paradigm shifts before, but this was the first time he’d felt one. A new lens clapped over his vision of the future, permanently changing his perspective. His hangover vanished, dissolved in a tide of new energy. He was, really and truly, done waiting. He could do it. Become that guy. Why not? What had this conversation in Tabby’s bed proven except that he had nothing to lose?
“Tobias…?” Tabby sounded worried. “What’s on your mind?”
Still lost in thought, he followed her lead, rolling onto his back. He put his hands behind his head, closed his eyes, and continued to watch his future unspool. “Lots of things. Mostly that my name isn’t Tobias...”
“Sorry.”
“… and that I aspire to a lot of things. None of which I’m going to tell you.”
“Tease. Why not?”
“Because it’s private.”
“More secrets?” Tabby mused. “Is it about what you like? Sexually? Is it fucked up? Is it piss?”
Toby felt his lip curl into a smile. Were they flirting? “No.”
“So, you don’t want to be with someone boring?”
“Nope.”
“Then who?”
A year ago, a week, ten minutes earlier, he would have been terrified; now, for no fucking reason except for that blinding moment, he was ready. More than ready. He looked into Tabby’s vast blue eyes and willingly approached the precipice. “A complete psycho who can suck a golf ball through a garden hose and ruins my life.”
She laughed. “And wherever will you find someone like that?”
“No idea. It’ll be for keeps, though.”
Tabby’s hand returned to his forearm, but it didn’t feel like a friendly gesture this time. “So, seeing as you have no idea, why don’t you borrow one of mine? Before you traverse the globe for this mysterious freak, you should get some experience under your belt.”
Toby fought to keep a straight face. She might mean setting him up with someone or going over his dating profile or?—
Her hand tiptoed along his arm and up to his bicep. “Do you want to…? With me?”
The world seemed to stop spinning. “Do I want to what, Tabitha DaSilva?”
“Lose something fairly imaginary, by literal standards, with me?”
It was getting harder to hold onto his calm, but he did his best. “Come again?”
Tabby’s sexy little smile grew wider. “Do you want to fuck me? Right now?”
Two forces tore through him, so powerful he was surprised they didn’t rip him apart.
