Chapter 6

"Did I give you long enough?" Toby drawled. He eyed Oliver, who slid out of the seat and gestured for him to reclaim it.

"Yes, you did," Oliver said for us both. He stood almost toe to toe with the goalie. Toby only had a couple of centimetres on him.

"Marley and I have come to an understanding. She"ll explain it. How in, or out, you are is up to you and her. Mostly her. If you hurt her in any way, you can kiss your hockey career goodbye. Understood?"

Toby smirked. "As long as we understand that if you do the same, you can kiss your medical license goodbye." He didn"t flinch.

Neither did Oliver. He smiled, but it wasn"t a pleasant one. "I know you think you"re a badass by threatening me, but I could fuck you up way worse than you could fuck me up." Before Toby could say anything more, he turned and walked back into the pub.

Toby watched him with a frown creasing his brow before he slipped back into the chair.

"His bark is worse than his bite," I said. My panties were even wetter after watching them talk to each other like that. Apparently possessive and growly was more my thing than I thought.

Toby shook his head slowly. "I doubt that. I think he meant every word." He placed his beer on the table and lounged back in his chair, his frown smoothing out. "So, you were going to fill me in on something?"

I explained the conversation between me and Oliver as briefly as I could. Toby listened, looking more and more surprised.

"Your boyfriend has given you permission to go out with me, even fuck me? What happens when you"re free to see each other openly? When everyone knows, instead of you screwing around behind their backs?" He certainly didn"t pull any punches.

When I was done wincing at his wording, I said, "That"s up to us. If we like each other and want to keep seeing each other, we can. But this is getting way ahead of ourselves. We haven"t even been out on a date. I might go out with you and not like you."

Toby smiled. "That"s not possible. I"m very likeable." He leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table. "I can promise you this: once I fuck you, you won"t forget me. You won"t want to. When I slide my cock into your pussy, I"m going to claim you. There won"t be any going back from that." He nodded once and sat back again.

Holy shit, that was hot.

I swallowed hard. "You seem very sure of that."

"I am," he said. "I was sure the moment I saw you. We could go somewhere now and I could prove it to you, but it"s too soon."

I suppressed a small stab of disappointment. "It is?"

"Yes, it is. I want you to fall for me first," he said.

"You seem very sure I will," I said. "You know Oliver and I?—"

"I don"t care about him," Toby said. "This is between you and me. I understand you"re going to see him too, but love isn"t a pie. There aren"t a finite number of pieces before you run out. You can care about him and me at the same time. I have big enough balls to share."

I"d very much like to see his balls, but I"d also like to get to know him before I jumped in with both feet.

"What are you proposing?" I asked. He seemed to have a firm idea in his mind. If I liked what I heard, I"d let him take the lead.

"I"m proposing we go out on a date," he said. "It seems to be what everyone wants, including you and me. You want that?"

He phrased it as a question, but I suspected he was making a statement.

"Something you should know about me," I said slowly. "I don"t let myself get pushed into situations I don"t want to be a part of. I don"t like hiding Oliver and me from the rest of the world, but being with him is worth it. I wouldn"t date you just to make him and Cat happy if I didn"t want to."

"Would you date me to make me happy?" he asked, a smile tugging at the side of his mouth.

I leaned forward far enough to give him an eyeful of cleavage, smiled and said, "No. I"d date you for one reason and only one reason. To make me happy."

"I like a woman who knows how to stand up for herself," he said. "It"s hot as fuck. No wonder Oliver is into you."

"Now you agree he"s into me," I teased.

"I saw the look on the prick"s face," Toby said. "I know when a guy"s head over heels for a woman. That particular one is as gone as anyone I"ve ever seen. It must be killing him to keep you a secret. But his loss is my gain. It gives me time to claim what"s mine."

"You seem very sure I fall under that description," I said.

He smiled. "You don"t seem in a hurry to deny it."

"Why me?" I said. "I know Opal Springs isn"t that big, but there"s plenty of single women around. My friend Eden, for one."

"Is she the one with purple hair I just saw in the middle of a centre sandwich near the pool table?" he asked. "If she"s not spoken for, she soon will be. Lucky Mitch and Jagger get along so well. Otherwise they"d be punching the shit out of each other right now."

I glanced towards the door. I couldn"t see Eden, which was probably for the best. I wasn"t sure I really needed to see her in a sandwich with the Ghoul"s centre and alternate. I knew she had a thing for them both, but I didn"t realise it had progressed. Good for her.

"Yeah, that"s her," I said. "They"re still lots of single women in Opal Springs. So, why me?" I wasn"t fishing for compliments. I was genuinely curious as to why a guy who barely knew me seemed so sure we had some sort of future.

"Why not you?" he asked. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "I saw you standing by the bar and I said to myself, "Tobias Glover, that looks like a woman who"d be perfect with your hand around her throat." So here we are. Let me take you out on a date and prove my instinct wasn"t wrong."

My face heated. I could almost feel his fingers around my neck, squeezing while he drove his cock into me. I couldn"t deny the physical attraction, there was plenty of that. I considered whether I really wanted to complicate my life more than it already was. I mean, sooner or later Oliver and I would be out in the open. Wasn"t he enough man for me?

On the other hand, I was curious about Toby. Maybe he was right and we were meant to be together. It certainly wouldn"t hurt to try.

"Yes," I said. "I"ll go out on a date with you, just to see if anything might happen between us. If it doesn"t, then no harm, no foul. We"ll get on with our lives."

He took my hand and traced circles around my palm with the pad of his thumb. His touch felt like a flint, striking sparks that threatened to burst into flames.

"I have a lot to prove, but I will prove it to you," he said. "You and I are as inevitable as the sunrise."

"Until you go back to America," I said.

"I won"t go back if you ask me to stay." He pressed his lips together. "Give it time. You"ll see."

"Where are you going to take me?" I asked. "On our date, I mean."

He smiled at the inadvertent innuendo. "If I told you, it wouldn"t be a surprise. Do you like surprises?"

"I like pleasant surprises," I said.

He chuckled. "No one likes unpleasant surprises. Don"t worry, I"ll take you somewhere you"ll never forget."

"Look at you two looking all cosy." Zane Bradbury and Elliott Quinn were both forwards for the Ghouls. I didn"t know either of them well, but they both carried strong asshole vibes. More so than Cruz and Easton ever had. Cole Davies was right behind them.

Zane stopped at the table to leer down at my cleavage. "Is this prick bothering you?" He jerked his thumb towards Toby. "How"s about we save you from him? We can show you a good time, can"t we, fellas?"

"Fucking right we can," Elliott agreed. He actually stepped up to me and cupped to the side of my neck with his large hand. "Come on, babe."

I slapped his hand away. "I"m not your babe. Fuck off."

"Leave her alone," Cole said softly. "She"s clearly not interested."

Zane turned to him. "You going soft, Davies? Since when do we ask?"

"Since you don"t want your teeth knocked down your throat," Toby growled. He rose to his feet, his face pink with anger. "I suggest you gentlemen back the fuck off."

Zane looked me up and down with disgust. "Bitch probably doesn"t put out anyway. Waste of fucking time." He turned and stomped away.

Elliott gave me a similar look before following his friend.

"They"re drunk," Cole said apologetically. "I was trying to get them to go home."

"Good idea," Toby said. "Before they get their asses handed to them."

Cole gave him a nod, and me a half a smile before he trudged after the other two players.

Toby waited until they were all gone to sink back into his seat. "Fucking meatheads."

"We know who the good twin is," I said. Cole"s brother would have joined in, not tried to get them to back off.

Toby snorted softly. "Looks to me like a good cop, bad cop act. He"s probably just as big a prick as his brother."

"Maybe," I said thoughtfully.

I wasn"t sure about that; Cole seemed nice, but it was possible he was a good actor. He seemed genuinely annoyed at his teammates' behaviour. I made a note to thank him for sticking up for me when I saw him next. Hopefully I wouldn"t need intervention like that again anytime soon. The team had worked too long and too hard to be brought into disrepute by a couple of guys after too many beers.

"I"ll pick you up tomorrow at six o"clock," Toby said, breaking through my thoughts. "Wear something nice but not too fancy."

I could almost hear him thinking that whatever I wore, he was looking forward to seeing it lying on the floor. So was I, but there was no hurry. We might go on a ton of dates before we even kissed. Or we might go on one and hate each other.

In spite of how adamant he was that we were meant to be together, I"d wait and see. The last thing I wanted to do was make assumptions and be disappointed. Having physical attraction to someone was great, but if we had nothing in common, there"d be no point in pursuing a relationship.

Although, we already agreed on one thing: Zane and Elliott were meatheads. It didn"t surprise me at all they"d act like that towards me, or any other woman. They probably didn"t get turned down very often. I smiled to myself.

"I see you"re thinking about me," Toby said.

I laughed softly and shook my head. "I was thinking Elliott and Zane are dickheads, but if that"s what you want to think, then go ahead."

"I much prefer to think you were thinking about me," Toby agreed. "I know you will be all day tomorrow, right up until our date."

"Maybe I will and maybe I won"t," I said lightly. I probably would. He had me intrigued. Even if we weren"t compatible, I"d probably have a good time wherever he decided to take me.