Chapter Seven
He pulled up outside a three-story apartment building. Most people who lived there were students at Dinsmore College, so Griffin had never been inside.
He parked in the lot on the side of the building and walked around to the front door. It took him a second to find the apartment number, but once he did, he pressed the button. And then the door clicked, so Griffin pushed it open and walked through.
He saw the stairs sign, so he took them up. It didn’t take long for Griffin to find Toby’s apartment.
Toby opened the door before Griffin knocked.
Once they were face-to-face, Griffin swallowed the butterflies trying to escape from his stomach. “Hi, again.”
Toby smiled, which went a long way in easing Griffin’s mind. “Hi.”
Toby’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink right before he averted his gaze.
He still tried to get a peek at Griffin through his eyelashes.
His shyness came as a surprise. He’d seemed confident and self-assured when Griffin had first met him.
On the phone, Toby had seemed hesitant for reasons Griffin wasn’t sure about, but otherwise, the shyness hadn’t come through.
But here they were, two feet apart from each other, and neither of them knew what to say or do.
There seemed to be a tension that stretched between them.
Maybe it was sexual, but it could have been something else causing it.
Since Griffin didn’t know, he let Toby lead.
“So… do you want to get some coffee somewhere or go for a walk? We don’t have to go to the park if it’s scary for you or whatever.
We can walk around the neighborhood.” Griffin loved the craftsman-style homes in that part of town.
He loved that era in history when things were about solid wood and built-in shelves.
Taking a walk through the neighborhood would be fun.
Toby shook his head and frowned as if he didn’t like his own answer. And then he bit his bottom lip right before he grabbed hold of Griffin’s jacket and pulled him inside.
Griffin nearly fell forward but caught himself before he landed on Toby.
Toby leaned against the wall and smoothed Griffin’s jacket where he’d wrinkled it. “Sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”
Griffin braced himself with a hand on the wall next to Toby’s head and smiled. “I think you know exactly why you did it.”
Toby reached for the door and pushed it shut. And then Griffin heard the lock click into place. All the while, Toby never took his gaze off Griffin.
When he finished securing the door, he wrapped his arms around Griffin’s shoulders and then stood on his tiptoes, pressing his lips against Griffin’s.
Griffin used to think the term fireworks was ridiculous when describing a first kiss. He’d never had it happen to him before Toby, so he didn’t understand what a great first kiss felt like until kissing Toby.
Every cell in Griffin’s body recognized Toby as his mate.
He might not know the finer details, like how Toby took his coffee or whether he liked real maple syrup or the fake stuff, but Griffin knew he was the missing puzzle piece.
He knew everything in him wanted to protect Toby in every single way.
It didn’t matter that Toby had successfully thwarted two men just a few days ago from attacking one of Griffin’s closest friends.
Griffin knew letting Toby go meant he’d be setting his missing piece free again.
In no way did he want to do that. Griffin wrapped his arm around Toby’s waist and pulled him closer, so their bodies notched together and deepened the kiss.
He told himself he just wanted one taste. Afterward, they could talk. He’d stay up all night if Toby wanted to. He could sleep when he was dead. In the meantime, he’d let Toby consume him.
Griffin licked at the seam of Toby’s lips until Toby opened for him. When he did, that was when he got his taste. He quickly realized one wouldn’t have been enough, so he did it again, only to be met by Toby’s tongue and his whimper. It was the hottest sound Griffin had ever heard.
Griffin could feel Toby’s hardness against his thigh, so he pressed his leg against it.
Toby’s hold tightened. He tried to pull himself up as if wanting to get closer to Griffin, but it was impossible. They were already as close as they could get without living inside each other.
But Toby clearly needed something, and Griffin needed to find out what that was. He broke the kiss. Or tried. Toby wouldn’t let him stop long enough to form words, so Griffin lifted him in his arms and held him as tight as he could get him without hurting him.
And then he broke the kiss and whispered, “Shh. I won’t let go. I promise.”
Toby’s hold tightened right before he started shaking. But he whispered, “Thank you.”
“Are you okay?” Griffin had some idea of what might be happening with Toby. He might be a little touch-starved. If that was the case, all Griffin had to do was hold on. It was a win-win because Griffin didn’t want to release him.
It took a while for Toby to answer, and when he did, he still whispered, “I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“Maybe nothing is.”
Toby kissed Griffin’s neck. “I want to bond. I need it, but I know we shouldn’t. Not yet. It’s hard to control the urge.”
As much as Griffin wanted to fuck Toby all night long, he wanted to get to know him first. His days of one-night stands were over, and that was a little how it would feel.
“I’d like to get to know you better. But we can talk while I hold you. Would that be okay?”
“That would be good. Yeah.” And to prove Toby meant it, he wrapped his legs around Griffin.
Griffin smiled. “Okay, so I think we should maybe sit now.”
Toby’s laugh sounded more like a giggle. “My couch is comfy.”
“Can I take off my jacket and shoes?”
“You won’t let go, right?”
“It’ll be awkward, but I won’t let go.” It took Toby helping Griffin with the jacket, and Griffin straining his arm muscles from holding Toby up, but he got his jacket and shoes off.
Griffin carried Toby over to the couch and sat. Toby moved to get comfortable but otherwise stayed on Griffin’s lap, although he sat sideways with his legs stretched across the cushions.
“You’re all muscle, aren’t you?” Griffin rubbed Toby’s back and took in the room.
Toby was a plant person. The tones in his apartment were brown and green, with some color within the art on the walls. The space felt natural, as though Toby had tried to bring the outdoors in.
Toby giggled again. “Is that your way of telling me how heavy I am?”
Griffin chuckled, too. “Sort of. You’re small, but I can feel how solid you are. Riley described you as small but mighty.”
Toby lifted his head from Griffin’s shoulder and met his gaze. “Why was Riley describing me?”
“He was trying to sell me on hiring you. I told him I needed someone with experience, and he described you to me instead.” Griffin smiled.
“I have experience, by the way.” He laid his head back on Griffin’s shoulder. “I can help with your carpentry work, too, if you need someone.”
“That part is more creative, so I go slower. I like to enjoy the process. But if you don’t mind that, then I could use the help.
” Griffin was backed up with his custom orders.
If all Toby did was a little sanding, then that would get him caught up.
“The bakery renovation is taking a lot of my time.”
“Tell me something you like to do that’s not work-related.”
“Visit my mate at his apartment.”
“And?” Toby snuggled in. All the tension disappeared, and he finally relaxed.
Griffin wasn’t even aware of the tightness in Toby’s body until it wasn’t there anymore.
“And.” Griffin drew out the word. “I don’t know. I feel like all I do lately is work, especially since starting the bakery renovation. But before that, I used to play hockey just for fun. And I played basketball with a group of friends twice a week.”
“Sports. Okay. I run. For the health and fitness benefits. Or used to. I also read horror novels. But I don’t care much about watching horror movies. I’m not sure why other than the visual scares me more than what I manufacture in my mind.”
“I love Jason Blue’s novels. There’s more about the monsters in a person’s head coming to life, but they make me shudder. They’re great.”
Toby sucked in a breath. “I have his latest. Do you want to borrow it when I finish?”
Griffin grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ve already read it. Listened to it on audio, actually. I can tell you how it ends.”
Toby’s eyes grew wide. “You’d better not.”
Griffin chuckled. “So tell me why you say you used to run?”
“That’s what I was doing in the park. Well, I had finished and was drinking a cup of coffee on my balcony, but I saw that woman before.
Julia. We’ve never spoken to each other, but we’re friendly.
Like waving or nodding if we pass each other on the running trail.
” Toby shook his head. “I’m pretty sure the running is over for both of us. ”
Griffin shook his head. “I’ve agreed to accompany her on the trail at the south end of the college. You should come with us.”
“It wouldn’t freak her out if I came?”
“No way. She thinks of you as her hero, but I’ll ask her if it makes you feel better.”
Toby nodded. “I’d love to run with you, but yeah, if you wouldn’t mind giving her a heads up. After what happened. She doesn’t need any surprises.”
“You’d be a good surprise, but I’ll let her know. I promise, baby.”
Toby blushed. His cheeks turned pretty pink again. “No one has ever called me that.”
“Do you like the endearment?”
“When you say it, I do.”
Griffin grinned. “I don’t think we’re going to keep our mating secret for very long.”
Toby seemed ready to panic, so Griffin rubbed his back. “Riley will understand that we’re mates.”
“It’s not…” Toby frowned and took a deep breath in as if shoring up his courage. “It’s more than just Riley for me.”
“You’re not married or engaged, are you?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Then whatever it is, we’ll work through it. Together.”
“I just want you to like me. And I want to keep you safe.”
“I already do. And ditto.”
“You might not. You don’t know me all the way yet.”
Griffin could already tell they’d go round in circles with Toby still not telling him what was up, so he just said, “We’ll keep ourselves quiet until you learn to trust me. How about that?”
“It’s not as simple as that.”
Then Griffin would like to know exactly how complicated it really was. But he didn’t ask. They’d get to the truth at some point. It didn’t have to be all at once.