Chapter Two
CHAPTER TWO
NATALIE
“Did you ask him?”
I sigh and then balance the phone between my shoulder and ear while I pack my work bag. I’m heading over to Tobias's house for a pizza and work dinner tonight. It’s how we have planned his social media posts since we met. I might own a company with my other best friend Nora, but that doesn't mean this Tobias and Natalie tradition has to change.
“No. I was going to, but he brought up a work thing, and I didn’t think it was the right time.”
I can practically hear Nora rolling her eyes at me.
“You know he’s not going to be happy about it,” she says. “Griffin's sister can be a lot to handle.”
“Trust me. I know.”
I know you’re supposed to love the family you're marrying into, but Griffin’s family is different. To sum it up, I think my fiancé, Griffin, was adopted. His father doesn’t care for me, and I have no idea why. I’ve never done something to offend him. I’m not poor and don’t come from a broken family—his father has voiced that he’s not a fan of those people. My family is from Wyoming. My parents are still married, and as far as I know, they never struggled to pay their bills. We are just your average Joe, happy, loving family. Then we have Griffin's mother, who somehow just can’t remember my name. I’ve settled with just letting her call me Nikki at this point. Griffin swears he’s never even dated a girl named Nikki, so who knows where she got it, and his sister is … wild. That’s all I’m going to say about that.
Then you have sweet, charming, considerate, and thoughtful Griffin, who makes me smile every single day.
So yeah, adoption has to be the answer.
“He’s not going to be impressed that you waited until the last minute.”
“True, but in my defense, I didn’t think Griffin would want him there.”
We’re driving to Lovers this weekend, a small town just a couple of hours away, to look at Lovers Lodge. It’s where the ceremony and reception will take place. It was Griffin’s mother's choice, but I didn't argue because it is pretty. I thought it would just be me and Griffin going, but his sister is coming with us now. I wanted to invite my family, but my parents are babysitting while my older sister and brother-in-law are out of town. Nora has her hands full with her own baby, so that leaves Tobias, and I wasn’t about to start that never-ending fight with Griffin. But a couple of days ago, Griffin mentioned over the phone that he was happy with the idea of me inviting Tobias to join us.
I’ve been meaning to ask him to come ever since.
But like Nora said, Griffin's sister, Cassie, can be a lot.
A. Lot.
“I'll ask him tonight when I see him. I’m packing up to go over there now.”
“Good. You need someone in your corner when you get to the lodge. Tobias is the perfect choice.”
Yeah, let’s just hope that he says he’ll do it. I know it was just a text, but it sounded like he had a lot on his mind with work.
“I’ll let you know what he says,” I tell her. “Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. Bye.”
I hang up and drop my phone into my purse to finish packing. When I’m all set, I grab said phone and take a selfie, sending it to Tobias.
Natalie
A-game ready.
He snaps a selfie back, holding up two Ben and Jerry pints in front of his smiling face.
Tobias:
Hurry up.
I’m out the door in the next instant.
* * *
I love having a job where I can make my hours and work from anywhere. Days like today make me love it even more.
I walk into Tobias’s house as if it were my own and plop my things onto the kitchen table.
I hear him jog down the steps and come to a stop as he rounds the corner to the kitchen. He shakes his head and leans his hip against the counter.
He studies me with a scowly smile—it’s a thing with him. I smile back despite his facial expression. I know Tobias better than he thinks, and even though he’s looking at me like I’ve just disturbed him, he’s in a good mood.
“If you keep looking at me like that, you’ll get a funny wrinkle in the spot between your eyes.” I move around the table and try to reach over the counter to press my finger to that spot on his face, but he swats my hand away.
“So?”
“So, you’re too young for wrinkles.”
“Maybe I want the wrinkles. Some women love the older man look.”
I let out a bubbling laugh.
“Sure. Maybe the young ones. Are you planning to start robbing the cradle, Casanova?”
He groans. “Don’t call me that.”
“Okay, Casanova.”
“Seriously, Nat. It’s been years.”
“That doesn't change the fact that the night we met, I was convinced you were pulling the ultimate line on me. Or lines. Like a whole scheme.”
The sound of his laugh warms me. His laugh is like home; I’ve missed it for the past few weeks.
I’ve been busy with wedding plans and preparing for the party next weekend. It turns out that picking out the right place settings and making a list of your friends and family is a lot harder than it sounds. It doesn't help that Griffin and I have the opposite taste in many things. Ergo, we can’t pick a spot for a honeymoon. He wants sightseeing, checklists, and plans. I want sun and relaxation and to spend time together without being required to be somewhere.
It wasn’t that his ideas were terrible. In fact, they’re places I hope to see one day, but not for a honeymoon. Griffin wasn’t getting it, and we were getting frustrated. We ended that specific call just minutes ago. I got out of my car, grabbed my things, and headed into the one place I knew put me at peace: Tobias's house.
I still can’t believe I’m having an engagement party. I didn’t think I’d be the kind of girl to go all out. I’m not, but Griffin wanted to do all the wedding-related planning, and I didn’t have any reason to tell him no. He wants us to celebrate as much as we can. What kind of girl would argue with that? I just do what he asks at this point.
“Well, you were in for quite the surprise the night we met, weren't you?” Tobias moves around the counter, watching me as he takes a seat at the table.
“More than I ever thought possible. Did you already order the pizza?” I ask.
“It’s four o'clock.”
I shrug. “We used to eat dinner this early all the time.”
“Yeah, and then party and eat a second dinner at ten or eleven. My body can’t do that anymore.”
I nod. “Is that what the eight-pack staring back at me says?”
He glances down at his body quickly, then smirks.
“Okay, so maybe there are still a lot of things I can do with this body.”
I roll my eyes.
“Okay, let’s not get a big head or any—don’t even start!” I point a finger at him as I process what I said, and his mouth opens to make a sarcastic comment. “We are adults.”
“Kids at heart, though.”
He rests his hand over his heart as I roll my eyes again and smile.
“Let's just start working and then order food before I get hangry.”
Tobias grins and then rubs his chin, a slow smile creeping onto his lips.
“I better order the pizza now. You aren’t going to enjoy working with me tonight.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“Because.” He reaches for the back of his neck. “I think I forgot how to write.”
“You didn’t forget how to write.” I sit beside him.
“Are you sure? Because I haven’t finished a book in two years. Two years, Nat. What does that say about me?”
“Really bad writer's block?” I ask with a shrug. “Have you talked to the guys about it yet?”
He shakes his head.
“I’ve started to a couple of times but never go through with it.”
“Why?”
He runs a hand through his plush hair. “Their lives are all … flourishing. I don’t want to bring them down.”
“You need to tell them,” I say softly.
Tobias confessed to me about eight months ago that he was having a tough time writing. I wish I had the solution for him.
Holding it in, though, is not a good idea.
“I will.”
“Soon.” I let my voice grow stern as I stare him down. “They might not have the answers, but they will understand and find a way to help. They’re your best friends, Tobias. Tell them.”
“I have only one best friend,” he says, pointing his pen at me. “And she knows about it.”
“You know what I mean.”
He sighs, sliding his computer in front of him and opening it.
I snap it closed.
“Okay, wait, let’s think. What happened two years ago? What were you writing, and what were you doing in life? Let’s find the moment that started this … problem.”
His lips twist as he thinks. “I don't know. I was working on that small-town billionaire’s series, and the final book had just been released, and I was just living life.”
“Come on. Think harder. Be more specific. It can’t be that difficult. Two years ago, I was selling my house and moving in with Griffin, Nora and I were rebranding the company, and you were on a book tour that fall. Maybe something happened during that trip.”
I wait for him to come up with something, but he just stares at me. His eyes narrow briefly before he looks away to open his computer again.
“You've really been living with Griffin for two years?”
I nod. “Yes, and now we’re getting married. It’s a normal line of events.”
“Yeah.” He rubs his chin again. “It’s still just crazy to me.”
“You know what’s crazy to me?” I say quickly. “That you and Griffin aren’t friends yet.”
“We have nothing in common.”
“Um, hello?” I point to myself. “You have me.”
“That’s where it ends.”
I sigh. After four years, I would have assumed that my best friend and boyfriend, now fiancé, would have become friends, but no. Griffin is stuck on Tobias secretly being in love with me, and, well, I’ve told him about it enough times, and I’m sure that’s why he has a tarnished image of Griffin.
I unzip my laptop bag and pull out my MacBook, ready to get to work. It’s probably best we change the subject anyway. If they were going to make it happen, one of them would have by now, right?
I log into our company dashboard and have just pulled up Tobias’s account when he knocks on the table beside my keyboard.
“Hey.” He smiles when I look up.
“Hi.”
“If you want me to be his friend, I'll put in more effort.”
“You will?” I ask and beam a smile. “Really?”
He nods. “If that will make you happy. I should have done this a long time ago.”
“Oh, it will. I can’t imagine going through the rest of my life with my bestie and fiancé, not friends.”
“Well, rest assured, if I can help it, that is the case no more.”
“Thank you.”
I wish I could say that Griffin is just as eager to make me happy when it comes to Tobias, but I get it. For years, people have assumed there is more between us. Our relationship is one-of-a-kind. It’s hard to explain, but at the end of the day, Tobias and I are just friends, and we will always be there for each other.
“Speaking of Griffin,” I start, using this as my segue. I clear my throat. “Can you come with me this weekend to Lovers Lodge?”
“For what?”
“To view the rooms for the ceremony and reception.”
“Don’t you need your fiancé for that?”
I nod once. “He’ll be there. He gets back tonight but then leaves Sunday for work again.”
“He knows your engagement party is next weekend, right?”
“He will be back by then, too.”
“Does it bother you that he travels this much for work?”
“You’re trying to change the topic, but I won't let you. Please come with us.”
He huffs out a laugh. “Why do you need me to come with you and Griffin? Won't that be—oh shit, Nat, really? Is his sister going?”
I look everywhere but at him.
“Nat. Answer me.”
“His mom couldn't make it, so his sister is going, and yes, I need you there to help distract her.”
He leans back, crossing his arms. “Look me in the eye when you ask me.”
I cringe.
In addition to Griffin's sister being a tad crazy, she’s also Tobias’s biggest fan ever. Like an ultimate fan. Like one book shy of building a shrine to him in her bedroom kind of fan. Anytime she’s around him, she melts and loses her mind. I need this weekend to be Griffin's and my choices, not his mother's, which is precisely the voice his sister will give if it’s them against me. Hence Tobias. Still, even I feel bad for him when she’s around, so I know this is a big ask.
I slowly look up and bite my lip.
His arms are crossed, and he’s shaking his head.
“Please. It’s one day. I’ll even read another of your books if that makes you say yes.”
He laughs. “Wow. You’re desperate.”
I press my hands together.
“You're my favorite romance writer.”
He tosses a paper clip in my face.
“Says the woman who’s read only one of my books.”
I cringe. But it’s true.
Technically, it was half a book, but I can spare him the details.
After his first book came out, Nora read it first. I’ll never forget her words: Don’t read this book unless you want more than a friendship with Tobias. I’ll also never forget that I didn’t listen. Sure, I waited until he had three or four books released, but she was right. I started a book, and when the sex started—holy moly, dirty talk—I saw only him. He doesn’t know that small fact, though. He never will.
I still read romance, just not his.
Now that I’m getting married, though, I should give them another chance.
Heck, he writes such incredibly sexy books that maybe I’d learn something new for the bedroom.
“It was my favorite romance ever,” I add to hopefully seal the deal.
“Oh god, here she goes. Let’s hear it.”
“Hear what? Me begging?”
He nods once. “Yes, I want to hear you beg, Natalie.”
His deep voice makes me pause.
I look at him.
He looks at me.
“So, you’ll come?” I ask.
“Yep.”
“Perfect! I’ll pick you up on Saturday at about nine.”
“Sounds good. These next two days will be torture waiting for this magical moment.”
“Stop.” I laugh at his sarcasm.
Okay, one problem solved for me, and now it’s his turn.
“Before we discuss my job, let’s discuss yours. Tell me about the book you're currently writing.”
“Okay, let me just … done. Pizza is ordered.”
“Smart.” I cross my legs in the chair and rest my chin in my hands. “I’m ready.”
“Okay, well, it’s a fake marriage slash enemies-to-lovers story.”
“Tell me more. That’s a hit right now. You should see my Kindle. Everyone loves them, and—right, right, we’re talking about your books. Now, keep going. I need to know what happens to this fake couple.”
“Well, her ex shows up to get married at the place where she works.”
“And so, naturally, her enemy is also there, and he pretends to be in love with her so that her ex knows she’s not still pining for him?”
That laugh I love so much fills the room.
“You got it.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know. No chemistry between the characters, I guess.”
“You guess? Is there banter, hand brushes, does he touch her lower back, does he?—”
“It’s all there,” he cuts me off. “I think I need to change something with the whole process, but I don’t know what.”
“Hmm.”
I hate that I don’t have a solution for him.
“It still blows my mind that you can write all these love stories, and yet you’ve never decided to settle down,” I say instead of making up some crap advice to cheer him up. He’d hate that.
He shrugs and then asks, “Have you been talking to Grandma Betty?”
I shake my head. “No, but Betty is a smart woman. Did you know she just joined Snapchat? Last night, she snapped me a picture of you sitting in a muddy puddle in nothing but your diaper.”
“Jesus. I should never have introduced you two.”
“Mud looks good on you.”
“Everything looks good on me.”
I fake a gag, and then we get to work on his social media platform scheduling.
Tobias is a fantastic romance writer. I could tell him this over and over until his ears bleed from listening to me, but I also know him well enough to know that wherever is going on with him, he needs to come to terms with how to solve it on his own.
About twelve posts and one pizza down later, I grab the pint of chocolate chip cookie dough from his freezer and sit on the edge of the table. My gaze drifts to the small stack of nonfiction books he keeps around to enhance his writing craft. The one with two names on it sparks an idea.
“Hey, what if the change you need is to co-write a book?”
He pauses, his gaze snagging on my bare legs for a split moment.
“Co-write a book. With whom?”
“Me,” I say. “I told you I wanted to write a book the day I met you. I would be such a fun writing partner. I have no expectations of this business, so no pressure, you know.”
“No.”
I tap his thigh with my foot.
“Come on, it could be fun. Plus, that would mean you’re stuck with me forever. Even after I’m married.”
He stands to grab the other pint of ice cream, watching me closely.
“Is that something you’re worried about? That I'll disappear once you're married?”
I shake my head instead of answering right away.
I didn’t think it was, but the words fell from my lips so easily that maybe it is.
“No, of course not. I just … you said you wanted to do something different, and I'd love to write a book. It was just an idea.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I smile and sit back down, but something feels off.
Tobias walks behind me to get to his seat but stops, wraps an arm around me to hug me from behind, and kisses the top of my head.
When he joins me at the table again, I sneak a glance his way. Once upon a time, he always went with his gut. He made choices right and left without thinking about them. Now, he doesn’t know what direction to go with anything in his writing life.
I’ve always known how to help him, but today I don’t.
Maybe I’m not afraid to lose him after I get married. Perhaps I’m worried that I already am.