Page 20 of Tobias

I take the last sip of my drink before putting the glass down and taking his hand. We dance until the club closes. He doesn’t come in his pants—I makesure of it.

“Oh my God, this is so good!” Theo moans around another bite of his hot dog.

“It’s good because you’re drunk.”

“You’redrunk,” he responds around chewing his food, eyes closed.

We’re both definitely drunk. Which is how we ended up at The Dogg getting shitty hot dogs at three am. It’s a chilly night, but I hardly feel it with the alcohol running through my veins. It's been a long time since I got drunk like this. The kind of drunk that you feel and remember and have fun.

“Fine, we’re both drunk. Where do you live?” I ask.

“Center.”

I think about that for a moment. “Isn’t that by the diner that burned down?”

He nods, taking the last bite of his food. “A few blocks.”

“I’m not too far from there. We can share a ride home?”

“Home sounds good,” he mumbles, wiping his hands with the messy napkin. I roll my eyes, pulling another from my pocket and handing it to him. “How ridiculous do we look right now?” he asks with a chuckle.

I finish my hot dog. “What do you mean?”

“Look at us. We don’t look like we belong walking around down here at three am, drunk.” He gestures down his body.

He’s right. We’re dressed up and don’t look the type. Usually it's the younger kids out here drunk around this time.

“I don’t care what people think about me,” I say.

“People say that, but deep down, they always do.”

“No, I actually don’t.”

“Hard to believe.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I don’t care what you think.”

He laughs, pulling out his phone. “I’m paying for the car since you wouldn’t let me buy drinks.”

“Fine. But you did buy my meal.”

“And three hours with you, yet… here we are ten hours later.”

“Yeah, here we are,” I say as we come to a stop in front of a closed bookstore.

His focus is on his phone, nose red from the cold. A breeze blows by, fluttering his light brown hair. The sides are shaved neatly down, while the top is a bit longer. A good length to grab onto, if I had to guess. Not that I should be thinking about that, but…

I shove my hands into my coat pockets, hunching my shoulders to stay warm. If I don't keep my limbs busy, I may reach for him. When he finishes on his phone, he looks up at me, surprise crossing his face when he sees me watching him. It quickly turns into a smile.

“What?” he asks carefully.

“You know you’re hot as fuck, right?”

He laughs nervously as he puts his phone in his pocket. “Uh, what?”

“You are,” I say. “And I’m not saying this only because you’re hot, but because I’m a good person and I care.”

“Okay…”

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