Page 2 of How to Hack a Hellhound
And honestly, the job wasn’t that shitty. Cass was an easy boss, even if he did talk to the air. Aiden worked in the kitchen, because he couldn’t deal with the public, and everyone knew to leave him the fuck alone. The college kids that worked here usually steered totally clear of me, and I hadn’t met the guy who took over the paperwork and tax stuff. The manager, Steph, was the only total bitch on staff (aside from me), so of course I loved her.
Toby cleared his throat, staring at me and waiting for me to go over to the counter.
Fuck. I didn’t even try to stop the dramatic sigh that left my mouth. Toby was going to want something from me, and I vaguely wondered if this was an IOU coming due. There was no other reason for Cass to leave me alone with him.
“What do you want?” I mumbled.
“You,” Toby said, leaning forward against the counter and smiling shyly. Did he just bat his eyelashes at me?
“Uh…” What. The. Fuck. Tobywantedme?
“Tonight! My place, and I can even give you a ride!” he said, gaining confidence as he talked.
“Uh…” I murmured again, because… seriously? He was cute and all, but he was dating the guy who burned things down and clearly wasn’t human. I was not going to his place to… Fuck? Have a date? I didn’t even fucking know. I was flattered, but I liked my skin attached to my body, thank you very much.
“I thought of asking Aiden, too, but I don’t think he’s ready for that yet,” Toby went on. “Maybe if it were just the two of us, but it’s gonna be a group tonight, and I think he needs more time, don’t you?”
I just mutely nodded my head in agreement on that. Yeah, Aiden wasn’t ready for anything. And a group? Was Toby talking, like, an orgy or something?
“A group?” I mumbled.
“Yup!” Toby replied, then he leaned in closer to the counter, and I couldn’t help leaning in too, because I had to hear whatever the fuck he was gonna say next. “But don’t worry, it’s just me and my friends, Josh and Sebbie. And Dex, of course, although he’s very hands off when we do these kinds of nights. He even promised he wouldn’t be intimidating if you came, although I honestly think he’s super sexy when he’s intimidating.”
“I’m flattered, but…” I started, unsure how to even continue. I knew Toby lived a little outside the box, but I hadn’t expected to get invited to some kind of orgy thing.
“Nope. There’s no getting out of it. It’s important for you to get back out there, you know. And if you aren’t enjoying yourself, you can always leave. We aren’t going to make you stay, but you have to at least come and see how it is. And if anything makes you uncomfortable at all, we’ll respect your boundaries,” he stated. “Plus, I already cleared it with Cassius. He said you can leave right at closing time, so my timing was perfect!”
“Uh…” I muttered again.
I was actually fucking speechless. Cass approved? Did he even know what he’d signed me up for? How the hell did I get out of this?
Toby was standing there looking so damn excited and just nodding his head, and somehow I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. I think it was some kind of voodoo mojo or something, because I had no intention of going to an orgy night, but I also didn’t want to hurt Toby’s feelings. He looked so earnest and hopeful.
“I’m not interested in… doing anything,” I muttered, frowning. Maybe that would dissuade him.
Only Toby started nodding his head more vigorously. “Of course. No doing required. Hell, you can just sit in a corner and watch us if you want. Slowly get back into things. Whatever you need, Q,” he answered.
It felt like saying no would be kicking a puppy. I also kind of felt like I owed Dex for saving me. Offending his boyfriend didn’t seem a good way to repay him, even if I wasn’t sure I wanted to witness an orgy. Although in my old life I’d done my fair share of partying, so public sexual acts weren’t really all that shocking. Surely this wouldn’t be so bad.
At least that’s what I told myself as I was led out of the shop to Toby’s car, although I made sure to tell both Cass and Aiden where I was going and that I wouldn’t be more than a few hours.
I had learned that letting people know where you were was always a good idea. The main reason I trusted Toby was because I still thought he was some kind of supernatural being, and IknewDex was something extra.
Monsters were out there, but so far all the monsters I’d met in real life had been one hundred percent human.
Dear god, it was worse than an orgy. Way worse. I wouldnothave agreed if I had known what it really was.
It was… Fuck. It was like some kind of early 2000 sitcom where all the girls sat around drinking Manhattans and gossiping about the men in their lives, only we were sitting in Toby’s living room, drinking wine, and gossiping.
I was in the gay version ofSex in the City, for fuck’s sake.
I had passed on the alcohol (I didn’t trust Toby’s friends yet), and I was sitting crankily in the corner. Seb was even more cheery than Toby, and Josh was clearly the serious one in the bunch. God, did that make me the Samantha of the group?
Fuck my life.
“I just don’t think the online dating thing is for me,” Seb said, munching on nachos that Toby had placed on a table in the middle of the living room. “After the last two dates, I just think maybe I should try to meet someone a little more organically.”
“It isn’t your fault the first guy was upset that you went on eating your dinner after another guy you helped almost died,” Josh commented. “And you saved the last date’s life when he passed out from low blood sugar and hit his head. That’s a good meet-cute story to tell your friends.”
