Page 77 of On the Run
“Delightful,” Toby said from beneath me, still hiding his face. “Never better.”
“Beale, what the hell is going on here?” Mason demanded.
“Baby, if you don’t know…” Fenn scratched his eyebrow with his index finger.
Mason elbowed him lightly. “I meant, what’s going onhere. At ourhome. Where welive. And where all of Whispering Key, and part of Cooter Key, too, are right now congregating around our pool, discussing whether it’s too early to do body shots and where Bobo and the Stallions should put the keg!”
“Oh for fuck’s sake! I told them exactly where to put the—” Toby pushed up off the counter, and Mason’s eyes widened. “—um… keg? Heya, Mason.”
Shit. Shit shit shit.
“Toby?” Mason said, frozen in disbelief.
“Could everyone get out of here right now?” I demanded. “The man’s naked. Jesus Christ, you can have this conversation in a minute.”
“Who’s Toby?” Rafe demanded. “That’s Trey. Beale’s soul mate.”
Oh, delightful.
“Trey?” Mason shook his head. “No. That’s my friend Toby from college.”
“Oh my God, Doc’s college friend is Beale’s soul mate? What a small world this is! Wait’ll I tell the girls!” Barbara scurried out to share this news, and I smacked my forehead.
“Toby,” Mason said. “What the fuck—?”
“Can you get me my shorts, please?” Toby whispered over his shoulder, and I swept them up off the floor along with his shirt and handed them to him.
“Hey, hey.” Littlejohn rocked back on his heels. “Don’t go talkin’ that way to my friend Trey, Doc. You can use a civil tone.”
Mason scowled. “When I find my best friend—”
“You sure he’syourbest friend?” Littlejohn asked. “’Cause I was the one who fed him Pizza Bites in his time of need.”
Toby buttoned his shorts and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “There’s enough of me to go around, guys.”
Mason shot him a glare. “Well,that’spatently obvious to anyone who’s seen the news recently.”
“Hey!” Littlejohn, Toby, and I said at the same time. I was pretty sure Littlejohn had no idea what Mason was talking about, he was just being loyal to Toby.
But who was Toby loyal to?
“Mason,” Toby continued calmly. “I can explain everything, okay? Just… give me a minute to change.”
Fenn wrapped an arm around Mason’s shoulders and whispered something that made Mason take a deep breath and let it out again slowly. “Fine. You have ten minutes. And then I want an explanation.”
Didn’t we all?
15
Toby
Help Me Hagatha
(Unsent)
Dear Aunt Hagatha:
So, about that lie thing. Let’s say I didn’t come clean when I could have…
