Page 41 of Waiting on Life
He snorted. “And you’ll have to meet my mom. Let me tell you, she’s not going to go easy on you.”
“She doesn’t need to. And you can let her know that she’s not going to scare me off. Nothing will do that.”
His eyes widened slightly and his breathing hitched. I think I shocked him.
Hopefully it would be the first of many.
Kyle
“So? What did he say about the outfit?”
“You were right,” I complained. “He liked what I was wearing now, what I was wearing before, and apparently he’ll like what I’m wearing in the future.”
Tammy could be smug about this. She could tell me she was right and I was wrong, but she didn’t. I appreciated that.
“Toby will be a source of constant amazement for you. This is why I told you the other people he’s dated broke up with him. He gets it in his heart and that’s it for him. At least until they dump him—then we have to pick up the pieces.”
“Your whole family sounds incredible,” I said, and I wasn’t kidding.
“No, my family is stubborn and opinionated. We don’t take bullshit from anyone, and we never, and I meannever,let people give it to the ones we care about. When you meet my Mel, you’ll understand. She’s the most precious thing in my life, and woe to those who hurt her in any way. If I can’t do something about it, Toby will. If he can’t, my parents will step in. I’m going to be honest, you might feel like you’re being smothered by us, because we love hard and strong. Not everyone can be ready for that.”
“What do you mean?”
She smiled. “When you meet Mel, you’ll understand.”
“Mel? Your girlfriend?”
She held up a hand, showing off the silver band she wore. “My wife.” Tammy let slip a soft side, and her eyes grew glassy. “She’s the most perfect thing in my world. I will move heaven and earth to make her happy. I hate to let her out of my sight. I know I’m overbearing, but she accepts that from me. You’d need to do the same from Toby. He won’t hurt you, of course, but he will want to be with you constantly. If you stay with him, you’ll get blended into his world, and he’ll need to keep you safe and happy.”
That didn’t sound so bad. In fact, it sounded pretty damn good. “I think I can handle that.”
My whole life I’d wanted someone to love me for who I was. If they weren’t trying to change me, they were making snide little comments about my perceived imperfections. With Toby telling me to dress how I wanted, even if I was wearing women’s clothing, it meant a lot to me. I didn’t do it often, but once in a while I liked to slip into some lace panties because they made me feel pretty.
We got back to the apartment, and I asked Tammy if she wanted to come up.
“Nah, I gotta go. Mel’s been working all day, and she’s going to be home soon. I want to get there and give her a foot rub so she can sleep.”
A foot rub? Shit, if Toby would do that, I’d… God, I don’t even know what I’d be willing to do for a foot massage.
“Thank you for lunch. Next time I’ll buy.”
She wrinkled her nose at me. “Honey, I make way more money than you do. I’ll buy.”
“Oh? What do you do?”
“Interior design for the high-class types. My jobs are booked months in advance, and I have a waiting list a mile long.”
“Are you going to be doing the farmhouse if Toby ever gets it?”
Her gaze narrowed. “He’s a stubborn bastard,” she growled.
“I think we covered that. You both are, if I recall correctly.”
She looked out the driver’s side window and sighed. “I’ll admit, he’s got me beat in this case. Mel and I offered to buy him the damn house, but he wouldn’t hear of it. We offered to cosign a loan so he could get it now. Still a no.”
“A dream is only realized when you can do it on your own.”
A quick turn of her head and she speared me with a sharp stare. “Yeah, but he could start living that dream now. Why wait?” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m gonna be honest. He’ll never get that house.”
