Page 18 of Thrown

“Ingenious,” he said.

“It saves a lot of time,” the girl said, almost apologizing.

For half a second, Toby’s mind filled with ways the family could expand the joust and make it into more of a draw. He could think of half a dozen blokes from his younger days would love a chance to beat on each other like medieval knights for fun.

He didn’t have much time to think about that. A moment later, and the girl was huffing and pushing him back down the track so he could have another pass at Robbie. The crowd was definitely enjoying themselves, but judging by the look in Robbie’s eyes when they met a second time, Robbie wasn’t.

At least with the second pass, Robbie took a few swings. He even landed a few blows across Toby’s shoulders, including onefrom behind once they were past each other. Toby barely felt the impact.

The third pass was much the same, except that Toby was actually starting to have fun. His motivations changed from wanting to wipe any sort of smug grin off Robbie’s face to just wanting to enjoy himself as he donned a rugby helmet for the next part of the fight. He swung the giant swab thingy around as soon as it was handed to him, then walked to meet Robbie in the middle of the grass in front of the tracks.

The game was a laugh. It was original. Not even the biggest, fastest roller coaster Willoughby Entertainment could build could come close to the excitement of standing toe-to-toe with someone and attempting to beat their brains out with a big, soft toy.

That was what Duckie and the rest of them would never understand, and that was why Toby was determined to be successful at this job, no matter how big of a prick Robbie was. Even if it meant Duckie lost out on a deal because of him, he would still be proud, knowing Toby had done his job well.

That thought vanished as soon as Lionel called out, “Ready, set, duel!”

It had been so long since Toby had gotten into a proper fight. As much as he’d dreaded them as a kid, he’d sort of missed the rush of adrenaline and the focus that combat brought with it. He and Robbie circled each other for a minute, tying to gauge each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Robbie definitely had the size advantage, and by the look of his arms, throwing pots had made him strong. But Toby was quick, and he never, ever gave up.

He made the first swipe, swinging his swab around to thump Robbie’s side.

Robbie’s eyes went wide, and a moment later, when he landed a return blow against Toby’s hip, it was obvious thatsurprise came from how much harder the swabs hit than the pool noodles had.

“Give it up, Robbie!” Toby shouted, playing for the ever-increasing crowd. “The castle will be mine!”

Robbie didn’t respond with words, but his eyes narrowed, and a fierce determination entered his eyes that was downright sexy. Robbie swung at him again, but Toby blocked it before trying to get in another blow himself.

Neither of them were going to get anywhere. Not with the padding they wore and the clumsiness of their weapons. But it was cathartic to keep trying, to keep hitting and dodging. Toby loved the pump of his blood through his veins, loved the way he had to fight to catch his breath. He’d never played team sports in school, even though he’d tried to sign up for them, because he’d been bullied and teased too much for even trying. It had gotten even worse when word leaked to his school mates that he liked cock.

But throwing himself into the duel, jumping back and forth and taking swipes at Robbie made him wish with his whole heart that he’d been able to take part in something. He’d always been a team of one, so that was nothing new, but the cheering and approval of the crowd was a feeling nothing could replace.

Robbie, on the other hand, seemed to shrink in on himself as the battle continued. His rugby helmet looked awkward on him, even though he was built strong enough to play any sport. He was concentrating too hard on Toby, but Toby sensed an enormous amount of self-consciousness from him all the same.

Of course a blue-blooded nob like Robert Hawthorne, Jr. wouldn’t know his way around sports equipment. His lot was more used to equestrian events and golf than anything that might actually lead to sweating.

Using the surge of old frustration that came with those thoughts, he swept at Robbie’s legs. Miraculously, he actually managed to knock Robbie to the ground.

The crowd cheered, and some booed, but Toby ignored all of that.

“You okay, mate?” he asked, hurrying to stand over Robbie, ready to help him up if he needed to.

Robbie glared up at him, but it was the cry of, “Oy! Isn’t that just the way of things. The aristo’s just beating up on the common man, as always.”

Anger tore through Toby that had nothing to do with Robbie or the fake fight they were engaged in. He jerked his head up, searching for whoever had dared to insult him that way. They had no idea who he was or what shit he’d gone through to get to where he was now.

He didn’t find the heckler. Before he could, Robbie swung his swab thing hard, knocking Toby down.

Toby wasn’t ready for the hit and sprawled to his back. If that wasn’t bad enough, Robbie pushed himself up to his knees and threw a leg over to straddle Toby’s waist, pinning him.

Instead of turning it into a wrestling match and trying to push Robbie off, Toby grinned up at him. “I knew you wanted to get me on my back,” he purred.

Robbie growled, face red, dark hair sticking damply out from the edges of his helmet, and grabbed for Toby’s swab. Toby gripped it harder, preventing Robbie from taking it.

Without missing a beat, Robbie found another way to disarm him. He tugged on the swab again, and while Toby was distracted with trying to hold onto it, Robbie bent down and kissed him hard, right on his open, panting mouth.

Toby’s brain stopped functioning. The kiss went on longer than it should have. His body responded to every half-entertained, wild fantasy he’d had about Robbie in the last fewdays. His cock perked up like it might actually get some action. In the back of Toby’s mind, he registered that the crowd was going nuts over the trick move, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to keep kissing Robbie.

But then Robbie pulled back roughly and stood, taking Toby’s swab with him. He stood over Toby, raising the swab in one hand as the crowd cheered and applauded for him.

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