Page 46 of The Bro Date
“Jakey, no. You have to earn that, babe.” She taps his chest with her long nails, strutting away to the bumper cars.
Jake clasps his heart where Daija touched him, sighing loudly. “Fuck, bro. I think I’m in love. She’s a goddess.”
“Oh, shut up,” Spencer laughs, shaking his head and walking away.
“Come on!” Tate hollers from his spot in line next to Daija. “Let’s go!”
“Y’all better watch out. I’m ready to do some damage,” Jake snickers before jogging off to get in line with the rest of them.
“You’re sitting with me,” I say matter-of-factly, staring down into my reflection in his sunglasses. “I don’t trust that idiot.”
“Aww. Is my bodyguard here today?” he teases, looping his arm through mine and walking us over to our friends.
“Damn straight,” I tell him.
I slam the giant hammer down like Thor, making the light fly up and hit the top, declaring me the winner of a giant-sized plushie.
“Pick anything you want,” the carnival guy says with a bored look, completely unimpressed by my skills.
I watch as Toby’s gaze scans the wall of stuffed animals, landing on one at the very top. “That one.” He points, and the man sighs with annoyance, grabbing the pole propped up in the corner and struggling to unhook it for a good three minutes. He’s broken a sweat by the time he hands it over, and I kind of feel bad for the guy, but at least Toby’s happy. In fact, he’s beaming.
A weird sense of pride rolls through me, even though it’s just a stuffed animal. “What is it?” I ask, unable to make out what the creature is besides being kinda cute.
“It’s a rainbow unicorn-sloth, Shane. Three-toed, to be precise,” Toby says as if I should have known, cuddling the weird looking thing to his chest.
“If you say so,” I mumble as we stroll through the fairgrounds, just the two of us. Jake and Spencer ran off to chase a group of girls from CBU, and Tate and Daija went for funnel cake.
“Shit,” Toby suddenly curses, holding the sloth higher up so that it blocks his face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, my eyes scanning the crowd for any potential threats, and finding one when they land on that prick from the movie theater.
Even though Toby’s hiding his face, the asshole still recognizes me, his eyes lighting up with malice instead of fear. “If it isn’t the stalker and the virgin,” he taunts, and in less than five seconds, he’s pressed to the closest brick wall with my forearm across his throat.
“What’s your name?” I growl.
“T-Tristan,” he gasps, barely able to speak.
“I thought I told you to run if you ever saw me again?”
Tristan’s mouth opens and closes like a fish, desperate for air and unable to form any words.
“But you decided it was a better idea to talk shit? Hmm?”
“Shane!Don’t!” Toby cries out, running over. “Put him down!”
I release the prick, and he falls to the ground like a pathetic sack of shit, coughing and sputtering to catch his breath before he hops up and takes off running. “You crazy motherfucker!” he shouts once he’s a safe enough distance away.
A startled laugh bursts from Toby’s lips before he presses a hand to his mouth, his body shaking with mirth.
“Told you your bodyguard’s always around,” I say cockily, glancing over at the food stall closest to us.Corn dogs and cheese fries.“Come on, forget that loser and get in line with me.” I tug Toby over to the queue, and we stand there patiently, like I didn’t just choke out someone in front of a small crowd of people. It must be a common occurrence around here because no one bats an eye. The line moves quickly since it’s just hot dogs, and soon enough, I’m ordering food to feed five people. “Can you grab the drinks?” I ask, lifting the heavy tray.
“Yeah. Got it,” he replies, grabbing the two large sodas from the cashier’s grasp.
“Let’s find a table.” Toby follows me to an empty picnic table with a view of the Ferris wheel. We sit down, covering everything in ketchup and cheese sauce before devouring our messy food in silence.
When the last cheese fry is gone, Toby finally speaks. “Shane, you can’t go around beating people up like that. No matter how satisfying it is.”
“I didn’t beat him up, I gave him his second warning. If it happens a third time,thenI’ll beat him up,” I explain evenly.
