Tobias: Book One of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“Pet it.”

“No.”

“Pet it,” Jane all but growled at him, holding the little calico and at the same time trapping him in their room's corner.

Tobias looked all around the small bed and breakfast's space, coming up with only two solutions: either pet the incessant cat whose teeth would most certainly rip him to fleshy ribbons or run like hell to the bathroom right next to where they were staying. Deciding that the latter option was safest, Tobias ran in a hurried sprint towards the recently cleaned haven.

Occupied. The antique wooden door that was the entrance to the bathroom smirked at him.

“Dammit,” Tobias cursed at whoever was occupying his only hope for salvation. Now that cat was going to cut him into shreds.

“Bye bye, little one.” Jane all but worshiped that insufferable little animal as she crouched down and let it walk away with a sassy swing to its feline hips. Shooting him an amused glance that spoke of having gotten the better of him, she stated, “You are going to get over that fear of yours if it's the last thing we do today.”

“But we didn't even get to visit all of the museum exhibits,” he whined, not caring that he sounded exactly like the spoiled child who had been complaining last night at the Op Art Museum of Denver.

The blonde-haired girl had been pointing at the glass candy case with chubby fingers just as he and Jane had walked into the Richard Allen exhibit where they had looked at all of the dizzying pieces for hours. It had been a great night – one that he wished to repeat.

Smiling fondly at the memories, he asked, “Why don't we head out now? It's only around ten, and we could walk down the strip for a little bit.”

“Sounds good.” Jane smiled and slipped on tan shoes that were almost covered by her faded jeans. “But when we get back, you are going to pet Calvin and-”

“Calvin?”

“The cat!” she exclaimed before kissing him lightly on the lips. “Then we'll head back home, and I'll be satisfied.”

He smirked, wrapping his arms around her small waist. "So, what we did last night didn't satisfy you? Because if I recall correctly, you were screaming and saying something along the lines of 'don't stop. Ah, Tobias, I'm-”

“Tobias Cantrell,” Jane quipped before giving his ass a good slap. "Are we going to go or not?”

“Definitely going,” he replied excitedly and grabbed her hand, leading Jane down the hall where a few others were shuffling down for late breakfast.

Despite the decadent meal of cheesy scrambled eggs, biscuits, gravy, and breakfast meats, his stomach still growled slightly at the smell of even more freshly cooked food. Just one look at the buffet style table, and he was a goner, his stomach having taken over control. Making sure that everybody was busy with their own plates, he quickly grabbed a couple of biscuits and jammed a couple of sausages and bacon strips into the middles.

At Jane's amused glance, he explained around a mouthful of greasy goodness, “I got a lot of exercise last night.”

Opening up the front door and letting chilled air seep into the living room, she laughed. “That you did. Now, how do we get there again?”

Tobias wiped his hand on his pants leg before lacing his fingers with hers and leading them down the long, busy sidewalks to the Museum. The building itself was a pure work of art. Large, dark-colored circles were pasted onto the sides, highlighted by inverted colors surrounding them. It was divided into seven parts, large windows everywhere that blended in with the colorful and unique circles.