Tobias: Book One of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Forty-Four

Steve walks warily down the street,
with the brim pulled way down low
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet,
machine guns ready to go.

“Are you ready, are you ready for this? Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?” Tobias all but screamed the lyrics of the classic song Another One Bites the Dust, feeling extremely pumped for what was to come.

Come, he laughed loudly to himself. There was going to be a lot of that today. Just the thought of Jane wearing an extremely skimpy outfit as she cried from underneath had him hardening uncomfortably in the truck seat. The things she could do to him were just indescribable – both in and out of bed. Even when she was committing the simple act of smiling or talking with him, Tobias was left feeling breathless.

His heart, stomach, and entire body would clench until he thought his subconscious actions through and would finally begin breathing once again. It was always like time had stopped and would allow him a few more seconds to take it all in – to take her all in. His brown-haired beauty of a physical therapist was a handful, a handful that he would enjoy holding for the rest of his life.

Tobias didn't know when it had happened, but sometime in the course of the last week or so, he had completely fallen in love with her – completely. Now, he could finally identify the emotion that literally clawed at his insides. There were no doubts, no maybes, what ifs, or anything of the sort, only that hurting feeling in his chest that came whenever he didn't say those three words.

He needed to tell her. Hell, he could have told her three or four months ago and have been as sure of himself as he was now. In a way, he was extremely spoiled, for Titus had been in love with the same woman for nine years and had to watch her with another man; while Tobias, on the other hand, saw Jane every single day. But somewhere along the line, every day had turned into not enough.

Half of his clothes and half of her clothes were at opposite places, and for good reason; not one night had gone by that they hadn't gone to sleep together. And not just sex – however bright and hot the fire of their sex life kept burning – but just holding each other in his or her arms until they both fell asleep. There were times when he would wake up first and just watch the comforting way in which she lightly snored.

He simply could not get enough and needed more. That one barrier that was keeping their already extremely close relationship away from its full potential was going to be taken down. It was going to be taken down today. And by the way Jane looked at him with all of that very same emotion in her eyes, he knew for a fact that she loved him too.

“I love you, Jane Reynolds,” he practiced saying the words, turning down the radio slightly to hear what those words sounded like. “I love you, Jane,” Tobias repeated over and over again until he was parked in Jane's driveway.

It had snowed heavily last night, blanketing the ground and the roof of her house in white fluff – the very same white fluff that was slowly invading its way into his boots as he tramped up to the front door. He didn't even have to ring the doorbell, for Jane had given him a key some time ago to let him come and go as he pleased. She, like him, had a key to his house also. Even though he had never done something like that before, it was one of the easiest decisions he had ever made.

“Jane?” he called out into the house, following the trail of rose petals, the booted heels of his shoes echoing throughout the house until he was opening up the bathroom door.

With the thought of an erotically posed Jane laying on the bed, he swung the door open eagerly only to be greeted by more rose petals and a piece of stock paper with his name written on the front in elegant script. Tobias, it read, you must follow these directions exactly...or else. For your birthday, I decided to give you your birthday present scavenger hunt style. You will take pictures at each destination and send them to me before beginning another task. More directions will be given to you at each destination until you finish. Now, stop thinking about me naked and read the damn rules.