Baby For The Mountain Man

“Nothing,” I said too quickly. “Just um…”

“Your after-work activities?” Tobias said with his eyebrows raised.

My heart practically stopped in my chest. I gripped my beer so tightly that I was in danger of crushing the bottle.

Tobias’ gray eyes, the exact same shade as Joanna’s, narrowed at me. “How are things going in that department for you anyway, these days?” he asked.

I opened and closed my mouth for a moment, sputtering and making inarticulate noises. “W-What do you mean?” I finally said.

Tobias smirked, the sight of it looking somewhat sinister. “Yeah, there’s something going on. You’re stuttering.”

“Come on, man,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant. “What is this? An interrogation?”

“Just trying to figure out what’s going on with you lately,” Tobias said, chugging another more beer. “You seem kind of distant. Makes me think its girl-trouble, based on your reaction, it is.”

“It’s not,” I said, realizing too late how defensive I sounded.

“Yeah right.” Tobias stared at me, his gaze challenging. “You know, you might as well tell me,” he said. “I’m not getting any play in that department, trying to keep up with work and Joanna and all. Might as well let me live vicariously through you, man.”

I almost choked at the sound of Joanna’s name. I closed my eyes for a second, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

“That bad, huh?” Tobias said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “So what happened? You get caught by somebody’s boyfriend? Somebody’s husband?”

I waited with bated breath, thinking he was just seconds away from saying, “Somebody’s pissed-off overprotective brother.”

I rubbed the back of my neck, wishing more than anything for a change in subject. I shook my head and stared down into my lap, trying to think of what I could possibly say.

“All right, fine,” Tobias said, reaching for another beer. “Be like that.”

“Like what?”

“Secretive. You’re acting like Joanna.”

“W-What? How so?”

Tobias shrugged, a glossy look in his eyes indicating that he had likely downed a few beers before I had even arrived. “She’s just going through a lot, man. It’s hard to be the big brother and feel like you don’t know what to do. I always knew I’d have a hard time whenever she got her heart broken. Makes me want to strangle the hell out of someone.”

I swallowed another sip of beer, relaxing somewhat and starting to feel that Tobias truly didn’t know about me and Joanna yet.

“Oh,” I said. I wanted to question him further, but didn’t know what to say. So instead, I waited quietly, sensing that he would elaborate soon if I stayed patient.

He sighed again. “I thought that fool was going to be the one for her. I’d been waiting on the inevitable call when she’d tell me they were getting married or having a baby or something like that. They’d been serious with each other for a while. Hell, seemed like a really long time, to tell you the truth. Longer than anything I’d ever had. I just knew my baby sis would walk down the aisle before I did.”

My ears prickled. Despite our close friendship, I had never heard Tobias speak so in-depth about his sister and her relationship. I was surprised to learn that she had been so seriously involved with someone.

“Was this recent?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

Tobias nodded. “Yep. That’s why she moved in with me. They broke up. He was abusive.”

I set down my beer, suddenly feeling lightheaded, and it wasn’t just from being surprised this time though. I was furious.

Abusive?

That mother fucker.

I clenched my teeth, the mere thought of someone hurting Joanna making me feel irrationally angry. I also wondered how it had happened in the first place. Joanna was so smart, beautiful, and independent; it just didn’t seem plausible that she would let anyone treat her that way. But then again, that had to be the reason she left to begin with…

“Yeah, looks like you want to strangle him too,” Tobias said, his words slightly slurred. “It was that Zander guy I was telling you about.”