Chapter Text
“That your man, dancing with mine?” the guy next to Tina asked. They were both sat at the bar on the county fair. Toby and Tina had danced for a little while, but she didn’t have a fraction of Toby’s stamina, so she had kissed him and told him to go on dancing while she had a drink. Looking to her right, now at the bar, she assumed a similar thing had happened between the man who was talking to her and his partner, seeing that his legs were made of wood. That would throw a spanner in the works when dancing, for sure. He held out his hand to her.
“Bubba,” he said.
“Tina.”
“Seems we got a similar taste in men,” he joked. “Short and blonde.”
Tina watched the dance floor, where Toby had indeed found someone to dance with – blonde and only an inch or so taller than him, although that might be due to the cowboy boots. The other man was considerably more muscular though, with a better beard and mustache. He was also better dressed for the occasion, in his western style suit and cowboy hat, although she would never say that to Toby. Toby didn’t handle being outdressed very well, as long as it wasn’t by someone he had dressed himself. The other man was a great dancer. He led Toby all over the dancefloor, dipping him, lifting him. He had an infectious smile on his face and while Toby clearly tried to smile back, he kept looking back and forth between his feet, the people around him, the face of his dance partner, their bodies… He came across a little desperate. It was cute.
“What’s that golden retriever of yours called?” Bubba asked, in between swigs of beer.
“Toby,” Tina laughed. “But he ain’t no golden retriever husband. He’s a strong independent man, he is.”
“Just like ‘Miah.” He nodded towards the dancing pair. “Jeremiah, my husband. You recon they gon’ kiss?”
“Not my Toby. He ain’t into all that.” Tina took a cigarette case from her pocket, with a few pre-rolled joints. She lit one and nodded towards it. “Medicinal,” she said.
“Not into all that?” Bubba asked. “You mean men?” Tina nodded and Bubba laughed. “You’re pulling my leg! My wooden leg! No way he doesn’t swing both ways at least!”
“Nope!” Tina shook her head but kept looking at the two men dancing. She had never really asked Toby about men. Why would she? He was married to her, she was a woman. Clear as day, wasn’t it? And yes, he liked stroking her beard – he was the one who convinced her to stop shaving in the first place. Was that a gay thing? It wasn’t, was it?
Toby seemed to have an awful lot of fun dancing with Jeremiah.
“He gon’ make a move any second now,” Bubba said, pointing at their men.
Toby wouldn’t, would he? Jeremiah was indeed placing his hand on the back of Toby’s head, looking in his eyes.
“You don’ mind?” Tina asked, not able to tear her gaze away from her husband. What was happening?
“Miah can have his little flirtations,” Bubba said. “So long as he’s comin’ home with yours truly.”
Toby wouldn’t. He didn’t. Tina saw him hesitate, but then look over to the bar, meet Tina’s eyes, peel Jeremiah’s hands away from him, say something and then walk over to his wife. Tina noticed her own heart beating faster than usual. He hesitated though. He put his arms around her and kissed her fiercely. Then he looked feverishly at the bar behind her.
“Well, what’s a man gotta do to get a drink over here?”
His hair was messed up, the top button of his shirt loosened. She grabbed his wrist; his heart was beating fast as well. His face was red. Dancing must’ve gotten hot, one way or another.
“That fuckin’ cowboy,” Toby muttered, trying to sound angry. “Tryna get in my pants…”
“Careful what you say about my husband, kid.” Bubba stood up. He wasn’t much taller than Toby, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in width, which made him an impressive sight anyway, despite the wooden legs.
“Calm down, honey. Just get yourself a drink,” Tina said. Toby was being weird – differently weird than he normally was. He managed to get the attention of the barkeep and ordered himself a beer. He took a big swig and tried not to show on his face how much he hated it.
Jeremiah joined them as well, putting one hand on Bubba’s shoulder after kissing him, and reaching over his lap to shake Tina’s hand.
“Jeremiah,” he introduced himself. “Think I just broke your partner. Sorry ‘bout that.”
“I’m straight, do you understand?” Toby said. He had downed half his cup of beer already.
“I understand,” Jeremiah said lazily. He put up two fingers at the barkeep. So that’s what a man gotta do to get a drink around here. “Look man, my hubby got no legs. I got’ dance with someone. Looked like you were having a ball.”
“Well, I wasn’t.”
Tina bit her lip. She wanted to be on Toby’s side on this, but he was so clearly lying.
“My mistake,” Jeremiah answered, looking Toby in the eyes, who immediately looked away.
“Come,” Toby said, taking Tina by the hand and, with big steps, leading her away from the bar and the two men. They walked past a shooting gallery and Toby pointed. “You want me to win you a rose?”
“I want you to be honest,” Tina said. “You’re acting so weird – so not you. What’s going on, darling?”
“Nothin’, nothin’s going on. That man danced with me, he got a little too close for comfort, I told him off. End of story.”
“Then why’r you so mad?” Tina asked. “Has he touched you without consent?” She pulled on his arm to make him stop walking and closed the top button of Toby’s shirt again. Then she looked him in the eyes and raised her eyebrows. He looked at the ground.
“No, I, uh… well we danced, of course we touched, in a normal, dancing way. Nothing weird. And then he made it weird. I can’t go round kissing others! And his partner was there too.”
“Darlin’,” Tina said, now taking both of Toby’s hands. “Look me in the eyes.” He did, reluctantly. “Do you like men?”
“What does it matter?” Toby said. “I like you.”
“’What does it matter’ is not ‘no’,” Tina remarked. “It doesn’t, you’re right. I just want to know my husband. I don’ wanna feel like I’m holding you back.”
“You aren’t,” Toby promised. “I love you. I don’t need nobody else. He just got me flustered, that’s all.” He raised one of his hands to her face and stroked her cheek and beard. “You’re all I need.”