After Seeing the Comments, I Forced the Male Lead to Love Me novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: Not Like This
On our third anniversary Tobias turns me down again, rows of reader comments appear in front of me, and the top one tells me to force him; he leaves to pick someone up on Friday.
The robe had four point eight stars from eleven thousand reviewers, and not one of them mentioned that my husband would say no anyway.
I stood in the guest room doorway in it at nine forty on our third anniversary.
Tobias sat up in the guest bed with his laptop on his knees and his reading glasses on.
"Happy anniversary," I said, and let the robe slide off one shoulder.
He looked at the shoulder. He looked at my face.
"Hallie," he said. "Not like this."
It was the answer I had gotten on our wedding night, and every night I had tried since.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
It was Rosalind, his aunt. "Happy anniversary, dear! I gave the staff the night off so you two have the whole house. Be patient with him."
I put the phone away and took a breath to try again.
That was when the words appeared.
They hung in the air beside Tobias's head, in small white boxes stacked one under another.
Every box had a name on it and a number of likes.
"bookbabe_91: I'M DYING. This supporting female character actually thinks the male lead has no sex drive."
"tea_and_spoilers: She has been married three years and she still doesn't know. 😭"
"pagefive: Day 30 is the Founders' Dinner. Divorce scene. I'm so ready."
I rubbed my eyes. The boxes stayed.
"Do you see that?" I asked.
Tobias glanced at the wall. "See what?"
"Nothing."
"You've been looking past me since you walked in," he said.
"I'm admiring the wallpaper."
"It's beige."
Another box slid in under the others.
"noelle_stan_4ever: wait till Noelle lands Friday. He's going to be a whole different man."
I did not know anyone named Noelle.
Then a box rose to the top and the number beside it climbed while I watched.
"bookbabe_91: Force him. Men like this want to be pushed. (3,412 likes)"
I have not bought a single thing in my life with fewer than four stars.
My father lost his company on the advice of one man nobody had checked.
Three thousand four hundred people agreed with bookbabe_91.
So I decided to force him.
First I stood in the doorway with my arms out and said I was not moving.
Tobias nodded, closed the laptop and sat back with his hands folded.
He waited. I watched the bedside clock for every minute of it.
"You can't wait forever," I said.
"I'm told I'm good at it."
Second, I took the key from the lock, put it in the pocket of the robe and said he was staying until he loved me.
"That's the key to the linen closet," he said.
I checked. It was.
The boxes were having a very good time.
"tea_and_spoilers: SHE TOOK THE WRONG KEY (902 likes)"
Third, I climbed onto the bed on my knees, put my hands on either side of his head and kissed him.
He kissed me back for one long second, with his whole mouth, warm and sure.
Then he put one finger under my chin and lifted my face an inch away.
"Hallie," he said quietly. "Look at me. Not the wall. Me."
My face went hot.
"I am looking at you."
"You were reading," he said.
The doorbell rang.
He lifted me off the bed with both hands, gently, and went downstairs without a word.
I followed in my robe, clutching it shut.
A courier stood on the porch holding a small white box from the bakery on Delancey, the one with the lemon tarts.
My favorite. Tobias had ordered it himself, that afternoon, in his own handwriting on the order slip.
He took his wallet out to pay. It fell open on the hall table.
A little blue cocktail napkin, folded soft from handling, was tucked in behind his driver's license.
He slid it back with one finger and tipped the courier forty dollars.
I thought: that's a lot for one tart.
A new box slid into the air beside the door.
"pagefive: Heads up, she's about to find out he booked the car for Noelle himself."
Tobias set the tart box in my hands and shut the door.
"I have to leave early on Friday," he said. "Six o'clock. I'm picking someone up from the airport."
"Who?"
"An old friend from college."
Every box in the air froze, and then they all began typing at once.
"Noelle," Tobias said.
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