After bringing Gwen her plate and chatting for a moment, May used the excuse of hunting down Peter and Ben to give Tobey and Gwen some time alone.
The moment May left the room, Gwen's face scrunched up in agony.
She discreetly spit out the large bite of sandwich she had just taken to be polite.
She leaned in and whispered her complaints to Tobey.
"Tobey, Aunt May's cooking is just as... unique as always."
Tobey swallowed his mouthful of food and replied flatly.
"It tastes terrible, but at least it is healthy and non-toxic. It will not slowly kill you like the fast food you buy outside."
Hearing Tobey's aggressively unromantic pragmatism, even the highly emotionally intelligent Gwen was left speechless.
If he put it like that, how was she supposed to ever enjoy eating fast food again?
Despite his blunt words, Tobey stood up and walked into the kitchen.
He quickly fried two eggs and placed the fresh plate in front of her.
Leaning down to smell the freshly cooked meal, Gwen looked up at Tobey with sparkling, worshipful eyes.
"How did you make this? You only used a little salt and rosemary, but it smells absolutely amazing."
Tobey answered with brutal honesty.
"Because you just ate something disgusting. The contrast makes completely ordinary food seem delicious."
Gwen's radiant smile slowly vanished.
She felt utterly defeated by his airtight logic.
Was this not the perfect moment for him to say something sweet?
Something like 'the secret ingredient is love' to make her heart flutter?
Instead, he credited the terrible appetizer. What kind of dense rock was this guy?
Seeing Tobey obliviously continue eating his terrible sandwich, Gwen puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
She picked up her knife and fork, viciously slicing into the eggs as if she were cutting into Tobey himself.
Stupid Tobey. Dense Tobey.
Catching Gwen's adorable, frustrated expression from the corner of his eye, the corners of Tobey's mouth curled up slightly.
He suddenly spoke.
"Do you want to go out shopping later?"
"Shop? Shop my foot! You absolute... wait, what did you just say?"
Halfway through her angry muttering, Gwen snapped her head up.
She stared at Tobey with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Had this dense block of wood finally figured it out after two whole years?
Tobey internally replied to her unasked question. No, it is just because you are finally an adult.
Tobey offered a faint smile and repeated his question.
"I said, do you want to go out shopping later?"
"Y-Yes, of course. But why so sudden? I should go back and change clothes first. Right, I need to change!"
Gwen clearly had not anticipated Tobey initiating a date out of nowhere.
Her face instantly flushed bright red.
Completely flustered, she stood up and began walking stiffly toward the door like a malfunctioning robot.
But before she could take two steps, a large, warm hand wrapped around her wrist.
She turned around to see Tobey, the very man who had thrown her heart into absolute chaos.
Feeling the heat of his grip, she stared dizzily into the handsome face she had been pining over for two years.
Her brain was practically steaming.
Was Tobey in a rush? Did he want to make a move right here?
Should she just accept it, or pretend to be shy for a second before accepting?
Just as Gwen was internally debating between accepting immediately and accepting slightly less immediately, Tobey spoke.
"Eat your eggs first. Do not waste food."
Gwen was speechless.
This freaking block of wood had only figured things out halfway!
In the end, Gwen obediently finished her eggs and did not go home to change into a cute outfit.
Instead, wearing the simple gray cardigan, jeans, and teal Converse sneakers she had arrived in, she went on her very first shopping date with Tobey.
Actually, calling it a date was highly inaccurate.
Gwen stared at the massive auto mall in front of her, her eyes twitching violently.
Who on earth takes a girl to a car dealership for their first date?
Gwen shot Tobey a dead-eyed glare and asked in complete exasperation.
"Why did you bring me to an auto mall? Do not tell me you plan on buying me a car."
That was the absolute best-case scenario she could come up with.
She definitely would not accept such an expensive gift, but just knowing Tobey had the intention would make her incredibly happy.
Tobey looked down at Gwen.
She was more than a full head shorter than him and had to tilt her chin up just to meet his eyes.
Suddenly, a very bizarre and highly inappropriate thought popped into his head.
With their massive height difference, if Gwen just stood there, she could easily... ahem.
Tobey quickly shook his head, tossing the dirty thought straight into the gutter.
He answered her question.
"No. I plan to buy Ben a new car."
"He has been driving that beat-up clunker since before I was born, and it is way past time to retire it. I wanted you to help me pick out a good replacement."
Gwen let out a hollow laugh.
Her expression clearly said, I knew it.
This guy had not figured out anything romantically. He was literally just using her as a consultant!
However, Gwen could never really refuse any of Tobey's requests, so she simply huffed in annoyance and agreed to help.
As payment, she demanded that Tobey treat her to a high-end, aesthetic lunch afterward.
She figured that even if this was not a real date, she still had to make him pay a little.
Tobey naturally had no objections to such a small request.
And as it turned out, bringing Gwen along for her opinion was the absolute right move.
If he had come alone, he probably would have just picked a modern sedan to directly replace Ben's old car.
But Gwen pointed out that while sedans might have been popular when Ben was younger, modern middle-aged men generally preferred highly practical pickup trucks.
Thanks to Gwen's recommendation, Tobey ultimately settled on the latest Ford F-150 Raptor R.
The price tag came out to just over a hundred and ten thousand dollars, which perfectly aligned with the check he had given Ben the day before.
It was not that Tobey felt bound by that specific budget.
With a net worth in the nine figures, he could have easily bought his father a multi-million-dollar luxury supercar.
But if he actually brought home a million-dollar hypercar, his parents would scold him relentlessly, and Ben would be too terrified to ever drive it out of the garage.
Around a hundred thousand dollars was the absolute limit of what the old couple could stomach for a single purchase without having a heart attack.
By the time they finished the registration and paperwork, it was nearly noon.
Tobey drove the brand-new Ford Raptor straight to a Michelin-starred restaurant, treating Gwen to the fancy meal he had promised.
Since Dr. Connors's intern Q and A event was scheduled for that afternoon, Gwen naturally had to head in early to help prepare as his assistant.
She handed Tobey two temporary visitor passes for Oscorp Tower, and he drove her straight to the company headquarters.
By the time he returned home, May, Ben, and Peter had already gotten back from their morning errands.
The moment Tobey walked through the front door, all three of them stared at him with identical, incredibly smug smiles.
He did not even need to guess what they were thinking.
Unfortunately for them, they were destined to be disappointed.
Because Gwen had to go help out at Oscorp that afternoon, their post-lunch activities had concluded immediately.
They had not taken the opportunity to understand each other any deeper.