Very quietly, she says, “When did that happen? I’ve been trying … not to … I’ve liked you since we met, but I didn’t think. I mean.” Summer sighs a little, twisting her hands in her lap. “I don’t think of myself as being someone likable, or important, so I don’t understand. And I’ve been trying /not/ to come on to you, or anything like that. That’s what I meant about that one night — I know I was being horrible, I get flirty when I’m drunk, and you didn’t let me do anything stupid.”
Toni shrugs. “Consider it someone drawing from personal experience. You’re forgetting that Tony and I are pretty much the same guy. We’ve been known for our drunken escapades. I remember one time I tried to give Rhodey a blow job on our way to this gala—” Toni breaks off with a small smile before it falls a bit as he coughs from memory. “Yeah, well, either way …you’re important to me because you actually give a damn about me. I wasn’t about to let something happen to you, sweetheart. So you were a bit flirtatious,” he shrugs. “No harm, no foul.”
“I don’t forget that. You aren’t him, no matter what you think; you just started the same place. You’ve had your jolt a lot earlier — I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if he — if Tony had been jolted out of that self-absorption sooner, like you.” Summer twists a ring on her hand around her finger a couple of times, staring out the window at the traffic. “Anyway … of course I give a damn about you. It’s what I do, that’s all I’m good for. You’re someone who — how do I say this? — there are a lot of people around you that are only interested in what you can do for them. In making you feel good, controlling you, giving you what you want. Someone has to be the person who cares about the real you, and I guess that person is me.”