Page 12 of Truth or More Truth (Throwback RomComs #3)

eleven

. . .

W ho would’ve ever thought I’d be sitting in a Pizza Hut in Nowhere, Arkansas, trying to convince Bobby Jacobs he’s a better man than he believes he is?

Not me, that’s for sure. A day ago, I was dreading what I thought would be an interminable twelve-hour road trip with him.

Now? I’m not sure I want it to end. That’s part of the reason I insisted we stop to eat instead of waiting until we arrived in Oakville.

It’s not that I’m not excited to join our friends—and Shannon—in Leslie’s hometown for the wedding festivities, but I’ve somehow become attached to the typically irritating man sitting across from me. And I continue to have mixed feelings about that.

I want to ask Bobby questions about his dad and their relationship, but I know he gave me a gift by telling me as much as he did, and I don’t want to scare him off. I know he’ll tell me what he wants to when he’s ready. Just like I’ll tell him about what happened with Jeremy when I’m ready.

“I don’t know what to say,” he finally says in response to my declaration about him being a good man.

“You don’t have to say anything. I just want you to believe what I said. Do you believe it? Can you?”

He closes his eyes, and I watch his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. “I can try. ”

Now I reach my hand across to cover his on the table. His eyes pop back open.

“That’s a great start,” I say. “Now eat up so we can get back on the road.”

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to stop and eat. I’m going to take my sweet time.”

He takes a bite of pizza and chews it exaggeratedly slowly. I ball up my napkin and throw it at his face, resulting in a grin that makes his dimple appear again. In this moment, I decide my goal for the next few days is to see that dimple as often as possible.

“We were afraid you were dead in a ditch somewhere!” Wendy exclaims as she hugs me so tightly I’m afraid my ribs will crack.

I glance over at Bobby, who’s chatting with Randall and Ash while smirking at me, which unfortunately does not bring out the dimple. “Told you so,” he mouths at me, and I’m tempted to stick my tongue out at him but I give him a smile and eye roll instead.

“Let her go,” Leslie orders Wendy, “before she’s dead in my parents’ living room from you squeezing her to death.”

Wendy obliges, and Leslie gives me a long yet thankfully looser hug.

“What’s that look that just passed between you and Bobby?” she whispers in my ear.

“Nothing,” I mutter. It’s obviously not nothing, but I have no idea what to tell my friend about what may or may not be happening between Bobby and me. Not that anything’s happening. Well, except for me wanting to see his dimple and remembering how nice it felt to wake up in his arms.

“I don’t believe you, and I’ll be asking you again later,” she murmurs. “So you’d better come up with a better answer next time.” She finally lets me go.

“Where’s everybody else?” I ask her. “I figured the house would be full.”

“Diego’s flight landed in Little Rock about an hour ago, so he should be here soon. Dad and Shannon went to pick him up.”

That’s not surprising in the least. Shannon couldn’t believe his luck when Leslie landed his favorite baseball player as a PR client last summer.

The few times the two men have been in the same place at the same time, Shannon has barely left Diego’s side.

Thankfully, Shannon’s a fun guy, and Diego mostly doesn’t mind his clinginess.

Leslie leads us into the kitchen as she says, “My mom, my sister Cynthia, my aunt Star, and Ash’s mom and sisters are over at the church getting a few things ready for tomorrow.

They’ll be back soon. Do you want to stay here until they all arrive, or do you want to head to the hotel and get some rest and get changed for tonight? ”

I look at my watch. It’s almost three. “How far away is the hotel? And what time is the rehearsal?”

“Rehearsal is at six, and the hotel is a twenty-minute drive.”

My eyes search out Bobby, who I can see through the archway into the living room.

He’s focused on me and tuned in to our conversation, although he’s at least fifteen feet away.

I raise my eyebrows at him, and he shrugs, letting me know he doesn’t care when we go to the hotel.

With a jolt, I realize we both assumed we’d go together, even though we no longer need to.

I turn my gaze back on Leslie, who’s popping the top on a can of Diet Coke. “We can hang around here until four or so, and then we should probably head to the hotel to check in and get changed.”

“We?” Wendy asks with a smirk.

“Uh, well, I just assumed Bobby and I would go together, since he doesn’t have a car.”

“Mmhm.”

Instead of engaging any further in that conversation, I take a seat at the kitchen table, facing away from the guys, and I ask Wendy, “Is Andrea coming tonight?”

Wendy’s recently discovered half-sister lives in Little Rock with her seven-year-old daughter Emily. I met both of them in the fall at Wendy’s bridal shower and wedding, as Andrea was a bridesmaid and Emily was the flower girl.

“She won’t be there tonight,” Wendy explains as she grabs a Sprite from a large cooler and hands me a Dr. Pepper, “but she, Emily, and her mom will be at the wedding and reception tomorrow.”

“Blades of Steel,” an animated-sounding voice interrupts our conversation from the living room, followed by video game sounds.

I point my thumb over my shoulder toward the living room. “What’s happening in there?”

“They’re playing a hockey game on the Nintendo.

Ash gave it to Randall for Christmas, and he insisted on bringing it with him.

” Wendy rolls her eyes. “The man is addicted. Ash is tired of playing it with him already, so it looks like he’s now roping Bobby into it.

” She cups her hands around her mouth. “Hey, guys! Turn it down!”

A quick glance into the living room reveals Randall and Bobby both holding rectangular gray game controllers while their gazes are locked on the TV screen.

Meanwhile Ash is reading The Wall Street Journal.

I’m in no way surprised by any of it. Well, maybe Bobby playing a video game.

He doesn’t seem the type, but I’ve quickly learned he’s not exactly the type of man I thought he was.

“Helloooo!” Wendy hollers. “Turn it down.”

“Yes, dear,” Randall says in a high-pitched tone, and soon the game’s volume decreases.

“So, Melissa,” Leslie says in her let’s-get-down-to-business voice, “how was the trip?”

I take a sip of my Dr. Pepper while considering how to respond and forcing myself to not turn and look at Bobby.

“It’s a simple question,” Wendy says, when I take too long to reply. “Or maybe not so simple, considering the way you and Bobby have been sneaking looks at each other and having silent conversations across the room ever since you arrived.”

I sigh. “It was … unexpected,” I say in a voice low enough the guys can’t overhear.

“Oh?” Leslie says. “In what way?”

I tilt my head. “Bobby’s not what I expected. Not who I expected.”

They both nod, as if they know exactly what I’m talking about .

Wendy says, “He’s actually a good guy if you can manage to get him out of agent mode.”

“But he’s usually in agent mode, even when he’s not working,” Leslie adds. “Sounds like you might’ve gotten him out of it, though.” She gives me a knowing look.

“It took a couple hours,” I explain. “He was his typical jerkwad self at the airport. I’m impressed the airline agent didn’t punch him.

And then he wasn’t happy about having to drive down here or to ride with me.

But eventually, he chilled out, and he was even nice to me. ” I shake my head. “It was weird.”

“Like how nice?” Wendy says. “Give us some examples.”

I’m contemplating how much to tell them when a horn honks outside.