Page 15 of Truth or More Truth (Throwback RomComs #3)

fourteen

. . .

I must’ve angered the karmic gods in some way, because the seating arrangement at the rehearsal dinner placed Melissa smack dab between me and Shannon.

Actually, I’m guessing it was Leslie I irritated in some way to make this happen.

They all seem to think something happened between Melissa and me on the drive down here, but I’m guessing Leslie would prefer Melissa to be with her brother instead of me, and rightfully so.

I also wonder if Melissa would prefer Shannon to me.

I didn’t miss the fact that while she openly stared at me during the rehearsal, she smiled at Shannon. She didn’t smile at me.

Thankfully, Leslie’s dad is on my other side, so I can talk to him when Melissa’s chatting with Shannon. I’ll admit I don’t like how I feel when she laughs at something he says or touches his arm. I shouldn’t feel possessive of her after our one day together, but I do.

“So, Bobby,” Ernie says, “my daughter tells me you have quite the cutthroat reputation as a sports agent. I hear you always get what you want.”

I tense at his words, and I nearly jolt out of my chair when Melissa’s hand lands on my leg under the tablecloth. She gives my thigh a slight squeeze, as if conveying her support.

I recover quickly and respond, “Not always. And it’s not about what I want, sir, but what my clients want. ”

“How you managed to get Houston to trade Diego to Chicago last season is beyond me.”

“That was all him.” I nod toward Diego at the other end of the long table.

“All?”

“Well, mostly. The man is very persuasive.”

“I’ve heard that as well. But I’m surprised you’re not taking more credit for it.”

Melissa tightens her fingers on my thigh again, even though she’s having a conversation with Shannon.

“It’s not all about me.” Which is new. I can’t imagine I would’ve said that even two days ago, but my perspective is changing, thanks to the woman with her hand my leg.

I do what I do for my clients and for my family, not for me.

It hasn’t always been that way, but I now realize that’s changed over the years.

“That’s good to hear. Who are some of your other clients?”

As Ernie and I chat about the other athletes I represent, Melissa’s hand slips away. I grab for it and pull it back to my leg, leaving my hand curled over hers. I hold my breath, waiting for her to pull away again or even slap me, but she doesn’t.

“Mi hermano, I haven’t talked to you since Christmas Eve, which is way too long.” Diego gives me a tight hug and then asks, “How’s Kelli?”

I’m finally getting some one-on-one time with Diego while the guests mingle after the rehearsal dinner.

The man is so much more than my favorite client—he’s also my closest friend and, like I told Melissa, he’s like a brother to me.

Ash and Randall are also getting to that status, but I haven’t known them as long as I’ve known Diego, who was one of my first clients.

We’ve both had to deal with some major personal issues over the decade-plus we’ve been working together.

I’m not sure how I’d have made it through without him.

I switch to speaking in Spanish, in case we can be overheard. “ She’s not happy I wasn’t around the past few days since I was in Chicago and she couldn’t come with me.”

Diego purses his lips in frustration. “And why were you in Chicago instead of at home with your daughter?”

“Dealing with client drama.”

“Drama with a client in Chicago that’s not me?” Diego lets out a belly laugh. “What’s the world coming to?”

“Right? Usually you’re the drama queen, but this time it was someone else.”

“You’re not going to tell me who? Come on, hermano . You can tell me.”

“You know I can’t. I don’t tell people about your behind-the-scenes drama, so I’m not telling you about anyone else’s.”

“Fine. I respect that, but I know it’s Jimmie Zane. That kid can’t stay out of trouble. I don’t know why you signed him. He creates more drama than the rest of your clients combined.”

I shrug. “Apparently I’m drawn to drama. Case in point.” I nod toward him with a smirk.

Diego laughs again. “Can’t argue with that. Anyway, back to Kelli. She’s okay other than being mad you ditched her for Jimmie?”

I pause, knowing I should tell him what’s going on but not wanting to talk about this in public, even in Spanish.

“I can always tell when you’re hiding something from me,” he says. “Just spit it out.”

My heart rate increases as I say in a rush, “I called her when I was at the hotel earlier. She sounded a little off, and I could tell something was wrong and dragged it out of her that her mom had a mild headache a couple days ago, and it hasn’t gone away. In fact, it’s worse today. ”

He gasps and puts a hand over his heart in a way that would seem dramatic if any other man did it, but it works for him. “Oh, no. What does Nanette’s doctor say?”

“She can’t get in to see the doc until next week because of the holiday, so they’re both pretty stressed about it.”

“You, too, I bet.” He claps his hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah.” I’d be worried about Nanette no matter what, but since the headaches are my fault, I feel a crushing weight on my chest that’s only getting stronger.

“It’s not your fault,” Diego says, reading my thoughts.

“How is it not my fault?”

“You didn’t drink and drive and blast through that stop sign.”

I close my eyes. “Can we not talk about this now?”

“Okay, but we’ll be talking about it later.”

I have no intention of doing so, but I say, “We’ll see,” before opening my eyes again.

Diego nods. “So you’re heading back to L.A. after the wedding, then?”

“I had planned to, but I don’t want Melissa to have to drive back home by herself. Before I knew about Nanette, I told her I’d go back to Chicago with her the day after the wedding and then fly home from there. I should be able to catch a red-eye as soon as we get back.”

“Ah.” He grins at me.

“Ah, what?” I cock an eyebrow at him.

“The lovely Melissa.” He shimmies his shoulders and manages to not look absolutely ridiculous in the process.

I sigh. “What about her?”

“You cannot keep your eyes off her, my friend. I like this for you.”

My whole body jerks when Melissa pops up beside me and says, “Did I just hear my name? You know it’s rude to talk about people in a language they don’t know.” She’s grinning, so I know she’s not that upset.

Diego says in English, “We were just talking about how lovely you look tonight, mi encantadora. That means ‘my lovely.’”

He takes her hand and kisses the back of it, and she giggles, which I can somehow feel in my chest.

“Diego,” she bats her eyelashes at him, “if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were flirting with me.”

“Of course I am! You see, I have no date for this wedding. And it appears you don’t either.” His eyes flick to me and back to Melissa. “So I can flirt all I want and not get into any trouble at all! ”

Diego takes Melissa in his arms and tangoes her across the room, resulting in more giggles from her and applause from the people nearby. I feel an odd pulsing in my chest as I watch them. After a few minutes, he dances her back over to me, salutes us, and moves off to chat with Randall and Wendy.

“You having a good time?” I ask her. I stuff my hands into my pockets so I won’t touch her.

“The best! Almost all of my favorite people are here in this room, other than my parents.” She sweeps her hand out to encompass the room. “What’s not to like?”

“I hear you. But why aren’t your parents here? Or are they coming tomorrow? Didn’t they go to Randall and Wendy’s wedding?”

“Yes, they went to Milwaukee for that wedding, and they were invited to this one,” Melissa says, “but it’s tough for Dad to travel very far these days. Everybody understood why they couldn’t make the trip down here. They took Ash and Leslie out to dinner to celebrate a couple weeks ago.”

I smile. “That was nice of them.”

“They’re good people. You’d like them. In fact, you should meet them. Dad would love to talk sports with you.”

My smile grows bigger. “I’d like that.”

We don’t share a ride with Wendy and Randall on the way back to the hotel after the rehearsal dinner.

Diego also needed a ride back to the hotel, and Leslie’s mom insisted he take her car, so we wouldn’t all be crammed into Melissa’s tiny Prelude.

Randall and Wendy rode with him to navigate, and I’m driving Melissa’s car yet again.

“You had fun tonight?” I ask Melissa after several minutes of companionable silence on the road.

“I did. It was good to see Leslie’s family again, as well as Ash and Randall’s mom and sisters. I’ve seen them all a lot throughout the prep for both weddings, but now I’m wondering when—or if—I’ll see some of them again after tomorrow.”

Hmm. It doesn’t sound like she thinks she’ll have contact with Shannon after the wedding. I like that idea far too much.

“Of course,” she continues, “I’ll probably see Shannon when he comes to visit Leslie and Ash. He comes to Chicago a lot more often than any of the rest of their family does.”

I press my lips together and decide not to respond to her statement. Instead I say, “I bet Leslie’s parents and aunt will visit a lot more often once she and Ash have kids.”

Melissa whips her head toward me. “Do you know something?”

My forehead wrinkles in confusion. “Know what?”

“You said that as if you know there’s a baby on the way.”

Now my eyebrows raise. “I know no such thing. Do you?”

“No. I wonder about Wendy, though. I noticed she didn’t drink any wine tonight, and that girl loves her wine.”

“Could be a sign. You going to ask her about it?”

“I don’t know,” Melissa admits. “She wanted to start trying right away after the wedding, since she’s in her thirties and they want a big family. But I’m afraid to ask in case they’re trying and she’s not pregnant yet. I don’t want to upset her if that’s the case.”

“It hasn’t even been two months since they got married, though,” I say.

She sighs. “True. But still.”

“I get it. I don’t want to ask Randall, either. Something tells me he might be even more upset than Wendy if she’s not pregnant yet.”

Melissa laughs lightly. “I think you’re right. It’s cute how excited he is about wanting to be a dad.”

“Do you want kids someday?” I ask before realizing I’m walking into a minefield with that question.

“Yeah. At least two. I’m an only child, and I’ve always wished I had siblings, especially now that my parents are getting older. My parents couldn’t have more kids, so I don’t blame them, but sometimes my childhood was lonely.”

“I can understand that.”

“Do you want kids?” she asks.

I take a few seconds to consider my answer. Do I tell her the truth? Or do I give her my typical evasive answer to this question? I mentally slap myself as I choose the easy route. “I’d like a couple.”

It’s the truth, though not the entire truth.

I’m not ready to tell her I already have a daughter—one who’s almost as close to Melissa’s age as Melissa is to mine.

I don’t tell many people about Kelli, due to my high-profile job.

I don’t want the press to mess with her.

But I trust Melissa now, right? She’s a friend, and if the Hamilton men and their women trust her, I should, too.

I open my mouth to share my rarely told secret when she hijacks my attempt.

“I don’t look forward to being the parent of a teenager, though,” she says.

“I adore Ash and Randall’s sisters, but I can’t imagine trying to keep them in line, and they’re good girls.

” She laughs. “And thinking back on what I was like as a teenager?” In my peripheral vision, I see her nose wrinkle.

“No, thank you. That sounds like no fun at all.”

My heart drops, and I rethink my plan to tell her about Kelli.

She continues, “I don’t know how I didn’t send my mother to an early grave, especially in my junior high years.” She sighs. “I was not a nice person. Just ask Ash.”

My eyebrows shoot up and my head whips toward her. “What did you do to Ash?”

“You don’t know that story?”

“Noooo. But now you’re going to have to tell me.”