Page 23 of Truth or More Truth (Throwback RomComs #3)

twenty-two

. . .

I knew kissing Melissa would be amazing, but life-changing now seems a more appropriate way to describe it.

I have never felt such a strong physical connection with anyone.

Whether it’s because of all we’ve been through over the past two days or because she’s simply special, I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter.

Her hands are trailing over my chest and abs, and mine are itching to explore more of her soft curves, but I restrain myself considering our location and the fact that before I can take this any further with her, I need to tell her everything.

She deserves a chance to back out before she does anything she might regret.

I’m hoping she won’t have any misgivings over what we’re doing now.

Loud voices from the lobby bring me back to reality, and I end the kiss and pull my face far enough away from Melissa’s to look her in the eye.

“You good?” I ask.

“Better than good,” she replies and gives me another short kiss that I turn into a longer one. “That’s my favorite game of ‘Truth or Dare’ ever.”

“I don’t recall you giving me the truth option,” I say with a grin. “In fact, you refused me that option.”

“Okay, fine. It was the best game of ‘Dare’ ever. ”

“Agreed.” I press my mouth to hers one more time before stepping back and pulling her away from the door.

Melissa’s hands go to her hair. “How’s my hair? Is it a mess? Does it say, ‘I just made out in a closet like a teenager’?”

I maneuver a few errant strands back into place. “It says, ‘I’m the most beautiful woman here.’” I pause. “Don’t tell the bride I said that.”

She blushes and laughs. “I’m keeping a lot of secrets from Leslie for you. Anything else you need to add to the growing list?”

“Is it too much to ask for you to not tell her about what just happened here?”

Melissa nods. “Yep. I think it’s only fair she hears about my ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’ session with you. You know, to make up for the last time I played that game … with her husband.” Her cheeks turn slightly pink.

“I get it. You can tell your friends about this, because goodness knows Diego will pull it out of me. But maybe don’t share the details.”

She places her hand on my chest and kisses my chin. “The details are just for us.” She swipes her thumb over my lips. “Had a little lipstick there, B.S.”

I smile, take her hand in mine, and lead her out of the room, only to be met by the triumphant faces of both Wendy and Randall. They’re not even pretending they weren’t waiting for us to come out.

Wendy makes a show of looking at her husband’s watch. “Do you two have any idea how long you were in there?”

Melissa and I look at each other and shrug at the same time before looking back at our friends.

“Seventeen minutes!” Wendy crows.

My lips twitch. “Well, you know what they say about time flying.”

Randall lets out a belly laugh. “Sure do.” He puts his arm around his wife and steers her back toward the main room. “Come on, babe, let’s leave them alone. ”

“Were we really in there for seventeen minutes?” Melissa asks me once they’re gone.

“I guess so. That seems like a very specific number to make up.” And it doesn’t seem like nearly enough time.

As the women do the Electric Slide on the dance floor, my friends descend upon my table.

Diego speaks first. “So it’s official, then?”

“Is what official?” I ask casually before sipping my drink.

“You and Melissa, doofus,” Randall replies. “Don’t play dumb with us.”

I look at Ash, who has yet to speak, and he shrugs.

“Melissa and I are … actually, I don’t know what we are.” I know what I want us to be, but I have little faith that can actually happen. Once she knows the extent of my past and my family situation, she may well run, and rightfully so.

“But you want to be something with her?” Ash asks.

I nod. “Yeah, but I haven’t told her about Kelli and Nanette or much about my childhood yet.”

“I know you don’t like to talk about any of that stuff,” Randall says, “but you know you have to tell her, right? And sooner rather than later.”

“I know. And I will. I tried to earlier, but she wanted to wait until the drive tomorrow so we’ll have plenty of time to talk about it.” I pause. “Could make for an awkward twelve hours, though, if she decides she doesn’t want to deal with the craziness that is my life.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Randall says. “She’ll understand. I’m not saying I’m sure she’ll want to take it all on as part of her life, too, but she won’t hold it against you as a person. She won’t let it be awkward.”

“Melissa is good people,” Diego says. “And so are you. Lay it all out there.”

“I will.” I look between Randall and Ash. “Not to be a downer at a wedding, but you should know Nanette is having headaches again.”

“Oh, man, I’m sorry,” Randall says.

Ash simply claps a hand on my shoulder and squeezes.

“I’ve said it before and I will say it again as many times as I need to,” Diego says. “Not your fault.”

“But I was driving,” I say, knowing what the response will be. We’ve had this conversation too many times. I’m surprised he’s not tired of it. Maybe he is.

“You followed the rules of the road,” Randall says. “The other guy didn’t. There was nothing you could’ve done.”

“I could’ve been paying better attention.” I drop my head into my hands. “If I had, I might’ve seen that he wasn’t slowing down.”

“I know you feel responsible,” Ash says, “and that says a lot about your character. But you’re wrong. Nothing about what happened that night was your fault.”

“And what you’ve done for Nanette since then has gone waaaaay above and beyond,” Randall says. “That says even more about your character. No woman worth her salt is going to think any differently—especially Melissa.”

“Yeah.” I sigh. “Okay.” These guys always make me feel better, even if I don’t fully agree with their assessment of the situation.

“They’re playing another slow song,” Randall says as he stands. “Let’s go get our ladies.”

“Hey,” Diego says, “what about me? You can’t leave me here all alone!”

“Andrea’s mom looks a little lonely,” Randall tells him with a wink. “And we know how much you love older women.”

We all chuckle as we leave the table. Unsurprisingly, Diego makes a beeline for Andrea’s mom. The man could charm the pants off an octopus, so the lady isn’t going to know what hit her.

“How much longer do we need to stay?” I murmur in Melissa’s ear an hour later as I hold her closely on the dance floor while Lionel Richie sings “Three Times a Lady.” Shannon took to the microphone to announce this dance was dedicated to Danny and Amelia, followed by whoops from several of the guests, so I’m guessing there’s a story behind it.

However, I’m too focused on the lady in my arms to wonder much about what that story might be.

“Dying to get your mouth on mine again?” Melissa teases.

“You’d better believe it.”

Her giggle nearly takes my breath away.

“It’s almost midnight,” she says, “and I think Ash and Leslie are leaving right after the countdown to the new year. But since we have a long drive tomorrow, I don’t think anyone would fault us for leaving soon after that.

Ash hired people to clean up in the morning, so none of us will need to stay and help. ”

“Just so you know,” I clear my throat, “I’m not spending the night in your room again.”

Melissa nods. “That’s probably a good idea. We need to talk before we take this any further.”

My chest aches at the thought that things might not go further.

She adds, “I have some things I need to share with you, too.”

“We’ll have plenty of time to talk things over tomorrow.

But you should also know I need to head to L.A.

as soon as we get back. There’s some stuff I need to take care of there.

I’ll be back in Chicago in a week or so, though.

” That timeline may be wishful thinking, depending on what’s happening with Nanette, but we can also discuss that tomorrow.

“I understand,” she says. “I know you’re a busy man, and I also know we don’t live in the same city or even time zone. That won’t make things easy for us, but I don’t want that to stop us from trying.” She peeks at me through her lashes. “Do you?”

I run a hand up and down her back. “No. And again, we’ll have plenty of time to figure out how to work things out on our drive tomorrow.”

The song ends and the DJ announces, “It’s almost midnight, folks. Grab your partner for one last slow dance before we count down to 1989, and then we’ll send the newlyweds on their way!” Within seconds, “Always” by Atlantic Starr fills the room .

Seeing as it’s New Year’s Eve, most of the wedding guests have stayed until midnight, though the kids and the older crowd are both fading.

A while ago I spotted Emily snoozing on her grandma’s lap, and as I keep Melissa cocooned safely in my arms, I scan the room for Andrea.

I’m unsurprised when I spy her slow dancing with Shannon.

Without thinking, I start singing along to the song, and Melissa laughs softly.

“You continue to surprise me, Bobby Joe.”

I tilt my head and smile at her. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She tightens her hold on my neck. “Who would’ve guessed you’d know the lyrics to this song?”

It’s one of Kelli’s favorites, but I can’t tell her that—not yet.

“I like to keep you on your toes.”

“I like you.” She surprises me with a quick kiss.

“I like you, too. You want to go get ice cream with me after school?” I tease.

Melissa lets out a belly laugh. “I’m always up for ice cream.”

“What flavor?”

“Butter pecan. It’s the only rational choice.”

“I’ll have to respectfully disagree. Mint chocolate chip is the superior option.”

“Hmm.” She presses her lips together as she peruses me. “Agree to disagree?”

“Nope. It’s objectively true that mint chocolate chip is the best ice cream flavor.”

“Ah, you’re bringing out the big words now, Mr. Lawyer.”

“Pssh.” I huff. “‘Objectively’ is small potatoes. Try this one: antidisestablishmentarianism.”

She snorts. “You’re a nut.”

“I hope I’m a pecan, since you seem to enjoy those so much.” My foray into flirting is surprising to me, but I have to admit, I’m enjoying it.

Melissa sifts the tips of her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck. “You truly are a surprising man, my little pecan.”

I quirk an eyebrow at her. “Little?”

She giggles. “You’d rather be a big pecan?”

“The biggest.”

“All right, giant pecan, are you ready to kiss me again? Because this song is almost over, and it’s less than a minute til midnight.”

“You’d better believe it.”

As soon as the crowd shouts, “Happy new year!” my mouth is on Melissa’s.

I don’t want to make a scene in this crowd, but I also want this to be a memorable kiss, so I put my heart into it.

By the way her mouth responds and her fingernails dig into my scalp, I’d say I accomplish my goal.

After much too short a time, I pull my lips from hers.

We smile at each other for several seconds before I feel a tug on my shirtsleeve.

When I look down, Emily is beaming up at us.

“Happy new year, Mr. Bobby and Miss Melissa!”

We both return her greeting.

“I saw you kissing!” Emily’s hands cover her mouth as she giggles.

“You sure about that?” I reach down and lightly tug on one of her curls.

She nods emphatically. “Yep! My friends think kissing is gross, but I don’t. I can’t wait until a boy kisses me.” She clasps her little hands under her chin the same way her aunt Wendy does.

Melissa laughs.

“Oh, boy,” I say, my eyes scanning for her mother. “Let’s not jump into kissing too soon, short stuff. Why don’t you save that until you’re older?”

“Like when I’m nine?”

I shake my head at her. “Maybe when you’re twenty.”

Her jaw drops. “I’m not waiting until I’m old to kiss a boy!”

Thankfully the DJ interrupts this line of conversation. “It’s time to say our goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton! Everyone please make your way to the lobby and the steps out front, and make sure to grab some birdseed from one of the baskets by the doors.”

“Birdseed instead of rice?” I raise an eyebrow as I take Melissa’s hand in one of mine and Emily’s in the other as we move toward the doors.

I catch Emily’s grandma’s eye over the crowd of people and mouth to her that I’ve got her granddaughter.

She smiles, and I grin back when I notice Diego at her side.

I wonder if he kissed her at midnight. I can’t imagine he didn’t kiss anyone.

“Yeah, somebody somewhere said if birds eat rice their stomachs will explode,” Melissa explains, “so people have started throwing birdseed instead of rice at weddings.”

“Ew, that’s gross!” Emily declares as she skips along by my side, having gotten her second—or maybe third—wind.

I reply, “You’d think we’d see exploded birds littering the ground after every wedding if that’s the case.”

Melissa laughs as we each grab a small bundle of material that apparently hold the birdseed. “I hadn’t thought about that, but you’re right.”

“Regardless,” I say, “I’m sure it’s better for birds to eat birdseed than rice, so it’s not a bad idea. You think it’ll catch on everywhere?”

She cocks her head at me, “You’re thinking about buying stock in a birdseed company, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.” I don’t have much time to stay on top of the stock market, but I’m going to talk to my broker about this and see what he thinks.

“What’s ‘buying stock’?” Emily asks.

“That’s something else you can wait a while to experience.”

We reach the outside steps and open our bundles of seed.

“Ooo! Here they come,” Emily says. “Get ready!”