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 wentto 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 aSprite 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 readingThe 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. NotwhoI expected.”
