“Lenny,” Jonah Collins called out like I didn’t know it was me he wanted.
Behind him, closer to the door he’d just come in through, were the two women. The older one and the younger one. And they were looking back at me but speaking to each other. The younger one was making faces too.
“Jonah.” He didn’t owe me anything.
I forced myself to look away and glance at one of the women as she tapped her heel against the wall as she tried to push off of it and hold her balance on her own.
Mo’s dad stopped directly beside me, looking at me, and not the people still in position and said, “Could we have a moment?”
Always so polite.
I wasn’t dumb enough to ask Peter if he could handle this without me. Of course he could. He hadn’t needed me in the first place, but I still patted him on the back after I nodded at Jonah and went toward him. The second I was in front of him on the edge of the mats, his hand went to my elbow.
I didn’t say a word.
That stupid handsome and rugged face was aimed at me, and he let out just about the deepest exhale I had ever heard from his body… and that was saying something because he’d let out a pretty big one the day he’d found out he was a dad.
“You okay?” I asked him, trying to remind myself that he wasn’t a fucking liar.
He’d told me he didn’t have a girlfriend or a wife.
He hadn’t “cheated” even though there had been nothing to cheat on.
He had told me.
Those light brown eyes didn’t flicker away as he told me the truth. Like I had a feeling he always did. “I was better before you called.” His expression was tight. “Better now that I’m here talking to you.”
This was the man I thought I knew. I swallowed and gave him a little smile. Then I reached up to squeeze his forearm with my free hand, the skin smooth and warm over all that fucking muscle just there. I was relieved, and I hated that I was.
The pressure around my own elbow tightened lightly, and he said following another exhale, “My mum is here.”
Great.
The fact he didn’t exactly look happy about her visit didn’t reassure me.
“I didn’t know she was coming. Didn’t know she would bring my sister either.”
That was relief that went down my spine at my sister.
Had she grown out her hair? Was that why I hadn’t recognized her? Or had I just gotten pissed off before I’d even bothered to try and figure it out? I felt just a little ashamed of myself for jumping to conclusions. Just a little.
“It’s a bit of a story, Lenny,” he explained, oblivious to how close he’d been to finally losing his balls as he gave me a smile so tight that his dimples didn’t come out. “A long one. I didn’t tell her about Mo until a few minutes ago.”
“You still hadn’t told your mom about her?”
He shook his head gravely. “I haven’t told anyone, but not because I didn’t want them to know. I just… didn’t want them to know yet.” His dimple finally popped then. “It’s selfish, yeah, but I wanted you both to myself for a bit longer, and if it got me out of answering some questions that aren’t going to be comfortable, that was a nice bonus.”
Oh.
“She knows now, and so does my sister, and in a matter of minutes, my entire family will as well. I’ll have to call my agent as soon as I can to break the news to him too before he finds out from my brothers. He’s their agent too, and he’s still upset with me over what I did before. He’s not going to be happy to find out I have a daughter I didn’t tell him about.”
I bet he wasn’t.
I had a decent idea of how much shit he’d gotten after his injury. And unless someone knew the whole story—at least his pieces of it—it didn’t look that great for him. And as far as I knew, he hadn’t signed a new contract with a new team. It could and would, more than likely, look really bad for him.
Jonah’s expression went tight but hopeful, and all it made me want to do was whatever I could so that this wouldn’t backfire on him. “Will you come eat with us? Mum