Chapter 15
Fifteen
Tweetie
I show up at the steakhouse Bud picked for this dinner. Not surprising. He’s an old-school guy. Not that I go to dinner with him often, but when he came to Nashville to talk about me moving to Chicago, he picked a steakhouse there too.
I head over to the hostess, unsure if anyone has arrived before me.
Laughter coming in through the circular doors tells me some of the other guests are arriving. I turn to see Conor and Eloise. She’s laughing at something he’s saying, and he’s staring at her as if all his happiness is wrapped up in her. Pathetic.
“What a surprise. A steakhouse.” Conor lifts his eyebrows. I’m sure it was the same with him when Bud visited him before his trade.
“Hey, Tweetie, can’t wait to meet your girl tonight.” Eloise rises on her toes and hugs me.
“She’s not my girl.”
“And she’s bringing her boyfriend, right?” Conor’s smirk is so wide I want to punch it off his face.
“Oh yeah, I forgot. I’m sorry. I heard about that.” Eloise gives me her sad eyes and sad mouth. Whatever.
I really need to shake off this shitty mood I’m in tonight.
I circle around, ignoring the topic of Tedi. “Caldron. Private room?” I tell the hostess, and she smiles at me. Actually, she gives me that smile that says she’d meet me in the coat room or the bathroom later if I wanted.
“You’re the first to arrive. Do you want to be seated or wait here?”
She’s cute but too young for me. I should give her one of the Chipmunks’ numbers.
“Hey,” I hear Eloise say after another cold gust of wind seeps into the warm restaurant.
“I think we have more who just arrived, give us a second.” I hold my finger and turn around to see Jade and Henry being hugged by Eloise. Couple number two has arrived.
Couple number three, Rowan and Kyleigh, come in soon after, but there’s still no sign of the only person I want to see tonight. And I’m not even sure why. Is it because if I see Tedi with another guy, it will somehow solidify that there’s no future for us?
I turn back to the hostess after we all say hello to one another. It used to be handshakes, maybe a pat on the back, but ever since the girls have infiltrated our group, it’s all hugs and kisses on cheeks. They’ve taken what should be a one-minute process and made it into a fifteen-minute ordeal. “We’re ready.”
“Great.” The hostess looks over my shoulder, pulls the menus, and whispers something to a coworker who’s come up to the hostess stand. She tries to be sly about it but fails as she checks us all out. But neither of them says anything directly to us about being Falcons players.
“Decker?” I hear Rowan say as we’re stepping away to head to the private room.
We all stop, and I place my hand on the hostess’s arm to tell her, “Sorry, we just have to say hello to a friend.” She smiles wide and looks at the other girl. Definitely way too young for me.
Henry’s shaking the hand of the third baseman for the Colts as I head that way.
“Decker Davis, shouldn’t you be on a beach or some shit?” I put out my hand, and we do the whole man-hug thing.
Decker is one of my agent’s clients, and we see him at our shared gym courtesy of Jagger.
“Yeah, it’s your offseason.” Conor shakes his hand. “Let me introduce you to my wife.”
The guys all do the introductions to the loves of their lives since we don’t see Decker often. Our seasons are during opposite times of the year for the most part, and he doesn’t seem to be a club guy. At least not the ones I’m hanging out at.
I actually don’t know much about Decker, but there is one thing I know about him—he’s Tedi’s twin brothers’ best friend. I met him at her brother Toby’s wedding years ago when he was just a rookie. Now, Decker’s one of the best players in the baseball league.
“So tell us again why you’re not on some beach right now,” I say.
He huffs a small chuckle as if it’s an inside joke. “Eh, I decided not to this year.”
I snap my fingers and point at him. Maybe he knows something about Tedi’s boyfriend. He can give me a little intel, so I’m prepared for who’s going to walk through the door. “Did you hear that Tedi’s in Chicago?”
My friends grow quiet, and I can just imagine them leaning in closer as soon as they heard me say Tedi’s name.
He nods. “I did.”
“She’s supposed to join us tonight. She’s working here for a few months.”
“I heard about that.”
Did Theo and Toby tell him he can’t talk about Tedi in front of me? Why is he being so vague? She’s clearly reached out to him since she got here if he knows everything I do.
“She’s bringing her boyfriend. Do you know him?”
He looks uncomfortable and opens his mouth to respond.
“Shit, never mind. I’m not going to put you in the middle. I mean…” I shake my head. “What do I care? But can I ask you one thing?” I lean in closer and block off my friends, giving them my back.
Decker’s back straightens. I hate putting him in this position, but if he gives me the answer I want, then it’ll be much easier to take a step back, hands up, and leave her behind.
“What?” he asks, voice breaking.
“Is she happy?”
His shoulders fall, and a small breath falls from his lips.
Another blast of cold air hits us all from the circular door, and we turn as if it’s the person’s fault, but my gaze locks with Tedi’s. She stops cold, the door hitting her in the back, and she stumbles forward. I step over, catching her elbows, and our eyes meet.
“Thanks.” She’s quick to stand up straight.
When she looks over, I expect her to be surprised to see Decker. I expect her to squeal and run over, wrap her arms around his neck, and probably pick on him about something from when they were younger.
But Tedi doesn’t do any of that. She slides her arm through his, rises to her tiptoes, and kisses his cheek. “Hey, babe.”
Decker stiffens, his eyes on me the entire time.
“Fuck,” Conor whispers behind me.
A hand lands on my back and rubs up and down. I don’t know which one of their girls felt compelled to try to soothe my pain away with the comforting touch.
“Your boyfriend is Decker Davis?” My eyes narrow, and my stomach clenches.
Tedi smiles bright and wide, almost too wide, as if she’s lying. Then again, there’s a smugness to it too. As if she’s saying, “I didn’t need you, Tweetie, I’ve got myself another pro athlete.”
“Was that the next item on your fuck-it bucket list? A baseball player?” I regret the angry words the minute they’re out. I want to drag Tedi into a corner and apologize profusely, but I don’t.
Her smile falls, and her jaw hardens.
“Tweetie!” Kyleigh hits me in the back.
“We apologize on his behalf.” Jade peeks around my shoulder and extends her hand. “I’m Jade, Henry’s fiancée.”
Tedi steps away from Decker and shakes her hand. “You don’t have to apologize for him. Jealousy looks kind of good on him, don’t you think?”
She walks over to the hostess stand, dragging Decker with her. He’s now giving me an expression like, “Sorry, man.” He shouldn’t be stealing my girl. Okay, he didn’t steal her, but I didn’t see this coming.
I’m so stunned and pissed off at myself for saying what I did to her that I don’t register that they’ve all started following the hostess until Henry slaps me on the back. “Come on, man.”
I inhale deeply and follow the group, counting the minutes until this dinner is over so I can go wallow in pain.