Rumor Has It: The Complete Series

by Tucker, RH

  His handshake is probably firmer than it needs to be, but he is meeting his daughter’s boyfriend, so that’s expected. He shakes my hand quickly, before releasing it, and gives me a curt nod. That’s it. That’s all he does. He doesn’t reply. He doesn’t whisper something to his wife. He just stands there, staring at me. Thankfully, Veronica takes my hand and turns me around.

  “Okay, and these are my brothers.” She leans closer, whispering, but it’s loud enough for them to hear, “I apologize in advance.”

  She starts with Javier.

  He’s a little shorter than me by a few inches. He’s got a wiry frame and is wearing glasses and a Call of Duty T-shirt. He gives me a head nod and a slight grin.

  Miguel is next and the same height as Javier. He’s got a stockier frame, more like his father, and looks like he played football back in high school. From what Veronica’s told me, I know he works in an office, doing data input. He also gives me a head nod, but no grin.

  “And this is Toto.” He eyes Veronica, before looking back at me. “Sorry. Tomás. He’s our oldest brother,” she says and starts to snicker. “He’s the old guy.”

  His eyes don’t break from mine. No grin. No head nod. Same posture as his dad. He’s the same height as me. Short hair, too. It might be curly if it was longer, but with the length, it’s just wavy. And like his father, he doesn’t say a word.

  I feel like I’m being challenged. Like I’m a lone deer out on the plane, and three lions are just waiting for me to make a mistake. I know they’re looking out for their baby sister, but I care about her, too. I might not have told her yet, but I love her. I’m not going to be threatened by her big brothers, two of which I’m bigger than.

  “Uh, you guys?” Veronica waves her hand between us.

  I don’t want to come off as aggressive, so I’m not eyeballing them or trying to stare them down. I just nod, hold my ground, and look between all of them, refusing to give in to whatever kind of intimidation tactic they’re trying to pull.

  “Seriously?” I hear a girl’s voice. Walking over to us, standing next to Tomás, is a lady a little taller than Veronica, light brown hair, and dark eyes. She slaps Tomás in the chest. “Stop it.” She looks over at me and offers me a handshake. “Micah, right? I’m Yesenia. The main grumpy one’s wife.”

  I finally break my eye contact with all three of them, turning to her to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  She pulls at Tomás’ hand. “Tomás, Pedro needs your help moving the table.”

  He starts to follow her but keeps his eyes on me. “Sure.”

  “Are you guys done staring at each other, or should I leave you alone for a few more minutes?” Veronica asks, looking at her other two brothers and me. “Do you guys want to make out? I can tell you from experience, he’s a good kisser.”

  “Ew!” Miguel finally comes to life, scowling at his sister. “Vero, don’t tell me who you kiss and how good it is.”

  She laughs, and he takes a step to me.

  “All right, first warning of the night. If you break her heart, I slash your tires. And that’s just to start.”

  “Again with the tires.” Veronica slaps her forehead.

  I can’t help but think of a stupid counter. “Okay. What if she breaks my heart?”

  Veronica’s head snaps to me, and her jaw drops. “Seriously, Micah?”

  Miguel chuckles. “Then you probably deserved it, Preppy.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Miguel starts to walk away, but motions with his fingers that he’s watching me. Javier begins to chuckle. “You know what? I’m good.” I wait a moment, and then he starts laughing. “Yup, you seem cool enough. And it looks like Miguel and Tomás already got the menacing big brother bases covered. You play video games?”

  “Yeah.”

  “First-person shooters or open-world?”

  “Both.”

  He gives me a smile that matches Veronica’s and raises two thumbs up. “Don’t be a dick.” Then he walks away.

  Leaning closer to Veronica, I finally smile. “One down. Two to go.”

  She lets out a small laugh. “Dumb boy.”

  Mingling throughout the barbecue, Veronica introduces me to more of her family. A few of her cousins I can tell are trying to flirt with me. I laugh as Veronica shoos them away. I talk with a couple of her uncles, and they seem nice. Her father runs a family carpentry business, where they work on custom cabinetry. One of her aunts does secretarial work for them, while Tomás helps with the business side of things.

  The later it gets, some people start to leave, and the crowd is dwindling down. I haven’t spoken with Tomás since our initial meeting, but Miguel’s stopped by a few more times, still motioning to me that he’s watching me. I know he thinks it’s intimidating, but it comes off as comedic. After the last of their family leaves, he walks over to me with a beer in hand and stands quietly to my side.

  “So, Veronica said you work at Timmons and Lowell?” I ask.

  “Yeah.”

  “Cool. Just data entry stuff, right?” He nods again. “Do you like it?”

  “I mean, it’s a job.” He pauses as if he’s mulling it over, taking a sip of his drink. “I didn’t want to work for my brother. As you can tell he likes to hold his older brother status above everyone, so I found this one. It pays okay.”

  I could just drop it. It might be the safest thing to do, but I want to get to know him. If I plan on being with Veronica for a while—and I do—I should be at least friendly with her brothers, so they aren’t threatening me all of the time. “You ever think about doing anything else?”

  “You offering me a job, Preppy? That won’t make me like you any better.”

  “No.” I shake my head and laugh. “I’m just, I don’t know, making conversation.”

  “Whatever.” He takes another drink of his beer. I’m not sure what else to say or if I even should. Then he speaks up again. “Vero says you’re an artist.”

  “Yeah. Well, kind of. I want to eventually work in comics, but it’s been put off for a while since I’m working and going to school.”

  He nods and then goes quiet again. Figuring that’s the end of it, I’m about to excuse myself to find Veronica when he starts again. “You know, I always liked video games. Like, creating them, you know? I was going to school for that.”

  “Did you get your degree?”

  “No.” He takes another sip of his drink. “I was working on it with a few guys. One of them stole everything and sold our code and graphics to this small start-up. They went belly-up a few months later, but we were all torn up about it. It sucked, you know? Getting backstabbed like that. I had two semesters left to get my degree, but didn’t go back to school.”

  “That sucks. Sorry.”

  “Yeah.” He takes a final drink of his beer and then sets it on the table in front of us. “I meant what I said earlier.” He looks over at me. “Not about the slashing your tires, but about her. You have any siblings?” I look back at him and shake my head. “It’s cliché or whatever, but she’s the baby. She’s our little sister. She was nervous today, but I could tell she was happy. Don’t hurt her, Micah.”

  “I won’t.”

  He nods, gazing at me as if he’s deciding whether to believe me or not. After slapping me on the shoulder, he heads inside, leaving me to think that he does.

  “There you are,” Veronica says, walking out to me as Miguel leaves. “Cindy just left.” She turns and sees Miguel walk inside of the house. “Everything okay?”

  Taking hold of her hand, I give it a squeeze, before smiling. “Yeah. Everything’s great. I should probably get going myself.”

  “Okay.” She gives me a disappointed smile.

  “I would stay, but I don’t think Tomás would appreciate me sleeping in your room. And yes, that’s exactly where I’d sleep.”

  She lets out a soft giggle, wrapping her arm around me. “No, probably not.”

  I say my good-byes to her family. H
er mom smiles once more, hugging me. Javier gives me a high five, and Miguel gives me a slight nod. I take that as a friendly good-bye. Shaking her dad’s hand once again, he does the same thing he did before. Nods without a word. I want to be polite and say good-bye to Tomás, but I don’t see him anywhere.

  We walk out to my truck, and I pull her close. “Okay, I was saving this for right now, because I didn’t want to freak you out any more than I figured you would be.” She looks at me nervously. “I talked to my parents earlier today. Told them I’m meeting your family.”

  “Oh.”

  “They were happy. But they also said it’s their turn to meet you now.”

  “Oh, okay.” She bites her lips nervously.

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? Micah, please tell me you’re joking.”

  “I’m not. I know it’s a lot, and if you really don’t want to, that’s fine. But I just figured, we might as well make a weekend out of it and get it all out of the way.”

  She chews on her lip, her eyes darting around on the ground, searching for answers that may be down there.

  “I can tell them no, V. I can say you can’t do it and make something up. You can wait a little longer if you want.”

  “No. No, don’t do that. Okay. You’re right, yeah, let’s just get it over with.”

  Leaning against my truck, I pull her close. “Are you sure?”

  She puts her hands on my chest, still biting her lip, but gives me a slight nod. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s do that. I mean, it can’t be any worse than today, right?”

  She smiles up at me, and the moonlight sparkles off her eyes. I just met her family, and I think it went well, for the most part. She’s meeting my mom and dad tomorrow. I’m in love with this girl. I want to tell her.

  “Vero! It’s getting late.”

  I look up and see Tomás standing in the doorway.

  “Unbelievable,” she scoffs quietly, shaking her head.

  “He’s just being a big brother.”

  “No. He’s being an annoying brother.”

  I laugh and look up again to see him still watching us. “V, I have to do it.”

  “No, Micah. He’ll kill me. Not you, me.”

  “I have to,” I whisper, chuckling. “I think I’ve got two of your brothers on my side and it doesn’t look like Tomás is coming over tonight. I have to do it.”

  “No, Micah.” She taps my chest, imploring me to stay quiet, but she’s smiling. “No one calls him that except me. Not even Yesenia, and she’s his wife.”

  “It has to be done.”

  “No, Mic—”

  “Have a good night, Toto!”

  His face drops. Crossing his arms, his face twists in disgust and I do my damnedest to hold a grin and not just break into hysterics. It makes it a lot more challenging to do because Veronica’s face is pressed against my shirt, muffling her laugh against my chest.

  “I can’t believe you,” she says, finally lifting up her face. “If I don’t make it to dinner tomorrow night, it’s because I’m dead. Kiss me good-bye now because he’s going to kill me.”

  “Silly girl.”

  Chapter 14

  Veronica

  I’ve known I liked Micah for a while. Even before we started going out, I liked him. Of course, he had a girlfriend then, but when we’d see him on campus, Cindy and I would gawk at him from afar. Okay, I’d gawk at him, while Cindy whispered R-rated things about him. And ever since we’ve been dating, that like has grown and grown.

  After getting grilled by my brothers, being asked question after question by my aunts, being flirted with by my annoying cousins, and giving my mom a bouquet of flowers, I know. I’m falling in love with him.

  But I’ve never loved anyone before. Well, not like that at least.

  With Tim, I thought I could love him, but I never got to that point. How soon is too soon to tell him? Should I wait for him to say it first? Is he even in love with me yet? Will he freak out if I tell him out of the blue? Should I wait until we’re alone? These are all questions that kept me up into the early morning hours, and I’m still thinking about them now, as we drive to his parents’ house. All of the nerves I’m feeling from knowing how I feel about him are compounded, knowing I’m about to meet his mom.

  He reassures me his parents are going to love me, but he always emphasizes his dad more. He doesn’t say it, but I know it’s because his mom really liked Lana. I mean, what’s not to like? She’s tall, blonde, pretty, and smart. Oh, and thin. She’s super thin.

  No. I have to get rid of those thoughts. I’ve been trying more than ever to not be as self-conscious. I don’t want to be that. I want to just be a girl who’s dating a boy. That’s what I try and think of us as. Just a boy and a girl, who like each other. But then the mind roams, and I remember what Micah looks like without a shirt on. Then it becomes the chubby girl with a hot guy.

  No. Stop thinking like that.

  “Okay, here we are,” Micah says, pulling into the driveway of the house.

  It looks similar to our home. A two-car garage, beautiful front yard. Our house has a fence encompassing the yard, while his parents’ front yard is open to the street.

  I don’t realize I’m still sitting in the truck, looking at the house, until Micah taps on my window. “You okay?” He opens the door, and I unbuckle my seatbelt to get out.

  “Yeah. Yes. Yeah.”

  He laughs, shutting the door as I get out, and then wraps his arms around me. “It’s going to be fine.” He takes a step and backs me up against the side of the truck, bringing a hand up under my chin. “There’s nothing to worry about.” He leans closer. “They’re going to meet you, and you know what they’re going to see?”

  “What?” I answer lowly, locking my hands behind his head, so his lips brush against mine.

  He whispers, kissing me softly between his words, “How amazing, incredible, smart, pretty, funny—”

  “I’m not gonna let you stop if that’s what you’re waiting for.”

  “Well, I could keep going, but I’d rather just stop and kiss you more.”

  His light kisses finally turn into what I want. Lips pressed against mine, his body against me, and my hands around his neck as his are in my hair. I get lost in his arms every time. Tremors run through me, and I want more. I’ve been wanting more, but too afraid to be that vulnerable with him.

  A cough sounds, and we break apart. An older version of Micah stands ten feet away, graying hair, fit build, though not as tall as Micah, and he’s smirking. A sudden burst of embarrassment rips through me, and I hide my face in Micah’s chest.

  “Am I interrupting?” older Micah says.

  “Yeah, kind of,” Micah answers. I can hear the laughter in his voice.

  I slap Micah’s chest. “No. No, no. No, he’s not. No, you’re not.”

  His father chuckles and takes a step toward us, offering me his hand. “I’m Jacob. Veronica, I take it?”

  “Yes,” I answer, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise. I’ve heard plenty of wonderful things about you.” He gives me another smile, then beams at his son, proudly. “You seem to have made quite the impression on Micah. Sorry about interrupting—”

  “Oh, no. You weren’t interrupting.”

  “Yes, he was.” Micah nudges me with his elbow.

  His dad laughs again. “I was fine with waiting, but your mother saw your truck pull in and sent me out here for you.” He motions to the front door. “Shall we?”

  Heading inside, I can smell the food throughout the house. Micah told me his mom was making one of his favorite dishes, a fettuccini pasta dinner. I love fettuccini alfredo, so I’m looking forward to it.

  “Ma.” He walks over to her, and I trail behind. She smiles brightly, giving him a hug. “This is Veronica.” He reaches out and gives my hand a squeeze.

  I hold out my free hand to her. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Fernandez.”

  “Oh, stop that.” She w
aves my hand away and gives me a hug. “You can call me Justine.”

  Smiling, I look back at her husband. “Nice. Jacob and Justine.”

  “Our friends used to call us JJ,” Jacob says. “Some still do.”

  “Well, it smells amazing in here.” I turn back to Justine. “Can I help you with anything?”

  “Oh, no.” She glances at the stove. “We have a little system in place. I’ve got almost everything ready. I hope you like fettuccini.”

  “I love it.”

  “Great. I’ve just finished mixing in the mushrooms and chicken so we can get started right now. I’m starving.”

  “Mushrooms?”

  “Mm-hm.” She nods, smiling.

  I flash Micah a worried look. He raises an eyebrow at me. “I’m … I’m sorry. I’m allergic to mushrooms.”

  “You are?” Micah asks, and I nod.

  “Oh,” Justine’s nose twitches. “Well … hmm, this may be a problem. I had a salad prepared also, but …” She lifts her eyebrows. “Mushrooms.”

  “I’m so sorry. I should’ve said something.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Micah pulls me closer. “I should’ve told you what we were having. I never thought about you being allergic to something.”

  “Well,” his dad speaks up, “we could order some pizza or something.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Justine turns around and covers the pan.

  I feel horrible. She doesn’t seem too disappointed, but she must be. Here she is, cooking dinner to meet her son’s girlfriend, and now everything she’s prepared I can’t eat.

  “Or …” Micah begins. I look up and see him grinning. “We could have Micah’s Mystery Box.”

  His dad laughs. “We haven’t done that in a long time.”

  Justine seems to smile, but she still looks slightly deflated. “Okay, yes. Let’s do that.”

  “Perfect!” Micah slaps his hands together, rubbing them. “Off you guys go.”

  “What? Me too?” I look at him, perplexed.

  “Come on, Veronica.” Jacobs motions for me to follow him. “This is either going to be a very endearing trait Micah’s about to instill in you, or you two may be breaking up tonight.”