Page 92 of The Player's Club
Jose chuckled. “That sounds about right.”
I finished the last of my sinigang, my belly full, and my heart even fuller. “I guess we have a lot of lost time to make up for,” I said.
“I would like that.” Jose took my hand and squeezed it. “I’ve always wanted to get to know my only niece.”
“She’s not your only niece,” Maria protested.
“She’s my only niece by blood, then.”
Maria rolled her eyes and waved a hand at her husband. Jose just took it and kissed the back of her fingers, making Maria laugh.
“How long have you two been married?” I asked.
“Thirty-three years,” replied Jose proudly.
“No, it’s thirty-two,” said Maria.
“Thirty-three! We just had our anniversary a month ago.”
Maria tapped her chin. “Oh. You’re right.”
Jose’s mouth dropped open. “Did you just hear that? My wife never says ‘you’re right’ to me. Ever. This is a miracle.”
I laughed at their antics. Jose’s expression turned sly. “What about you? Do you have a special somebody?”
That question made me blush like a teenager. Then I wanted to cry, because Mac still hadn’t talked to me. Brady had finally gotten ahold of him—thank God—so I knew he was okay. But him going off to Idaho so suddenly, without telling anyone, worried me deeply.
“It’s complicated,” I hedged.
Jose and Maria glanced at each other. “So you do have someone?” my uncle probed.
I let out a sigh. “Kind of? But I screwed things up. He won’t talk to me. I don’t know if he’ll ever forgive me.”
Jose leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. “You know, when I first started dating this one, I screwed up. Big time.”
“He kissed another girl,” Maria interjected.
“Another girl kissed me,” Jose said. I had a feeling this was an old argument. “But that’s besides the point. Maria saw a girl kissing me, and she broke up with me. Told me to go to hell and wouldn’t talk to me for weeks.”
Maria looked annoyed. “You make it sound like it was some random girl.” She turned to me. “It was his ex-girlfriend. His ex! She still had feelings for him, and he was too nice to tell her to get lost.”
“Anyway,” said Jose, “I knew in those weeks when Maria wouldn’t talk to me that she was the one. I was a mess. I tried to forget her, but it didn’t work.”
I cocked my head to the side. “So how’d you get her back?”
“I went to her work—she was a server—and I begged her to forgive me in front of the entire restaurant. Didn’t I, sweetheart?” he said.
Maria smiled. “It was so pathetic. I told him to get lost, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. But I needed him to grovel for a bit longer.”
Jose rolled his eyes. “At any rate, I was honest with her. Told her that I loved her, I needed her, and I wanted to marry her. And after she’d made me suffer, she finally relented. And we’ve been married ever since.”
I wasn’t entirely certain how to take this story. “So you’re saying I should humiliate myself to get my—friend—to forgive me?”
“Be honest with him,” said Maria. “And if you really care about him, don’t let him go without a fight.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. Would Mac want me to fight for our relationship? I didn’t know anymore. He’d told me he was starting to have feelings for me, but that didn’t mean he still cared.Trust had been so important to him. And I’d broken that.
After we finished lunch, we hugged. Jose told me that he was going to invite me to their son’s birthday party if I wanted to come. Although the thought of being around even more extended family was intimidating, I said yes. Getting to know the family that I’d thought for so long wasn’t interested in me or my mom felt nice.