Could he actually love someone in such a short amount of time? He had never been in love, didn't know what it felt like, but the emotions inside of him every time he looked at Mary told him what he felt for her wasn't just desire for her. He cared about her, so fucking much. If this was what love felt like, this deep need to protect her, and the possessiveness that consumed him when he was around her, then yeah, he loved her, so damn much.
"I don't know how late I'll be, but yeah, baby, I wouldn't miss it for the world." And he wouldn't, because he would go anywhere with her, do anything for her, and there wasn't anything on the planet that could stop him. His friends would call him pussy-whipped, but it was so much more than that. He was in love for the first time in his life, and there wasn't anything that could take that elation from him.
****
Mary dreaded going to this wedding. Not only was Alex still practicing and not coming until later, but she was stuck in her parents' stuffy dining room having to listen to Margo going on and on about how unhappy she was about every little aspect of the wedding décor, the dresses, even the music. Of course Margo was very high maintenance, but she could also be a mega-bitch on the best of days. So here she was, sitting at the table with her family, and listening to Margo complain about how the red wine was too dry for her liking. Joe sat beside Margo like the proper gentleman, agreeing with everything she said.
"Mary, did you hear what your sister asked you?" Mary looked over at her mom, realizing she had been zoning off.
"I'm sorry, no. I was lost in thought." When she was around her family she was expected to be the proper daughter of the Trellis's. Her back was straight, her hands neatly folded in her lap, and she felt like a total imposter. It was all automatic.
"I asked what happened to your date? Did he bail?"
She glared at Margo.
"He'll be here later. He had practice, and it ran late." Before Margo could spit back a smart-assed comment, which Mary knew was poised on the tip of her tongue, the front door bell chimed, and her mother clapped.
"Oh, Mary, I forgot to tell you I ran into an old friend of yours a few weeks back." Mary's heart picked up speed because she could imagine exactly which "friend" her mother was referring to, especially since Lance had called her a couple of weeks ago. Her mom was up and moving to the door before the Trellis family "help" could get to it first. God, her mom was overly excited. She heard excited chatter and then Lance's deep, snobby voice. Moments later her mother and ex-boyfriend came back into the dining room, but Mary refused to make eye contact with him. This whole situation was bullshit. She was angry that her mom had brought him here, but in her defense Mary hadn't told anyone why they had broken up, or all the horrible things he had done to her. After their conversation on the phone several weeks back, she thought Lance would have taken the hint she wanted nothing to do with him. Clearly that wasn't the case at all.
"Mary, are you even going to say hello to Lance?"
Clenching her hands around the linen napkin on her lap, she lifted her head and looked at the guy who had made her feel like she was nothing in every sense of the word. Lance Marten, with his perfectly styled short blond hair and clear blue eyes, looked exactly how she remembered when she left him at that party two years ago. At just a glance he seemed like a perfect boy-next-door type, but under that exterior he was worthless. The argyle print sweater vest he wore was wrinkle free and flat against his starched white button-down shirt, and his Dockers were pressed to perfection. He smiled at her, but she knew Lance well enough to see a pile of shit when it was right in front of her.
"It is so good to see you again, Mary. It has been so long." He moved around the table, and she tensed. His smile was bright white and straight. No doubt he had bought himself a set of veneers. Before she could move he gripped her under the arms and hauled her up smoothly.. He pulled her close to him, and she nearly gagged at the strong smell of his Polo cologne. It was the same cologne he wore when they had been dating, and a scent she couldn't stomach any longer because she always attributed it to his drunken outbursts, and the way she had felt with him … dependent and needy.
Whispering so only she could hear Lance said, "Since you didn't want to see me on your own, I was lucky enough to run into your mother at the country club. Strange how things work out like that, huh?" Yeah, how convenient. "It is so good to see you." He moved back and smiled broadly at her. "I can't believe it. You haven't changed at all."
She wanted to push him away, to tell him it was only two years, not a decade, since they had last seen each other. Being in front of him again told her two things: she still hated him, and as much as she had grown since being away, and become stronger, there was still a part of her that felt small when in his presence. Here she had thought she had grown since leaving Brentsville, Lance, and her family's strict, tight rein on her life. Had she been that wrong, or was she just letting Lance control a part of her that he had no claim over?
What she wanted was Alex, to feel his strong hands holding, his scent washing away Lance's sickly sweet cologne. Alex didn't care about a title, or a social status. Her mother was all but beaming at their reunion , and her father stared stoically at them.
For the next hour and a half Mary's mom incorporated Lance into any and all conversations that were started. Mary's anger was slowly rising with each passing moment.
"So Lance, how are things with your father? I heard you'll be starting your internship with his company soon?"
Lance spent the next hour gushing about himself. Mary couldn't stand it.
"Lance." Everyone turned and looked at her. "How is Brittany anyway?" There was a beat of silence as he stared at her. There was no missing the way he gritted his teeth. Aww, so a sore subject. Good. He cleared his throat, looked between her mother and father, and gave them a saccharine smile.
"Actually, Brittany and I have parted ways." The way he said it, with a slight undertone of distaste, had Mary wondering what her one-time friend had done to him. It was clear he was pissed about how things ended with them. Maybe Brittany had gotten a taste of who Lance Marten really was and had booked it? Not that she wished ill on anyone, but karma and all that.
Lance, with his smooth talking skills, glossed over the Brittany question. "Mary, I was thinking maybe we could get together after the wedding."
Either her family was too dense to have seen the little ticks of Lance's anger, or they just didn't care to continue onto at path of conversation. "Oh, Mary, doesn't that sound lovely?" Her mother gushed at what Lance said. "I never did understand why you guys broke up, but two years is enough time to get things sorted out. Besides, you're single, and so is he."
Mary didn't correct her mother on the fact she didn't consider herself single. She and Alex may not have talked about what their relationship was, but she cared for him, and couldn't see herself with another guy. She just wanted Alex.
She snapped her eyes at her mom, but she was practically fawning over Lance from across the table. "You two should go to the wedding together." Her mom looked over at Mary. "Since your date obviously isn't coming, I think it is the perfect timing that I ran into Lance at the club."
Yeah, perfect timing. Enter sarcasm.
"I don't think so, and my date, Alex, will be accompanying me. He just had things to do, like I said earlier." She kept her face firm as she looked at her mom. She would not back down on this. This was going too far, and she had stepped right into it by not saying something sooner. "Sorry, Lance, but I'm sure you can find another date." Satisfaction filled her when a spark of fire snapped behind his eyes, and she knew he had hit a nerve.
"Well, that's a shame, but you'll save me a dance at the wedding, right?" God, she just wanted out of this uncomfortable nightmare.
She didn't bother responding to his question. "Listen, I've got to go." Mary had enough, and just wanted to get back to the hotel room and wait for Alex. She looked at her phone, and wondered where he was. As it was she didn't want him over here, because subjecting him to this would be cruel. Margo was giving her the stink eye, and her mother and father were looking at her disapprovingly, most likely because of her "attitude". In just these last two years she had really felt like she had grown as a person and an adult. She supposed when bad things happened to someone in their life it could make them a stronger person in the long run. She knew if not for the situation with Lance, and the way she had let others make her feel like shit while growing up, Mary might never have had the courage to lay it all out for them right now. Before they could stop her she stood and grabbed her purse.