Chapter 3
1157 Words
CHAPTER 3
I DREW IN a ragged breath and looked away. Jared’s anger had turned to pity, which made me feel even worse. The bed dipped as he sat down next to me.
“Go away. I’m fine.”
“No, darlin’, you’re not fine. You just told me you’re being forced to marry a man you hate.”
When my mother sobbed, she dabbed at her dainty tears with a handkerchief and garnered sympathy from everyone who saw her. Lottie too. But not me. I’d always been an ugly crier. Big, nasty tears leaked down my cheeks as I snuffled to stop them from running. On the rare occasions I let emotion get the better of me, people usually scattered like deer at an alligator party.
Jared was the first person I’d told about the situation with Wade. My friends were all lab rats—emotion was something they studied, measured and wrote a paper on, not empathised with and tamed with candy. And I certainly couldn’t tell my sister, even though she knew the rest of my secrets. In an odd way, it felt good to get it off my chest, and the lead weight that had filled my ribcage for the last few months grew a tiny bit lighter. Now I understood why Catholics went to confession—there was something cathartic about unloading your worries and fears and sins onto a stranger.
So, I kept talking. Seeing as I didn’t know any priests, I figured I might not get another chance.
“When I was fourteen, Wade asked me out on a date. I mean, I should have been flattered, with him being two years older and on the football team, but there was something off about him.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Just the way he looked at me, I guess. Like he thought he owned me. Being in the same room as him made my skin crawl.” I shuddered. “Still does.”
“So you said no?”
“He didn’t take it well. You know what he said to me? ‘Chess, you’ll be mine in the end.’ Word for word, he actually said that.”
Together with the words, more tears cascaded out of me. Now the floodgates were open, I couldn’t close them again. Jared passed me a tissue.
“Thanks.”
“Better out than in. My grandmother always told me that.”
The thought of that living god having a grandmother seemed so...normal. Not like today in Vegas.
“I thought they were just words, but every few weeks he’d remind me of his promise. Taunting me. I don’t even know why he was interested. I mean, he had all the football groupies throwing themselves at him.”
“Wanted what he couldn’t have, probably.”
“Maybe. I thought he’d finally given up when he went away to college.”
“But he came back?”
“Right after he graduated. I walked into my stepdaddy’s car dealership to drop off some paperwork and there was Wade, polishing a Ford Taurus.” And when Clayton stopped to speak to him, he’d patted him on the shoulder and called him “son.” Two assholes, new best buddies. “And he reminded me of his promise again.”
“Did you tell your stepfather? Or your mother?”
I choked back a laugh. “They wouldn’t have believed me.”
“Known you five minutes, darlin’, and I believe you.”
“Then you don’t know me very well, do you?”
He blew out a thin breath. “No, I don’t. But I know a girl doesn’t get this upset over something trivial.”
Why did he have to be so sweet? I didn’t know how to act when a man was sweet. I didn’t have any male friends outside of my studies, and the idea of one having an attitude outside of geek or asshole confused me. I tried a tiny smile.
“They like Wade better than me. He’s part of the family now.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“That he’s part of the family? It is! He’s invited to dinner every single night.”
“No, that they like him better than you.”
“They do. Wade didn’t even ask me to marry him—he asked Clayton.”
“Isn’t that tradition?”
“Not when they arrange the entire wedding without even telling you, then inform you of the date to show up. I mean, what kind of psycho expects to marry a woman he hasn’t even been on a date with?”
Jared gave me a wry smile. “Yeah, what kind of psycho?”
I realised what I’d said. “Oh heck, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean you. You’re not a psycho. At least, I don’t think so. I mean, I hardly know you.”
He narrowed his eyes as I carried on babbling.
“You were just drunk, right? Not drunk like an alcoholic, although I guess you could be one, and maybe you missed some meetings and then this happened and... I’ll be quiet now.”
Please, somebody shoot me.
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Let me know how Australia is when you finish digging that hole of yours.”
“You’re not an alcoholic, are you?”
He shook his head and rubbed his temples. “After what happened last night, I’m not sure I’ll ever drink again.”
No, of course he wouldn’t. When he was sober, he’d pick a far more appropriate girl—someone pretty and interesting. Not an i***t who knew more about the immune response in non-human primates than she did about s*x and shopping. I held up an imaginary wine glass. “Here’s to sobriety.”
He chuckled and held his own hand up in a pretend toast. “No changing the subject. You were telling me about the other man you don’t want to marry.”
“Well, obviously I said no to the arrangement.” Said no? My knees had given way and I’d collapsed. “But they convinced me.”
“How?”
“I say convinced, but it was more blackmail. Clayton did a deal with Wade’s father over a piece of land to expand his car showroom, and I’m the payment.” Not content with being the car king of Norsville, Clayton wanted the biggest dealership in all of Texas.
“What did Wade say to that?”
“It was his idea. Truly? I’m not sure he even likes me that much. I’m just part of a game he wants to win.”
The AC wasn’t turned up high in my room, but even in the Nevada heat, I gave a shudder.
That didn’t go unnoticed by Jared. “Stating the obvious…” His eyes flicked down my body, and I clutched the quilt tighter. “You’re a grown woman. Why don’t you leave?”
A question I’d asked myself a thousand times over. “Because of my sister. She’s sick. If I don’t do as Clayton says, he won’t pay her medical bills.”
He let out a low whistle. “That’s cold.”
“Tell me about it.” Funny how a stranger in Vegas understood what nobody back home ever would. I shrugged. “But everyone in town loves Clayton.”
“They don’t see through him?”
“Want a car in the west, then come to the best.” I read out his marketing slogan. “He donates to charity and judges the annual talent show. Just an all-around great guy. And Wade’s family’s rich. Everyone thinks I’ve made a good catch.”
Even my own sister. I saw it in her eyes every time the wedding was mentioned.
She thought I was living the freaking dream.
- Writer
