Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2) (22 page)

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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.

“Mary, you’re just going to leave without even
finishing dinner?” Her mother
stood,
the surprise
clear in her voice.

Mary turned to leave. “I’ve had a long day, so I’d
rather just go to the hotel.”

“Hotel?”
Her
mom’s voice squeaked with shock. Mary’s back was to the table, and she closed
her eyes. Yeah, she hadn’t gotten around to telling them she was staying with
Alex at the hotel. Turning around she was confronted with everyone now
standing, staring at her. There was a bit of hurt on her mom’s face, and that
made Mary feel even worse.

“Yeah, I thought it might be a little crowded with
Margo and Joe staying here, and besides, it might be uncomfortable for Alex to
stay in a place he isn’t familiar with.”

“Alex? You mean the ‘boyfriend’ that isn’t here?” It
was clear in Margo’s voice that she thought there was no Alex. Mary was
exhausted mentally and physically, and was ready to go.

“Yeah.”
She clenched
her teeth, feeling that weakness she had always felt slowly start to dissipate.
“In fact, leaving is sounding better by the second.”

“Mary, I don’t know what has gotten into you, but your
behavior is very rude and unacceptable.” Her father took a napkin and wiped the
corner of his mouth.

“I agree, Mary. You never act like this. Is there
something else bothering you?” Her mom had a tight grip on her linen napkin.

“Just let her go, Mother. She’s ruining dinner
anyway. She’ll probably throw a temper tantrum at
my
wedding also.” Margo sat down and flipped her hair over her
shoulder.

That was it. Something inside of Mary snapped. All
that weakness they made her feel, the way she allowed everyone to walk all over
her and dictate her life, was past the breaking point. She was a grown ass
adult, had been surviving without them for the last two years, and was stronger
than they gave her credit for. The fighter inside of her rose. Spearing Margo
with an angry look had her sister’s eyes widening a fraction. Oh yes, no more
standing back and letting
herself
be looked down upon.

“You are such a bitch, Margo.” The room went deathly
quiet after Mary spoke those words. Everyone looked scandalized by her crass
statement. It felt fucking great.

“Mary—” Her mother’s high-pitched voice couldn’t
sway her from continuing. No, this was a long time in coming.

“No, Mom, I’ve had enough of her shit, and of you
two looking at me like everything I do is not up to par with the perfect little
lives in this community.” She stared at her parents. “I’m sick of always
feeling like I am not as worthy as everyone else.”

“Mary, honey, I didn’t know you felt this way. Her
mother’s eyes were big and her tone sincere.

“That’s because you never asked, Mom.” There had
been far too many times to count in her life when her parents and sister had
made comments about what they expected of her, that she should wear certain
things, talk a certain way, or act the way they wanted her to. She was always
on display and always felt as though she never did anything right. And it had
taken her this long to grow comfortable in her skin. It had taken two years to
realize that she was worth something. Alex made her feel special, didn’t expect
her to be someone she wasn’t, and cared about what she had to say. He made her
feel like a human being. He may not realize it, but he had helped her realize a
lot in the very short amount of time they had spent together. She felt like she
could be herself with him, and that was very freeing.

The room was still quiet, and she didn’t break her
stare from Margo. “I’m tired of you treating me like I’m not good enough for
anything. I’m tired of you acting like you’re better than me. And I’m really
fucking tired of you being a bitch all the time.”

Her mother gasped, and Margo opened her mouth in
shock, but nothing came out. Everyone else stayed silent. At least they were
smart in that sense because she was feeling a fire burn inside of her and would
unleash it on everyone.

“You’re not better than anyone else, Margo.” She
lowered her voice. “You’re my sister, whether the same blood flows through our
veins or not. It doesn’t matter to me where you come from, how much money you
have, or who your friends are.” She turned to her mom then. “I’m not a doll, Mom,
and you can’t make me act a certain way, or do certain things. I’m a human,
your daughter, and I’m sick of never being able to feel like myself when I come
home.” They held each other’s eyes for a second. In a softer voice Mary said, “And
I will never be getting back with Lance.” Mary held her hand up when her mom
was about to speak. “Let me finish.” For the first time Marsha Trellis actually
looked
at her. “You want to know why
I will never be with Lance
again?
” She looked at her
ex,
saw the way his nostrils flared, and his eyes narrowed. “He
cheated on me with Brittany, you know, the girl that I used to be friends with.
Yeah, I caught them having sex at one of those posh wine parties they always
liked to throw.”