Weddings Suck... (2 page)

        The China he knew in college used to be a hell of a lot nicer. There used to be sweet smiles thrown in his direction, inquiries about his day and his courses. Right up until senior year anyway. Right after he had made the drunken mistake of sleeping with her roommate. And another one of her best friends. At the same time. Thankfully, neither were present at the wedding festivities. Oh, and he’d done it in China's bed. He’d kicked himself a thousand times over the stupid, idiotic mistake; he’d even gone over excuses thousands of times in his head since the moment she'd walked in, a shocked, hurt look spreading across her beautiful face.

        The thing was, he had been there to see China in the first place. Unfortunately he’d had a few too many before walking to the small apartment she shared with two other women. China hadn’t been there, but the other two had. He wasn’t really sure what happened, didn’t really know how he ended up in bed with the two of them. The only thing he remembered with any clarity was China’s sharp gasp, the pain in her eyes. There hadn’t been any smiles for him after that. In fact, she’d avoided him like the plague.

        This wedding had been his opportunity to redeem himself, and yet he kept saying all the wrong things. Yes, seeing that his best friend didn’t make a colossal mistake was important, but getting China to see he wasn’t the blockheaded, whorish Neanderthal his every word declared him to be was even more so. Not bothering to go back in the restaurant, he got in his car and headed back to the hotel where he was staying. Truthfully, Reese didn’t have a clue how to break up this marriage. The tactful questioning route had been tried; he’d asked Tanner about how he felt about his bride-to-be, only receiving evasive half answers in return.

So what was he going to tell China tomorrow night? Apart from something truly foul, there was just no way to get the no-so-happy couple to call this off. Probably because they were both stubborn to the core, an affliction that seemed to be in heavy supply around here.

A sharp knock on his hotel room door broke him out of his ruminations. As if he’d known Reese was thinking about him, Tanner stood on the threshold looking like—well, looking like hell, really.

“Hey man, why didn’t you tell me you were leaving the dinner party?” Tanner asked, throwing himself down on the small sitting room couch. “You and China, then everyone else seemed to slink off without a word. Purity is pissed.”

“Purity Winthrop? Moved to anger? I think not.” Reese scoffed, sitting in the armchair across from his friend. Tanner really did look like hell. There were bags under his eyes, tension lines all around his mouth. He looked like he’d aged ten years in the three days Reese had been back in Massachusetts. “I’m shocked you’ve managed to move her to any kind of emotion at all.”

Shit, maybe that was laying it on a bit thick. Reese genuinely liked Purity. The woman looked like some kind of African American fifties-style bombshell; but she acted like a nun who’d already been canonized into sainthood. She’d stayed in school after most people who’d run their little group at MIT had since gone on to lucrative careers, earning a PhD in Bioinformatics—whatever the hell that was. She now taught at Harvard, a fully tenured professor, while Tanner was far more interested in making as much money as he could in bioengineering. They seemed to be polar opposites.

“She isn’t like that.” Tanner offered what was a half-hearted protest at best. “You’d be surprised to know what she’s really like.”

Now they were getting somewhere.

“Oh? She’s what? A harpy behind closed doors?” And if so, why the hell did you ask her to marry you? Reese couldn’t say that last thought out loud—it would only alienate Tanner, or worse.

“God, no. Nothing like that.” Tanner closed his eyes as if he were extremely tired. This had to be bad. Reese had known Tanner for years, before MIT even. Their parents had sent them off to the same boarding school, though neither man would ever let anyone know that. It sounded all too upper-crust douche-baggy. “She’s just not... Dude, you know how I once told you I was into some stuff that wasn’t, you know, completely normal?”

Enlightenment dawned on Reese like the sun breaking through after a storm. No way. Not Purity Winthrop, of the Virginia Winthrops, one of the richest African American families in the U.S.  Her family had roots in the Northeast pre-Civil War. They had been one of the original Republican families of note before a dramatic shift to the other side during the reign of FDR. Which reminded him—why was none of Purity’s family here for the wedding, with the exception of a few cousins?

“Is that why her folks aren't here?” Reese pressed, all interested like a National Enquirer reporter. “What? They know you’re her...she’s your...uh...”

“She’s my sub,” Tanner supplied. “I’m her Dom. We’ve been in a relationship for years. I just thought it was time to make it official, you know? We aren’t getting any younger and that’s what people do.”

Well, shit. Of all the reasons for this marriage, That’s what people do had never been one of them. Never mind that Purity was into the same BDSM crap Tanner was. Reese had forgotten all about that late-night confession. Or maybe he’d just believed Tanner had gotten over it. Pieces begin to click into place, but it wasn’t putting together a very happy future.

“So you don’t love her? And yet you’re going to marry her anyway?” Reese was no romantic, but love should be in a marriage. Both he and Tanner had seen all too vividly what happened when it wasn’t. “And what about her folks?” he asked again.

“They don’t know. They’re not here because they forbade the marriage.”

Wow. Now that was a one hell of a shocker. “People still do that?” No way. Not even Reese’s own antiquated, Southern-to-the-tips-of-their-toes parents would pull some crap like that. At least he hoped they wouldn’t.

“The Winthrop family certainly does, otherwise we’d be in Virginia for a month-long series of celebration prior to the marriage. Something Purity will never have now. She’d be fucking miserable.” Tanner was too, even if he wasn’t saying it. Reese could hear it in his tone, see it in his face. “It’s not like I don’t love her. I do. She’s perfect, the perfect sub, a lady in public, all of that. It’s just, just...” Tanner shook his head, closing his eyes again with a sigh.

This was so far out of Reese depth it just wasn’t funny. He had no words of wisdom for his friend, though he wished like hell he did. All he could rely on was simple truth. “If neither of you is happy, then why do this?”

It was as plain as he could put it. There was no need for lectures; Tanner already knew everything he could say about this anyway. Otherwise he wouldn’t be here, confessing like this.

“Why indeed,” Tanner agreed, not opening his eyes. “Why indeed.”

        “Just cancel the bachelorette party, okay?” Purity’s voice over the phone sounded so sad it broke China’s heart. Out of all the so-called friends she’d made over the years, Purity was a real one, a keeper. She had to say something.

        “Prue, if you’re not happy, why do this?” China had deliberately used the nickname she’d given to her friend back in summer camp when they were ten. Although China grew up in New York while Purity lived in between Massachusetts and Virginia, they had always kept in touch, went to the same college to be together, shared everything—up until now.

        “Tanner is...he’s not a bad man.” Purity was evading. China could tell there was so much more she wanted to say, but couldn’t for whatever reason.

        “I never said he was,” China added hastily. God, this was a mess. How could she let her best friend do something that was bound to end in heartbreak? “But that doesn’t mean he’s the man for you.”

        There was silence from the other end, then a deep sigh. Yes! That meant Purity was about to break and confess all. It was about time—China was starting to seriously consider a slap to the face. Slaps always seemed to work in the movies.

        “Tanner is my Dom,” Purity finally admitted softly. “He thought it was time to get married because we’d been together for so long. Our relationship was great when it was just about that. We’ve never really shared anything else. I guess it’s a hell of a lot different outside the bedroom.”

        There was just nothing China could say to that. Falling back on her bed, she just breathed and waited. There’d be more. Had to be. A person couldn’t just drop a bomb like that then say goodbye. Dom? For real? Oh sweet heavenly hell, what was sweet, innocent Purity into?        

        “I mean, we have never really dated outside that relationship.” Thankfully Purity continued like China hadn’t just been struck dumb. “I had my life, he had his. We didn’t really talk about anything else. When he asked me to marry him it sounded so reasonable. Like it was a logical step. But I don't think I like who Tanner is. I mean who he really is. Not that he’s a bad guy, it’s just...well, he isn't who I want to raise kids with you know? We’re just so....different.”

        Well that sealed it right there, didn’t it? “You can’t marry him, Purity. Just because you’ve been with him for a while doesn’t mean you’re obligated.” Dammit to hell and back, why did Reese have to be right? They were getting married out of a sense of obligation. A weird, fucked-up sense of obligation to be sure

        “I just can’t... Look, I’ll talk to you later. Okay?”

        China couldn't let it go at that. Shit, this could get ugly real fast, but Purity deserved the truth from her. “Pru, look, if you marry him you’ll both be miserable and probably end up doing really stupid things. And it might not just affect the two of you. What if you have kids?” She couldn't make it any more real than that. While Purity’s parents were the decent sort, China’s mother and father couldn't manage to stay in the same house, much less stay out of other people’s beds. Purity had talked her through many a storm growing up. “Take it from me, an unhappy marriage makes everyone miserable. You know I know what I’m talking about.”

        More silence before another sigh. “Yeah, China, I know. Look, I’ll talk to you later?”

        Then she was gone. Shit, shit and double shit, this was so not good. No way she could tell Reese about this, who she was supposed to be meeting less than an hour. What Purity had told her wasn’t something she’d want anyone else to know, and China loved her too much to ever betray her trust. But she had to do something. Determined, she threw on a sundress and flip-flops and damn near ran to the pub near her place in New Cambridge. They had to think up something together.

        However, once she hurried inside and spotted him in a booth near the back, China almost turned around and ran back out. Lord he was gorgeous. Wearing a tight black t-shirt and black jeans, he looked like sin on a stick, sent out to tempt her toward complete debauchery. Slowing considerably, China had to gather herself before getting close. This was not about her; it wasn’t about her insane attraction to a chauvinistic ass.

        “You look amazing.”

        The compliment spoken as soon as she reached the table surprised her. So did Reese standing at her approach. It was sparks of the Reese she thought she knew in college. Before discovering him in bed with her roommates, she had thought Reese a rare breed of gentleman. In fact, she had fostered quite a crush, but never dared to act on it. Reese came from Southern old money. They did not date interracially; not seriously anyway. Finding him in bed with not one, but two perfect blonde types had killed her. She supposed if she was honest she would have to say she had started hating him that night. Too bad China didn't feel like being honest.

        “Uh, hi.” Hastily taking her seat, she frowned when she saw a glass of Merlot waiting for her. He’d remembered her preferred drink. She shouldn’t have cared, but she was touched in spite of herself. “You didn’t spike this, did you?” It was meant to be flip, something that would offend him enough so she could get her metaphorical feet back under her.

        “I think you know me better than that.” Reese looked genuinely sad she’d said it, which threw her even more. Expecting verbal sparring at the very least, she wasn’t really sure how to take real hurt. It made her feel like shit, which in turn made her mad. He had no right making her feel bad. She wasn't the bad guy here.

        “Look, it was a joke, all right?” Squirming in her seat, she looked everywhere but at him.

        “Answer the question, China. We used to be friends, remember? Do you think I would spike your drink?”

        “No, I said I was kidding.” This was going downhill fast. “We’re supposed to be talking about Purity and Tanner.” Deflection was good. Better than talking about feelings.

        Reese didn’t speak right away, making her squirm even worse. Would he just cut the chase already? It was so hard to think with those emerald green eyes staring at her like he could see inside her head.

“What?” she snapped irritably, not able to take more than a few seconds. It was unnerving. As if she had something to apologize for. HA! He was the one always saying the wrong thing, sticking his nose in everyone’s business... Okay, so maybe only Tanner and Purity’s and it wasn’t like she wasn’t doing the same thing, but at least she was doing it for a good reason. Plus she hadn’t been nearly as obsessed with stopping this marriage as he had been. Well, until now.

Puffing out a frustrated breath, China relaxed. So, he was an idiot at times, but he really wasn't a bad guy. As long as she’d kept her distance she was able to pretend she hated him, but she didn’t. She never had. Once upon a time she’d carried a torch for the man, but the attraction hadn’t been mutual. Only a crazy person would go through life blaming a person for not being attracted to them. It just wasn’t meant to be, that was all.

“That night, at your apartment, I had gone there to see you.” China was not expecting that. Reese was still staring at her, but his expression had changed as he spoke. The hurt was being replaced with something...maybe something like wonder? “What’s her name—I don’t even remember her name—said you weren’t there and she didn’t think you’d be back that night. Said you had a date with that Steven guy.” China attempted not to feel inordinately pleased he remembered Steven’s name. He had always hated Steven, but for no other reason he could find other than Steven was always asking her out. The guy was so not her type, but she had never told Reese that. She’d hoped it meant he liked her maybe just a little.

And hey! Catherine, one of her roommates at the time, had lied through her teeth. China left to pick up Chinese food (oh the irony) for an all-night study session they were supposed to be having. That rotten bitch! Catherine knew damned well China had lusted after Reese for years. There was no other reason for the lie, and maybe even part of the come-on other than to rub China’s face in the fact she’d finally gotten Reese into bed herself. That didn't in any way excuse him, but things were making a horrible kind of sense.

“I—I was angry.” That caused China’s heart to leap. Angry about...? “Angry you were out with him, that you had never given me a chance when I’d been chasing after you forever.”

“You most certainly had not!” She’d almost jumped to her feet at the ridiculousness of his statement. Chase after her? No way she would’ve have missed that after pining away for him for years. “When did you ever show any interest in me as anything other than a friend? A buddy, someone to hang with. You never saw me as a potential...uh...” Girlfriend, lover, more. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Even now she just wasn’t willing to face his rejection.

“Did you ever see me flirting with any other girl back then?” Reese demanded, seeming very determined to get her to admit what he’d said was true. As much as she wished she could, China just couldn’t do that; it left her too vulnerable. But he just didn’t let it go—he kept talking. “For that matter, did you ever see me with any other female? Ever? I went home alone for a year half hoping and praying to be good enough, to be noticed as a possibility beyond the friend box you placed me in. I was an idiot for not leaving that night, but trust me I have regretted that with every fiber of my being. I’ve never found another woman who makes me feel like I feel when I’m with you. I don’t want to be your friend, I never did. I want to be with you, China. Give a good ole boy have a chance, I swear to you, sugar, I won’t let you down.”

There was no saying no to that, not when she had wanted him as much as he claimed to have wanted her, to still want her. All her defenses fell. Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge. “Let’s go.”