It was as if the more she tried to push Owen out of her mind, the more he refused to leave it. Was it just that she was the type to want what she couldn’t have? Or was there more to it? She hoped it was the former, but she had a feeling it was the latter.
Chapter Twenty-Five
When Ronnie got back from Jersey in late January, Marci and Tyler took her out to dinner to welcome her home. Ronnie was taking the spring semester off, as she would be doing a lot of traveling back and forth between Virginia and Jersey for the next few months. The only reason she wasn’t staying in Jersey full-time this semester was that she didn’t want to lose her job at Schaffer’s. Ronnie was in the nursing school, and she thought there must be something useful she could do for her uncle by being up there. Just having her by his side was probably help enough, though.
The three of them went to a steakhouse near the interstate, which was one of Ronnie’s favorite restaurants. Tyler wrinkled his nose at the menu and ordered a salad almost as soon as they sat down.
“Man. Am I glad to be back. I missed you guys, and I need a break from those people. I know everybody has crazy in their family, but sheesh. I don’t even wanna talk about it right now.” Ronnie rolled her eyes. “How have things been here?”
“Good,” Marci said automatically. Tyler threw her a glance, and Marci shrugged. “Tyler, tell her your good news,” Marci said before Tyler could go down any paths he shouldn’t be going down.
“I got a part in a TV show! Well, it might be a TV show. We should know for sure in a few days.” Tyler went on to tell Ronnie about the pilot, which was in negotiations to be picked up for ten episodes. And just when Marci thought she was in the clear, Tyler added, “And Marci broke up with her non-boyfriend.”
Marci threw Tyler daggers with her eyes, and he smiled sweetly at her. He swept his bangs out of his eyes and turned to Ronnie.
Ronnie took a sip of her Coke. “I missed a lot, apparently.”
“It’s not a big deal,” said Marci. “You both know how I am. It was going to fall apart sooner or later. It just happened sooner. Rather than later.”
Ronnie shook her head sadly. “That boy drove you all the way to New Jersey in a snow storm. I wish I’d had a man who’d ever tried to be half to me of what he’s obviously trying to be to you.”
“What?” Marci said. “I didn’t ask him to do it.” She hadn’t, technically.
“What are you waiting for?” Ronnie leaned forward, her cleavage spilling out of her low-cut sweater. “A literal knight in shining armor on a white horse? Who happens to be the prince of some island nation?”
“I’m not waiting for anything. I don’t like being tied down.”
“You have to settle down eventually,” Ronnie said.
“According to who? What’s the point of marriage or any of that crap? It’s outdated, antiquated, and it doesn’t last.”
“So what? You want to die an old spinster?”
“I’d prefer to be a rich old woman surrounded by lots of sexy, young cabana boys. But whatever happens, happens.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, well, I still think you’ve fallen for him. You can deny it all you want—”
“And I will. I could have had him if I wanted him. Instead, I sent him away.”
“You sent him away because you’re falling for him. You’re scared.”
Tyler nodded. “See? That’s exactly what I tried to tell her, and she wouldn’t listen.”
“You know she’s stubborn,” Ronnie said.
“Yeah, but I was hoping she might see reason just this once,” Tyler said.
“Yeah. Whatever. You two don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marci said. “She’s doing just fine.”
“I know this,” Ronnie said. “You don’t know when it’s gonna happen, but when it does, it hits you like a ton of bricks and even someone like you can’t hide, it’s more or less a lost cause to run, and it’s damned near impossible to fight it.”
She and Tyler said it together as if they’d planned it: “You’re in love.”
“I hate you both,” Marci said.
They laughed.
“Where the hell is that server?” Marci looked all around the restaurant. “I’m ready to eat.”
#
Marci had a one-track mind that day. She was on a mission. Her to-do list was a mile long, and that was why she never saw him coming. That was why she never had one lick of warning. So there was no way she could prepare herself for seeing Owen Matthis for the first time since that day he’d driven her back to the hospital in Jersey.
She heard two people talking, and her stomach flipped at the familiarity of one of the voices. Yes, she knew one of those voices a little too well. When she looked up, she saw Owen and Dante across the hall of the student union, laughing and talking about something. Owen wore faded jeans and a loose sweater and had his bike helmet tucked under one arm. His fleece was nowhere to be seen despite the fact that it was the end of January.
He was looking as good as ever. Of course. So the past couple of months hadn’t made him fall to pieces. Not that she wanted that. Okay, maybe a little. But she was allowed a fantasy or two, right? It wasn’t like she had a voodoo doll of him at home or anything. And why would she? She wasn’t resentful, no, not really. She had what she wanted. She finally had her freedom. Any leftover, residual, freak reaction she was having to him was because she’d always had a thing for the unattainable.
She wasn’t really aware that she’d been staring at him while all this was going through her mind. Until she realized that she’d been caught. Owen looked up—whether it was because he felt her eyes burning into the side of his face or not she’d never know—and he was staring right back at her.
There was nothing else for it. She couldn’t sneak out and pretend she hadn’t seen him now. Instead, she raised a hand and waved a little too enthusiastically. Owen waved back casually. Dante turned, saw who Owen was waving to, and turned back without waving or otherwise acknowledging Marci. He said something to Owen, and Owen nodded. Dante walked away as Marci was walking up to Owen.
“Hi,” Marci said when she reached Owen.
He smiled his trademark easy smile and said, “Hi.” And he didn’t look any worse for the wear. No bags under his eyes like he’d missed some nights’ sleep. He wasn’t all skinny like he couldn’t eat without her. No, he was still firm and broad and fine. Clean, unwrinkled clothes. Backpack slung casually over his shoulder. No, he didn’t look haphazard in the least. What she didn’t understand at all was why that made her angry.
“How’ve you been?” Marci asked.
“Great. Pretty…pretty good,” Owen said. His voice sounded a little too upbeat, like he was trying to cover up his true feelings, but she was probably hearing what she wanted to hear.
“I’m glad I ran into you, actually,” Marci lied. “I’ve been wanting to apologize for the way I left things. You know, taking the train home. That was really a stupid and immature way to handle things.” That second part was mostly the truth.
Owen watched her for a second with impossible to read gray eyes. God, he was gorgeous. Angular jaw. Face almost too pretty. She should have known better. Hell, she did know better, and she let him trick her anyway.
“It’s cool,” Owen said. He scratched the back of his neck, and when he smiled this time, it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“That was really good of you, driving me up there after Thanksgiving. I just want you to know that I appreciate what you did for me. Thanks again.”
He nodded. “So what are you up to these days?”
“Not much. School mainly. Oh, and helping Tyler pack.”
“Where’s he going?”
“He got a part in a television show.” Marci went on to tell Owen about the pilot and how the show had gotten picked up for ten episodes and how Tyler was moving to California soon.
“That’s great. I bet you’ll miss him, thoug
h. You guys are pretty close, right?” Owen said.
“Yeah, but I’m happy for him, so it’s bittersweet. I guess it just means more trips to California.”
“Your parents live out there, right?” Owen said. He kept glancing away from her.
“Yeah. Am I keeping you from something?” He seemed to be in a hurry to get away from her. If not that, then maybe he had somewhere to be. Something definitely had him on edge.
He shook his head but his eyes darted around the hallway once more as he did.
After an awkward pause, she asked, “How’s your brother?”
“He’s doing pretty good, I guess,” Owen said. “I haven’t talked to him much lately.”
“How’re your classes coming along? Any tough papers to write?” She attempted a smile.
“Everything’s good. I’ve been pretty busy lately.”
She didn’t want to ask, but she had to. Not knowing was going to drive her nuts. “How’s…Brynn? Are you guys still seeing each other?”
“Oh. No. I broke things off with her.”
“Really?” What the hell was that? Why did she have to sound so relieved about it? Well, in any case, that relief was short-lived.
Because the next thing Owen said was, “I got back together with Kristin, actually.”
Those words slammed into Marci like a brick. “Oh really? That’s great! Congratulations.” Marci forced enthusiasm into her voice and onto her face. “But wasn’t she engaged?” And Marci was pretty sure she’d made Owen miserable from the little bits and pieces he let drop about her. But that didn’t seem appropriate to say. It’d just make her look bitter and petty and jealous. And she wasn’t.
“Yeah. She broke it off with him. Actually, we’re engaged now,” Owen said.
“Huh? Who?” Marci was caught way off-guard by that one and was left incapable of further response.
“Kristin and me.” He grinned, and again it didn’t reach his eyes. “Just this past weekend actually. We went up to the Poconos. I asked her then.”
“Why so fast?” And why do you care, Marci girl? Get a hold of yourself now.
Owen shrugged. “It was going to happen eventually for us. And it just makes sense because everything was already planned for Kristin and Justin. This way, nobody loses deposits, and a whole planned wedding doesn’t go to waste.”
“Whole planned wedding?” Marci’s mouth went dry. That must mean the wedding would be soon. “When’s the big day?”
“September twenty-third.”
Less than eight months away. Well, that took the wind right out of her. She did the only thing she could think of to save face. “Well, congratulations. Really.” She nodded. That was the right thing to say. “I’m happy for you if this is what you really want.”
Owen’s smile faded. “What’s that supposed to mean? What I really want?”
“I’m just wondering if this was your idea. Because it seems really convenient for Kristin to just slip you into Justin’s spot. Just change grooms, and bam. Insta-wedding. Minimal embarrassment—less embarrassment than calling the whole thing off. Probably anyway,” Marci said.
“No one’s holding a gun to my head,” Owen said.
“Did you even miss me at all?” Damn, where’d that come from? Owen looked as shocked as she felt. “I mean, what I meant was…I should go. Nice seeing you. Congrats again,” Marci’s words tumbled over themselves in an embarrassed rush. She started to walk away. Owen gently grabbed her arm. She stopped but didn’t turn to face him.
“Marci, I learned long ago that no matter how much you love someone, if there comes a point where it does no good to hold on any longer, you just have to let go and move on. It does you no good to sit around waiting for the impossible to happen.”
“So you let go of Kristin?” Marci still wouldn’t look at him. “And then you just welcomed her right on back in.”
“Marci, I don’t want to be mean. There’s no reason for things to be ugly between us. So I mean this in the gentlest, most non-antagonistic way possible, but why do you care?”
“I don’t.” She jerked her arm away from him. “Like I said, I’m happy for you. I’m sure it’ll be a beautiful wedding. Fall weddings usually are.” She ought to know. She’d certainly been to enough of Glenda King’s fall weddings.
Owen didn’t say another word or try to stop her, and she wouldn’t have stopped anyway. He would’ve had to chase her down to get her to do that. She also didn’t look back because she didn’t want to see the look on his face. Whether it was sad, reminiscent, angry, or just apathetic, she couldn’t handle it at the moment.
#
Owen walked through the front door, tossed his keys on the table beside it, and rubbed his hand over his eyes. What a day. He’d expected that he would see Marci again seeing as how the campus was only so big. He’d imagined how it might go. But imagining and actually living through it were two entirely different things. He was still puzzling over the things she’d said—especially the last ones—when Dante walked out of the kitchen with a Reuben sandwich on a plate. Dante glanced at him a nodded a hello.
“Hey, man. I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” Kristin had been harassing him to get his best man and groomsmen sorted out so she knew how many slots would be left for her friends, brother, and stepbrothers. Telling Marci about the engagement had brought the wedding back to the front of his mind.
“Shoot.” Dante took a huge bite of the sandwich.
“Would you be my best man?”
Dante chewed slowly and then swallowed before setting the plate down on one of the end tables by the sofa. Then he said, “Nope.”
“What, really? I thought we were cool again.”
“We are. But I still want nothing to do with that joke of a marriage,” Dante said matter-of-factly. “I can’t believe how you screwed Brynn over. It’s all right, though. You didn’t deserve her anyway.”
“Where is all this coming from?”
“Oh, and I saw the way you were looking at Marci earlier. Even now, after all this shit has gone down. Man, you are a grade A fool.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You really hurt Brynn. After she put up with you and your unnatural obsession with Marci. And for what? Kristin the antichrist? It doesn’t make not even one bit of sense.” Dante shook his head.
“You shouldn’t talk about Kristin that way,” Owen said. “There’s a lot you don’t know. And regardless of whether you respect my choices, you need to respect my fiancé.”
Dante gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes.
“You seem to think Brynn’s better off without me, so where’s the harm?”
“There is none, but I still want nothing to do with this lie of a marriage.” Dante took a couple of steps toward him. “You know, Brynn took it really hard even though I tried to tell her you’re just prone to bad taste in women. Kristin, obviously. And Marci the whore. How could you think a girl like that would ever be worth anything is my only question.”
“Don’t you call her that,” Owen said in a low, warning tone.
“What, a whore? That’s what she is. Besides, you’re done with her. What do you care?”
“She’s not any such thing. It’s none of your business what happened between us, and I won’t hear you badmouthing her. Besides, what’s the difference between what she does and what you do? You’re with a different woman all the time.”
Dante shrugged. “That’s different. I’m a guy. That’s how we are.” Dante cast a disparaging eye at Owen. “Most of us anyway.”
Owen crossed the room until only a few feet remained between him and Dante. “You’ll want to start choosing your words more carefully.”
“And why? Plan on defending your whore’s honor?” Dante raised his eyebrows.
“You won’t say it again.”
“You know, you seem awfully interested in taking up for her even though you have a fiancé now. Some kind of fiancé anyway. What is it with you and
her? You know, the whore.”
Owen’s fist came up and smashed into Dante’s face. He hit Dante so hard that his glasses went flying off his face.
“What the hell was that for?” Dante thundered.
“I told you not to say it again.” Owen shook his stinging fist.
“Man, what is wrong with you?” Dante drew his fist back and rammed it into Owen’s stomach. Owen let his breath out in a whoosh but managed to duck Dante’s next punch. Owen rushed forward while bent at the waist and rammed into Dante hard, knocking Dante into a table. A vase crashed from the table to the floor.
“Get off me!” Dante shouted. “Enough!”
Owen backed away, his chest heaving.
“Man, I’m out of here. This ain’t even worth it.” Dante hunted up his glasses, pushed them on his face, and grabbed his jacket. After snatching his sandwich from the plate he’d set down earlier, he was gone.
Owen tongued the corner of his lip and tasted blood. He stood there in the empty apartment, trying to figure out what had come over him. As he looked around the living room, his eyes landed on his bike in its designated corner. Of all the places his mind could have gone, it chose to go to the late September morning when he’d met Marci.
He’d once asked her if she believed in fate. He had at the time, but his faith in it was lacking now.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Laundry had a sneaky way of piling up with little warning. Marci realized she hadn’t done laundry in almost three months one morning when she went digging around her room for her jeans that went so well with her pink cashmere sweater. She had her dry cleaning picked up and dropped off, but she’d developed a nasty habit of buying cheap, disposable clothes from clearance racks and/or from stores selling cheaply made clothes instead of doing laundry when she got really busy. Now, a few weeks into the new semester, she realized she was doing just that. She hadn’t done laundry since November, and it was now early February.
She had a little free time on her hands as she didn’t have any classes to teach or attend on Tuesdays, and she didn’t like what happened when she had free time. Free time allowed too much freedom for thinking. So she started doing laundry in hopes of finding the jeans she wanted. She got through a few loads before she came across them. She picked up the jeans with an “Aha!” of triumph and tossed them into her laundry basket.
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