“You got a dog.” He grumbled deep in his chest in affirmation, and I closed my eyes as it sung to my soul. “Mateo . . . ”
“Do you want a play-by-play of how fucking miserable I’ve been without you, Lucy?” That question surprised me enough that I pulled back, and Mateo had tears in his eyes as he caressed my face gently. “I amso, sosorry.”
“No, no, no, no. It’s okay. It’s alright. Hey . . . ” My chest threatened to concave under the pressure of his cracking apology, and I shook my head as he took a shuddering, weak breath. “Oh, I don’t blame you, Mateo.”
“Excuse me! What is going on here!”My mom’s scream was so shrill and angry, and I winced as I tore my eyes off Mateo. My friends and immediate family, some who’d even invited themselves without my knowledge, and Seth’s family and friends were all quiet. Over the past nine months, I went along with this wedding because everyone, with a few exceptions,demandedit. Seth and I had spent too much time together to give up, love was slow and built up over time, yada-yada-yada.
I told Seth I was going to get an annulment if he refused to back down, but I had a feeling he suspected just as I knew that I probably wouldn’t. I didn’t like being yelled at, and that’s all my mom seemed to do as she plannedmywedding. I hadn’t slept with Seth, hadn’t really seen Seth, because I was too busy with my backyard and wallowing in my misery. Not to mention, Seth had told his best friend he was going to marry me because his mom told him to, and his best friend told my best friend . . . and here we were.
“Uh, obviously not the wedding you all came here for.” Mateo spoke calmly, assuredly, and he tightened his grip on my waist as he turned to my mom with a steely gaze.
“I’m not surprised a loose whore like you doesn’t know a good man when she has one!” Meredith’s teeth were fangs as she spoke viciously, and I tensed when she, in her mid-life-crisis dress, spit in my face. Horrified gasps sounded, and I trembled when Mateo let me go to punch her right in the eye. She fell back with a cry, and I wiped my cheek as I blink back the disbelief and the sting building in my eyes.
“Shit, you have a thick fucking skull, lady.” Wagging his hand as he spoke, Mateo drew my bleary gaze to him, and the scars on his back rippled furiously. The risen lines were faint pink, some were white, and my hands ached to touch them as tension zinged through my shoulders. “Jesus Christ.”
My throat tightened, and I covered my chest with my forearms to wrap my hands around my neck. Nothing eased the strain, and Mateo rolled his shoulders and arched to hold himself tall and imposing.
His dog still sat at my feet, making sure everyone knew he was there as he bristled and growled, and no one else made a move against Mateo. Meredith shuffled to her feet, clutching her face, and I refused to meet her gaze as I trained mine on the floor. My dress wasn’t totally destroyed— the long, swaying, delicate lace had been spared, so it looked like a white sundress, almost.At least I can walk regular strides, not heel to toe.
“Come on, Lucy.” Grabbing my hand, Mateo jabbed the elevator button with his thumb before lifting his fingers to his lips and letting out a loud, shrill whistle. The all black dog stood up and wagged his tail stump, a huge, pittie smile stretching his lips, and another gray-black dog came barreling through the crowd. The smaller of the two had Marshal’s top-hat on his nose, holding his mouth shut, and I blubbered a laugh as I reached to grab it.
I didn’t want to make too loud a noise, though, and shatter this beautiful, wonderful dream, to return to the nightmare that was my life. Then again, it was my fault. I could’ve stood up for myself, but I never did. I didn’t want drama, so I settled on desolation.
“Marshal, come on, boy.” The elevator doors slid open behind me, and Marshal trotted his way over, his tail wagging even though he held his head low. When we were alone, crowded in the elevator, I let go of Mateo’s hand to rub my eyes, and a heavy, exhausted sigh burst from my dry mouth. “Did that just happen?”
“That was exactly how I fantasized it would happen.” He smiled at me, and I smiled at him, and for a brief second, everything was perfect. “You said you were going to break up with him. What the hell happened?”
“My mom just yells and comments and grinds me down. When I broke up with Seth nine months ago, he was cool with it. I even gave him the ring back for a while. But his mom found out, and he’s truly a mommy’s boy, and my mom was making my life horrible. It lasted two weeks before we just gave up, and then my mom planned the wedding, andhismom picked out this dress without me even there. We were going to take pictures. I need to tell Seth there’s not gonna be a wedding.” Mateo’s smile widened and flames licked up my neck as we traveled up to the third floor of the modest hotel. “I missed you, Mateo. It took me a while to understand, to really understand, but . . . I missed you.”
“I was considering killing myself again. Even with the dogs, it wasn’t getting better.” My smile strained, and I rested my head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm tightly around my waist. It was like no time at all had passed, and I nuzzled his bare skin, taut and hard and toned against my cheek. “Is that your best friend, the one in the green dress?”
“Mikayla, yeah. Why?” The elevator clamored to a stop and I turned to Mateo as he frowned.
“She recognized me. What did you tell her about how we met?” Rolling my lips between my teeth, embarrassment sloshed against my ribs, and Mateo arched a brow quizzically. “I’m not upset or anything, but she recognized my back.”
Stepping off the elevator, I ducked my head in a nod, and Mateo pressed his palm against the small of my back. We were on the same floor, apparently, but I hadn’t seen him in the two days I’d been here. Now that I thought about it, I had heard his dogs bark every once and a while.
“Lucy, what happened to your dress?” Seth’s best friend, Roger, raced up the hallway, and he scanned me through narrowed eyes. “Not that it doesn’t look better, I think, but what happened downstairs? Meredith’s texting us you got assaulted—”
“I wasn’tassaulted. Roger is Seth’s best friend. Roger, this is Mateo.” They barely looked at each other, and I inhaled an easy, full breath as I licked my lips in preparation. “You can tell Seth he’s off the hook, okay? I’m not marrying him.”
“Oh, thank God. He’s been drinking since he woke up. I was gonna come tell you it was off before I got all the texts from his mom.” Roger touched my arm in either gratefulness or relief, and he rocked back to stuff his hands in his pockets. “Shit, girl, at least we’re in Hawaii, right? I swear, his mom purposefully made you ugly. How fucked up. I told Seth he needs to man up and stick it to Meredith. I’ve been telling him that for almost ten years. Hopefully, he’ll realize she’s gonna control his life forever.”
“Okay. Mateo punched Meredith in the face when she spit on me, but she’ll probably fudge the story, so I wanted you to hear it from me first. Also . . . ” Trailing off as Roger tensed, his eyes boggled with anger, I pursed my lips thinly before continuing. “Tell Seth I didn’t cheat on him . . . not physically, at least.”
15
Mateo
“You’ve been having nightmares, and that’s how she found out.” Holding Lucy’s hands as we sat across from each other on the floor, I frowned at the guilty, sheepish expression that drowned her delicate,cleanfeatures. “Okay. It’s not like you signed an NDA, and even if you did, it probably wouldn’t cover sleep talking.”
“So, when did you get your dogs? Why’d you name them Sriracha and Ketchup?” Changing the subject none-too-subtly, Lucy glanced over at the dogs lounging on the sofa. “Ketchup and Marshal like each other, at least.”
“Sriracha doesn’t even like Ketchup most of the time, so I named them that because I couldn’t think of anything else at the time. I flew to Reno to meet a guy who breeds pit bulls, and then I drove to California and hung out there for about six months while I trained them and all that. Ketchup’s a great cuddler, and Sriracha will attack on command. It’s honestly pretty nice.” Rubbing the backs of her smooth hands with my thumbs, I tilted my head at her suggestively. “What about you? How’s your garden?”
“Uh, it’s more an oasis now than a garden, I guess. I redid my front yard completely, and I put an oasis in my backyard. I even got some fish. My garden takes up three-quarters of my backyard now, not my whole backyard.” That spark lit in her eye, and Lucy leaned in as her smile puffed out her cheeks. “There’s a hammock, too.”
“Yeah?” Untangling our fingers, I reached to run them through her hair, the strands sticky and stuff with hair spray. Lucy’s smile dulled, and she tilted her head into my palms and scooted a little closer. She reeked of hair spray and perfume, and I had only just noticed it. The silence stretched into peace, just beautiful, lasting, relieving peace, and the air sparkled with flakes of dried hairspray to sparkle ethereally.
