Bound to You

Chapter 15

It was worse than I imagined. My mom had decided she wanted to help plan the wedding and next thing I knew, there was stationary spread across the dining room table.

The first day I walked into the house, and Marie was sitting in the kitchen, sipping coffee with Mom, I thought I would puke.

"Lena!" my mom called when I started to walk by without a word. "Come help us pick invitations!"

"No thanks!" I shouted and kept moving. I was not about to be pulled into that garbage.

It went on like that for weeks.

Marie came home from yoga with my mom, and when she asked me if I played sports, I told her I was really into underwater basket weaving.

Marie came for dinner, and I evaded all of her questions about my eighteenth birthday by telling her I planned to go buy porn at midnight.

Marie came for our 4th of July cookout, and I "accidentally" dropped her vegan burger in the dirt.

Everyone pretended not to notice how awful I was being, and I went on being awful.

That summer, I started dating Aaron. Aaron drove a nice Mustang, had tattoos up to his elbows, and was a high school dropout. On the Fourth of July, I had sex with him in that Mustang during the fireworks show, and before the fireworks had ended, he'd put bruises along my jaw with his callused fingertips.

"Don't forget who owns you," he whispered in my ear while I flinched away from the marks he left constantly.

I knew who owned me, and it wasn't Aaron, but most of the time, Aaron was almost a gentleman, and the rest of the time, he was a good fuck. Unfortunately, the fucking often came with bruises.

The next night, you came over for dinner, and even though I caked on the makeup, I knew you noticed the bruises. Aaron sat beside me at the table, his leg wrapped around mine beneath the tablecloth.

"So Aaron," my dad said, trying to be nice while his teeth were gritted together. "You a Yale man?"

Aaron choked on his water. "Not a chance. College isn't for me."

I couldn't look at my dad. I knew what his face would look like. I knew he'd be looking at me like he didn't even recognize me.

"I see," he said. "Straight to the workforce?" His voice was strained, and I almost felt bad. I knew Dad would hate Aaron. That was part of the appeal. If only he knew how much Aaron and Jason had in common.

"Yeah. I'm going to be working with my dad in his garage. Cars are really the only thing I'm interested in."

Dad nodded and I couldn't tell if it was in an attempt to hide his disappointment or if he was actually okay with this. Probably the former.

"I heard you got your Yale acceptance," you said from across the table. When I looked up at you, you were smiling big at me, but all I could see was Marie, smiling beside you.

"What will you be studying?" Marie asked. This was her, always trying to get to know me, no matter how I attempted to evade her.

"Not sure yet," I said, looking away.

"I studied English," Marie said. "I always wanted to be a teacher, but-"

"I actually want a future, so I think I'll be studying something a little more useful."

The table plunged into silence. Beside me, Aaron laughed under his breath.

"Lena, that was rude," Dad growled. Beside him, your eyes were wide, your mouth hanging open.