Last Groom Standing

by Kimberly Lang

  It was only a few short blocks from the hotel to the Italian restaurant, and while there was a definite nip in the air, they elected to walk it.

  “I think my necklace is caught in my hair,” Cassie said. “Can you help?”

  Marnie stopped and moved Cassie’s hair aside. It was a minor tangle, easily fixed, but Reese and Amber were a full half-block ahead by the time she finished. Gina, however, was leaned against the stone wall, waiting.

  She looked at Cassie accusingly. “You did that on purpose.”

  Cassie shrugged and Gina grinned. “You’re avoiding us.”

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “I just want to see how things are with Dylan. Cassie’s reports from the gala were inconclusive at best.”

  “I couldn’t get much data. I can’t report data I don’t have,” Cassie protested.

  “I know exactly what you’re after. But I don’t want to talk about it.” She started after the others.

  “Wait,” Gina caught her arm. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

  “I told you not to get too worked up over me and Dylan.” A lump formed in her throat, making it hard to talk. “It turned out to be just as temporary as I said it would be.”

  “Oh, no.” Cassie’s face was the picture of sympathy and exactly what she didn’t want—or need right now.

  Gina was a bit more blunt. “What the hell? You two broke up?”

  “We weren’t really together to begin with, so you can’t really say we broke up. But, no, we’re not seeing each other anymore.”

  “It wasn’t that Analise cow Cassie told me about, was it?” Gina’s eyes were narrowed to angry slits, indignant on her behalf.

  “No.” She started walking again.

  Cassie and Gina trotted to catch up. “Then what?” Gina asked.

  “If you must know, I broke it off.”

  Gina grabbed her arm again. “Okay, you need to stop for a second. These shoes were not made to run in. Back up and tell me what happened.”

  Marnie sighed. She had zero chance of getting out of this, so it might be best to get it over with quickly. “Dylan and I need different things right now, so it—”

  Cassie shook her head. “Even I’m not going to believe that.”

  “But it’s true.”

  “Because...?” Gina prompted.

  She swallowed hard. “We were supposed to be just a casual thing. It didn’t stay casual, and it is, unfortunately, a one-sided development.”

  Cassie leaned into Gina. “What does she mean by that?” she whispered.

  Gina kept her eyes on Marnie as she answered Cassie. “It means she’s in love with Dylan.”

  There again was that splat feeling that came from falling alone. “But Dylan’s not in love with me.” She held up a hand as Gina started to argue. “He was pretty clear. He’s enjoying being single, liking the casual, easy, relationship.”

  “But that doesn’t mean...”

  “Gina, he said that the right girl for him did not exist in the current crop of women in his acquaintance and that he’d rather die alone. I don’t think it’s possible to misinterpret that.”

  “That’s a pretty stupid thing to say.”

  “I’m just glad he said it before I...” she couldn’t finish it.

  “Before you said anything,” Gina supplied.

  “Exactly.”

  “Ah, honey, I’m sorry.” Gina pulled her into a hug. She felt Cassie patting her back.

  “I can’t cry right now. My mascara will run. And I don’t want anything to ruin Reese’s party.”

  Gina carefully ran a finger under her eyes to repair the damage. “I wonder if Reese knows Dylan is an idiot.”

  “I wonder if Reese knows I’m an idiot.”

  “You, honey, are in love. You get a pass. Dylan doesn’t have an excuse, because if he wasn’t an idiot, he’d be in love with you.”

  “It’s not altogether unsurprising, considering Dylan’s family situation and his aversion to drama or conflict of any sort.”

  That came from Cassie, causing both Marnie and Gina to look at her in surprise. “Cas, what are you talking about?”

  “Dylan avoids drama at all costs. He intentionally remains emotionally detached because he doesn’t like conflict in his personal life. I mean, look at how he walked away from the Reese situation completely unscathed. I think it has something to do with his parents.”

  Marnie couldn’t quite get her jaw closed, so it fell to Gina to ask, “And you know this how?”

  “Tuck, of course. He says that’s why Dylan didn’t put up a fight when Reese chose Mason. He doesn’t do conflict, so he doesn’t overly attach himself to anyone for that very reason.”

  And I told him there was someone else. Her lie was coming back to bite her in the butt.

  Gina patted her arm. “See, honey, it’s not you. It’s Dylan. He’s emotionally stunted and therefore unable to see how fabulous a person you are. And if he’s not willing to put up a fight, he really is an idiot. And he’s certainly not worth your tears. He doesn’t deserve you.”

  TEN

  As always, Reese threw one hell of a party. The food was delicious, the drinks flowed generously, and Marnie was among friends. All things considered, she really should be having a much better time. The déjà vu was killing her. Was she destined to be miserable at all of her friends’ weddings?

  She kept a smile plastered on her face and concentrated on her conversational companions. Andrew, it seemed, did have a bit of an interest, and he’d parked himself next to her at the table, and if nothing else, it was flattery her ego desperately needed. Andrew was good company—funny and charming and sweet, if not particularly smart—but Marnie’s patience with the evening as a whole was wearing thin.

  The temptation to shotgun a whole bottle of Chardonnay was strong, but she wasn’t going to go down that path again. Hell, that was what had put her in this misery in the first place, so she was carefully nursing her first glass.

  It wasn’t a large event, just the wedding party, their dates, the families and some out-of-town guests—maybe fifty people total.

  Even Carter seemed to be aware that she wasn’t quite into the spirit of things, and though he gave her some funny looks, he didn’t press her for information. She assumed Gina had told him at least part of the situation, but she didn’t want Carter to get all big brother or say something rude about Dylan. Hell, Tuck was at the table, and insulting his best friend wouldn’t be conducive to polite dinner conversation.

  But Gina and Tuck and Andrew kept the conversation going, and she was able to participate at an acceptable and appropriate level. She was quite thankful for that. It kept her from getting too broody or self-pitying.

  Andrew was telling her immediate group about the heat in Afghanistan, so the buzz that went around the room barely registered. The near-silence that fell in its wake did register, however, as did the fact Tuck cursed and pushed to his feet.

  She followed everyone else’s gaze to the door.

  Dylan. Striding in like he owned the place, a determined look on his face.

  Damn.

  Reese jumped to her feet in surprise, which caused Mason to jump to his feet, irritation stamped on his face, and then his entire platoon did the same.

  Oh, my God.

  Marnie started to slink down in her chair.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Gina hissed in her ear, hauling her back up by the arm.

  “Dylan, what are you doing here?” Reese asked.

  Since only Gina, Cassie and Tuck—and probably Carter, too, based on his look—understood that Dylan wasn’t here because of Reese, the stunned reactions of most of the party guests were understandable.

  “Pardon the interruption and congratulations to you both,” Dylan said, eyes scanning the room. Marnie felt his eyes land on her, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to look at him directly yet. “But I’m here to talk to Marnie.” He crossed the room to stand in front of her.

&nbs
p; “This isn’t a good time,” she said quietly, well aware that every eye in the room was on them.

  Dylan frowned, then tilted his head toward Andrew. “Is that him?”

  “Him who?”

  “Your someone else. Is this him?”

  Damn it, damn it, damn it. Her lie really was about to bite her in the butt. She looked up, ready to try to explain and froze. She’d never seen Dylan look like this.

  “What’s he talking about?” she heard Gina ask.

  “Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?” That was Reese’s voice.

  “No. That’s not him,” she said quietly.

  “Marnie?” Reese again.

  “You shouldn’t be here, Dylan.”

  Everyone seemed to be talking all at once, but Marnie couldn’t really make sense of the words. And she couldn’t stop staring at Dylan.

  Andrew stepped forward. “Is he a problem, Marnie?”

  Cassie tugged on Andrew’s arm. “You should sit down now.”

  “Hel-lo,” Reese said, the frustration evident. “Would you like to tell me why you’re causing a scene at my rehearsal dinner?”

  Gina motioned her closer. “They’ve been seeing each other.”

  Reese’s eyebrows knitted together. “What?” A second later, she seemed to get Gina’s meaning. “Oh. I did not know that. Why did I not know that?”

  “Because it’s not your business,” Dylan snapped.

  Mason obviously took offense to Dylan’s tone. “You crashed our party, so it’s now our business.”

  Amber stepped in. Quietly, but firmly, she said, “Okay, I think this needs to go to the hallway now.”

  “Who is he, then, Marnie?” Dylan asked.

  “What makes you think she’s seeing someone else?” Gina butted in.

  It felt like she’d been standing there with Dylan staring her down forever. “Because I told him that.”

  Reese’s eyes widened. “And you came storming down here to pick a fight with a marine?”

  “I’m so sorry, Reese,” Marnie whispered. “I had no idea he’d do this.”

  “Neither did I,” she replied. “Wow. I’m impressed. And feeling a little disappointed, too.”

  Dylan flicked his eyes her way. “Don’t take it personally.”

  “I’m not.” Reese sounded like she was reassuring him, but Marnie was having a very hard time understanding everything when her brain felt both foggy and on speed at the same time. Reese patted Dylan on the shoulder. “I’m happy for you both. Now, could you please take this to the hallway like Amber said?”

  Marnie was so shocked to hear the easy acceptance of the entire situation that she didn’t put up much resistance as Amber hustled them to the hallway and closed the dining room doors behind them.

  The hallway seemed very quiet and still after everything that transpired. She was burning with embarrassment and shame, but at the same time her heart had kicked up a beat just seeing him again, like that movie moment when the hero comes in to sweep the heroine off her feet. Instead, he’d been jealous and nursing some dented pride. And while the jealousy was heartening, it didn’t change the fact that Dylan didn’t want her for more.

  Dylan looked both angry and uncomfortable, which echoed her mood nicely. Only she was also humiliated beyond belief, as well, so the anger grew stronger than the uncomfortability. “All right, you have my attention. What do you want, Dylan?”

  “Major Attitude in there is obviously not the one I’m looking for. Who is he, Marnie?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does.”

  She took a deep breath. “Why? We were just a fling. And now it’s over.”

  * * *

  That had not gone as planned. In retrospect, his plan was inherently flawed, and what had just happened was one of the better possible scenarios.

  If he needed more proof that Marnie was dangerous to his higher brain functions, the fact he’d just crashed a party—where several of his and Reese’s mutual friends were bound to be—and made a fool of himself, should have made that very clear.

  If he were smart, he’d take this lesson and walk away instead of trying to put himself back into the very situation that had led to this and had a high probability of leading to more craziness on his part.

  He was dumber than dirt, it seemed, and a fool to boot.

  Now that he was here, though, he should try to salvage it. He could be honest up-front and quit the little games. Or he could try not to make a bigger fool of himself than he already had. He started at the easiest—and currently the most frustrating—question. “Who’s the other guy, Marnie?”

  Her hands clenched into fists of frustration—or possibly anger. “What difference does it make?” she gritted out.

  “I think I should at least get to know who you’re throwing me over for.”

  “Dylan, we weren’t an actual couple. I can’t ‘throw you over for someone’ when we weren’t actually together to begin with. It was just sex, and now we’re done. Why is that so hard to accept?”

  “Pardon me for being blindsided by this.”

  “Did you expect something different?

  Yes. Not at first, but... He wasn’t sure how to best answer that.

  Marnie sighed. “I’ll be honest with you.”

  “Please do.”

  She took a deep breath. “There’s no one else.”

  He hadn’t been prepared for that. “Then why say there was?”

  “I thought it would be easier that way. I wanted out of our arrangement and it seemed less complicated and on the path of least resistance. I guess I was wrong.”

  The blow landed hard. He’d thought Marnie choosing another man over him was bad, but... This was even worse. He was very glad he hadn’t made a bigger fool of himself by declaring all kinds of romantic feelings for her.

  Well, he’d wanted answers and now he had them. He didn’t like them, but he had them.

  Marnie wasn’t making eye contact and her face was scarlet from either embarrassment or anger. Possibly both. Restaurant employees were giving them strange looks and a wide path as they walked by.

  He should be feeling a bit of shame and embarrassment, too. He knew half the people in that room tonight, so everyone he knew would know the whole gory story by tomorrow.

  Honestly, he was too angry to care.

  This was why he didn’t do drama. Drama fed on itself, making people act like idiots instead of adults.

  Marnie sighed. “I’m sorry I hurt you with a lie. I was trying to save face and salvage my own pride.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you want to die alone.”

  He felt his jaw drop a little. “What?”

  “You told me that based on the current crop of women available to you, you’d rather die alone.”

  Had he really said that? “My apologies. I was frustrated and angry at my parents. I shouldn’t have said it, and I certainly didn’t mean it.”

  “Thank you for that.”

  He nodded, not sure what else to say. A cute little furrow appeared between her eyebrows, a sure sign Marnie seemed to be thinking about something. He waited, holding his breath.

  Finally, she looked at him. “Why did you come tonight, Dylan? What did you possibly hope to accomplish?”

  He had nothing to lose at this point. Honesty was all he had left. “Obviously, I came to see you. To tell you...to ask you to give us—me—another shot. I couldn’t let you walk away with putting up a fight.”

  * * *

  Dylan was willing to fight for her. And not just figuratively, it seemed, as he’d been ready to take on Andrew.

  Dylan didn’t like drama. He didn’t like conflict. He’d walked away from women before without looking back or putting up a single word in protest.

  Tonight, he’d done all of that. Publically. Dramatically. He’d taken a huge risk, embarrassed them both...

  For her.

  Her heart began to beat again, and a bubble of hop
e expanded in her chest.

  “You have layers I never expected, Dylan Brookes.”

  “You told me to find my passion. The girl who would make my heart beat faster just being near her.” He grabbed her hand and held it to his chest, so she could feel the heavy thump of his heart. “I found her.”

  Marnie expected to feel the cage close in around her, but there was nothing but excitement and joy and anticipation of what might come next. She didn’t know what to say and wasn’t sure she could get the words past the lump in her throat anyway. She launched herself at him instead and found herself pulled close against him.

  “Oh, thank God,” she heard him mutter.

  She pulled him closer, and the restaurant staff burst into applause and cheers. A second later, a cheer went up from inside the dining room as well. She expected embarrassment to follow quickly behind, but, amazingly, she didn’t. She was too happy to care if Reese’s entire rehearsal dinner guest list had been listening.

  She pulled back far enough to meet his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I’m ten kinds of a fool—”

  He squeezed her. “Join the club.”

  “No. I really am.” She wiggled until he lowered her feet to the ground, and cradled his face in her hands. “I lied about there being someone else, because there’s not anyone else. I lied because I’m falling for you and you said you didn’t want things to change and—”

  He put a finger over her lips to stop the words. “I lied, too.”

  “What? When?”

  “When I said passion was overrated. That love wasn’t enough. That I didn’t want excitement, only stability. That was a lie. I wanted more passion in my life, but I didn’t want to admit it.”

  Marnie smiled. “I just need you.”

  He dropped his forehead to hers. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Marnie Price.”

  It wasn’t the most passionate of declarations and until recently, she’d have dismissed it outright. But she knew how difficult that would be for him to realize, much less admit, and suddenly she felt like he’d shouted it from the stage at Madison Square Garden. “I’ll be honest and say that I know I’m falling in love with you, Dylan Brookes. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I don’t care.” She twined her fingers in his. “This makes sense and I’m sure everything else will fall into place, too.”