Wasted Vows

by Colleen Charles

  I hadn’t edited the slander out for a good reason. I needed Thorn to believe that it was his speech on the screen and that he was in complete control. He knew Luna would be in the crowd and he’d use this opportunity to harass her. That arrogant air of victory that enveloped him would make his downfall sweeter. And more impactful.

  “Not a day goes by that I don’t miss the team, my family. It’s an honor to be able to emcee this event for all of you. If I hadn’t been left at the altar by Luna Faye Anderson,” he said, stopping to place a hand over his heart.

  A few men interrupted and hissed at the mention of her name. She sank down in her seat. I gritted my teeth so loud they squeaked, and the kindly Mrs. Jenks turned to check on me.

  “If she hadn’t left me at the altar, perhaps I would’ve been able to continue playing with the team. The Twins have a strong legacy with or without me, but I’m sure they miss me as much as I miss them. The day I was injured, well… my mind was on my personal failures as a man and not on the important task at hand… winning the World Series.”

  This was the part where Thorn wrote that Luna destroyed his manhood by refusing him. It was the perfect portion to edit for my purposes. For our purposes. I held my thumbs and glared at him. Any second now. Any second.

  “And by failures,” he said and flicked his gaze to the screen. “I mean the fact that I am an infertile bastard who can’t stand the thought of having children in my life. This is the reason Luna broke off our engageme – what? Wait, what?” He raised his hand and shielded his eyes, glaring at the teleprompter.

  Shocked silence greeted him. He’d just announced his little secret to the entire state via live streaming. Flashbulbs went off everywhere. People started raising their cell phones to take video. Some who’d already been taping it gasped in surprise and shock.

  Thorn reeled. He picked up his glass and threw it at Gary, the teleprompter operator. The glass shattered at Gary’s feet and screams rang through the hall. “Fuck you, you ignorant little maggot. What did you do? How did you know that?!” Edwards yelled as droplets of vodka showered everyone within five feet of Gary. The younger man’s shocked expression looked like something out of a soap opera. A server already mopped up the liquid and handed Gary a towel. It couldn’t have gone any better if I’d morphed my dark fantasies into reality.

  This was beyond perfect. The angrier he got, the deeper he dug his own grave. And the cameras, man, they were still rolling. Live.

  Luna had straightened in her seat. She stared up at him, open-mouthed.

  “Who told you?” Thorn raged, advancing on the slideshow operator like a madman.

  Gary put up his palms and backed away. “I just follow orders, man.” He fumbled around until he produced Thorn’s original typed monologue, shoving it at the angry, quivering asshole. “There. That’s what I received, and that’s what’s typed into the teleprompter. Check it out if you don’t believe me. If you said something different, well, that’s on you,” he lied with expert precision. Even I believed him.

  The members of the press who’d taken the back tables closest to mine recorded the interaction on their phones, their cameramen rushing down the side aisles with their equipment, filming every detail of the exchange.

  “Who the fuck was in charge of the teleprompter?” Thorn growled.

  That was my cue. I stood up and knocked my chair back. Mrs. Jenks gasped.

  “Me,” I said coldly.

  Thorn froze. The back of his neck flushed. He slued toward me, movements lubricated by the two hundred proof cocktails he’d already consumed. His bloodshot eyes were as red as every inch of his exposed skin. I’d asked the bartender to make sure he got a free row of Lemondrop martinis delivered to his table, just as a final reminder. A final fuck you very much.

  “You,” he growled and stormed across the room, bumping the backs of people’s chairs. “You. Who the fuck do you think you are?” He halted in front of me, bristling like a rabid porcupine.

  “Do you really want to have this discussion here?” I asked. “In front of all these people and their cameras?” I dropped my voice a few decibels, so only Thorn and Mrs. Jenks could hear me. “You know I know about your infertility, Thorn. Do you think that’s the only thing I know about?”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you know,” he grunted, but the lies shone behind the fear in his eyes as his world came tumbling down around him.

  “All right,” I said in a voice that carried around the room. “How about the fact that you made Luna Faye sign a nondisclosure agreement, limiting her from ever telling the truth about why you split up? How about the truth, Thorn? All of it.”

  He swallowed, his Adam’s apple scraping past the collar of his shirt.

  “What truth?” one of the women closest to us asked. I glanced over at her and blinked. It was the same reporter who’d hovered outside Luna’s house a couple days back, dressed in her weird checked suit outfit.

  “Do you want me to tell them?” I asked. Time to double down. “I know everything.”

  “Fuck you,” Thorn said and shuddered, but he didn’t deny me. I had him, and he fucking knew it. And the press knew that there was more to what happened between Luna and Thorn than met the eye. Even if I didn’t give them the whole truth now, they’d dig until they found it, and if I’d managed to discover the truth, I’d bet my left nut that they’d get to it faster than I had. Especially Tom Lyden, who I could see out of the corner of my eye, moving in like a scoop loving barracuda.

  “You can still salvage your reputation if you clean yourself up,” I said softly. “If you rip up the legal documents binding Luna to that NDA.”

  “No,” he said, and a muscle beneath his left eye twitched.

  “Right now, they only know your Runaway Bride story. If you don’t straighten up and fly right, they’ll know about the blackmail,” I whispered. “I’ll make sure they find out everything. Including those assault charges you wormed your way out of. Strippers? At the King of Diamonds? Really?”

  Thorn stiffened. He went white around the collar and swayed on the spot.

  “Are you reading me, Edwards? Do we have an accord?” I’d have a helluva lot to answer for tomorrow at work, but I didn’t care about the Twins account right now. My boss would have to understand, somehow. Or I’d pass it off as Thorn’s mistake.

  I could tell it physically hurt Thorn to even consider backing out of the NDA, which gave him tyrannical power over Luna in perpetuity.

  “And you’re not just going to rip them up, Edwards. You’re going to let her keep her house and her car, understand?” I was close to poking my finger in his chest but stopped just short of it. “All of it. Plus a six-figure financial compensation for her pain and suffering. Or I. Will. Fucking. Destroy. You. Get it?”

  Finally, he opened his mouth. “Fine,” he said, and the strong scent of Icelandic vodka wafted out from between his lips.

  “Deal?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

  “Yeah, fine.” He didn’t shake my hand, and I didn’t want him to. I didn’t want that slime ball to touch me. In fact, I hoped that women ran from him screaming for the hills from this point forward.

  Thorn stormed passed me and returned to his table, downing another Lemondrop, followed by a wall of murmurs, and then an exodus of the members of the press.

  Every eye turned to me. No one seemed to know how to proceed. “Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the interruption. Unfortunately, Mr. Edwards appears to have had a little too much to drink and can’t continue his opening speech.”

  People quieted down again and sipped from flutes and wine glasses.

  “Never fear,” I said. “The show must go on.” I signaled to Gary, who’d already rushed up onto the stage. A couple guys joined him and removed the podium Thorn had used. “Now, without further ado, I’m proud to introduce the evening’s entertainment, Owl City!”

  The audience gasped. Men and women erupted into applause as the band took the stage. Turned out, Luna had been r
ight about the band too. Instant hit.

  The members jogged onto the stage, clapping along with the audience and smiling. The lead singer took the mic and warbled the opening bars of a song I didn’t recognize.

  “That’s that,” I said.

  “Not quite,” a voice said behind me. A pale hand grasped my forearm.

  Chapter 22: Luna

  “I can’t believe you did that.” I didn’t let go of his arm. I couldn’t not touch him right now. That revelation from Thorn and what had followed had been the last thing I’d expected to happen. It had been the subject of every fantasy I’d ever harbored since that fateful day, but I never once believed it would come to fruition.

  But Corban had gotten it done. My lover. My Savior.

  My hero.

  I’d come to this event fully expecting to hide behind my strategically placed palm plant. I’d been determined to ride out the hate until the end, to ensure that the event went off without a hitch for everyone involved. But mostly for Corban. Like a final goodbye. I’d figured that Thorn would have something to say about me during his speech just because he could.

  He’d never been able to resist the opportunity to wax lyrical about how I’d ruined his life and our future because he refused to see that the only person always present at the scene of the crime was him. He didn’t even know how to take any measure of accountability for himself and his actions.

  Owl City sang Fireflies behind us, and the guests got up to dance. Even the players on the team jived to the music, and they’d just had their hero exposed. Fans were fickle and even more so, the press. Here today, gone tomorrow.

  Corban didn’t say a word. He looked into my eyes, showing more emotion than I realized was possible. Thorn had never gazed at me like that. Compared to Corban he was a flat, expressionless human being. Thorn Edwards didn’t know how to love. And until this moment, neither had I.

  “Thank you,” I said. “I didn’t know. I thought–”

  “Yeah, you could’ve tried answering your phone,” he said at last and chuckled. “I left about a hundred messages too. I thought at least one of them would’ve gotten through.”

  “They came through. I just didn’t read them or listen to my messages. I had to focus on the success of this event. I’ve been clearing my notifications.” I swallowed hard. “I get a lot of hate mail online.” I still hadn’t figured out how to turn off app notifications on my phone. Then again, I hadn’t exactly made it my mission to find out. In truth, I completely avoided my cell over the weekend.

  “I wanted you to know that I was on your side,” Corban said. “Didn’t Larissa talk to you?”

  I shook my head. “She tried. I – I kinda shut myself off from her. From everyone. I just wanted so much for the event to be a smashing success in spite of Thorn. I was going to move out of state afterward. My favorite relatives live in Arizona and baseball isn’t as huge there.”

  “What?” Corban flinched. He slipped an arm around my waist. “Luna, you can’t move. You can’t let him win.”

  Emotion burned my sinuses and clogged my throat. I swallowed again, trying to push it all down so I could say what I needed and wanted to say. “Thanks to you, I don’t have to.” I loved the Twin Cities. I didn’t want to move away but the thought of all I’d been through replaying itself again every few years had been too much to bear.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he said. “We can talk about this somewhere else.”

  The music swelled and drowned out my reply, so I led him out into the evening air instead. I kept an eye out for Thorn, in case he decided he couldn’t handle the bitter taste of defeat and decided to come back for Corban. Or for me.

  The air outside tasted sweet and fresh. Like a renewal of sorts. Corban hadn’t moved his arm from my waist. “How much do you actually know?” I asked and held my breath. I was still bound by the NDA. Technically, Thorn hadn’t yet ripped it up as Corban had suggested. I’d been standing right behind them when he said that. I even caught my ex-fiancé’s eye during that little monologue.

  “Everything,” Corban replied. “I know he forced you to keep it all quiet. That you wanted kids, and he couldn’t give them to you in any way. And I know about the strippers and the assault.”

  “Jesus, what?” I placed my palm over my heart. “What assault? What strippers?”

  Corban sucked in a breath. “Shit, I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, but yeah. There were a few incidents while you two were engaged that you didn’t know about. Thorn, he–”

  I held up a hand to stall him. “You know what? I don’t want to know,” I said. “All I care about is moving on from this. What’s going to happen with Unique? With the Twins account?”

  “I have no idea,” he said. “But everyone in there seems to be having a great time. Thorn was popular, but I doubt he’ll be able to influence the Twins’ decision about their current PR. If anything, he made a fool out of himself. Only those who artificially inflate themselves into the stratosphere have that far to fall.”

  It had kinda looked like Thorn had tried to sabotage the event. People had been shocked at his strange revelation about infertility and the hints of his cruelty.

  “Hey,” Corban said. “Do you want to get a bite to eat?”

  “Yeah. Let’s get take out and eat it back at my place,” I said. “Pizza?”

  “Perfect.”

  We hailed a cab and gave the driver directions, only making a quick stop for a pepperoni pie on the way back to Summit Avenue. Truth be told, I wasn’t too amped to go back to the house that technically belonged to Thorn, but none of that mattered right now.

  Corban was on my side. And he’d effectively helped break me free from my past and the NDA. It was more than I could’ve hoped for. The tension built between us on the cab ride.

  He opened the front gate for me and followed me up the path, his hand in the small of my back.

  We made it as far as the living room before I could stand it no longer. I spun on him and threw my arms around his neck. I’d never wanted to put my mouth all over every inch of a man’s body before in my life. Then again, I’d never really loved a man before.

  “Thank you,” I said and kissed his left cheek. “Thank you.” I swapped to his right. “No one has ever–”

  He placed his finger against my lips and hushed me, then dropped the pizza on the coffee table. “Let’s put that behind us, okay? I want to be with you here. Now. As my girlfriend. There’s nothing I want more than moving this forward to see where it might lead. With you. In fact, I’ve been so obsessed with you since our date, I haven’t really been eating or sleeping.”

  “Your girlfriend,” I said, not believing my ears. I needed a repeat.

  “Yes.” There wasn’t a hint of doubt in his expression. In fact, I’d never seen him as sure of anything, including the arrangements for the Twins event.

  I took a step back and slipped my thumbs under both straps of my cocktail dress. I dropped them both at the same time, but the silky fabric clung to my breasts. I reached up and tugged the top down, exposing my flesh to him as I’d done only once before.

  Memories of our time in the tub at the Hotel Ivy flooded me, and that same heat and desire came with them. Wetness flooded my pussy, and it clenched in anticipation of what was to come. I shimmied out of my dress and let it pool on the floor at my stiletto-clad feet.

  Corban watched my every movement, eyelids fluttering, a sharp intake of breath at the reveal of my body. “You’re gorgeous,” he said. “Perfect. Like a fantasy come to life.”

  It was my turn to touch a finger to his lips. I didn’t need any of the compliments. All I needed was him. “I feel like I’m going to explode,” I said, reaching for the buttons on his dress shirt. But I didn’t even care about that. This encounter was about him. I wanted to express my gratitude for everything he’d done for me. With my body.

  As I undid the tiny pearl fasteners, Corban unbuckled his belt and whipped it free. It flopped down beside my dress. Th
e pants and shirt followed, and I smiled when I realized he hadn’t worn any underwear again and his cock sprang free, turgid and throbbing for me.

  “I want to taste you,” I whispered, feeling bold even though I’d never said anything like it before. “Everywhere.”

  “What?’

  I couldn’t form the words properly. My cheeks grew hot. This wasn’t something I’d wanted to do for anyone in the past and talking about it made me hot and bothered. I had to love a man to go down on him, but had done so with Thorn out of duress. Even though I’d never said it, my heart felt it. So much so that it threatened to overflow my body. My pussy throbbed under the verbal assault.

  “Luna?” He frowned.

  I took a step forward, grabbed him by the shoulders and directed him to the sofa. He sat down, his thigh muscles tightening and relaxing. “Just relax, okay?” I lowered myself to the floor between his knees.

  Corban caught my chin with his fingertips. “You don’t have to do–”

  “I know.” I licked my lips. “I want to. I really want to taste you.”

  “Oh god,” he grunted. “Then do it. Before I explode.” A stream of pre-cum dribbled from the tip of his dick and down the shaft.

  I licked it up before he could lodge another complaint. I took his thick head into my mouth and sucked hard, once, then licked all the way from the tip down to the base, moaning all the way. I’d never liked doing this kind of thing before because Thorn would hold my head and choke me, but with Corban, it felt different. His pleasure was mine too. I wanted to give him everything. Nothing would ever be held back again.

  Corban grabbed a fistful of my hair and held on tight. “Luna, that’s – that’s good. That’s so good.”

  After rearing back to catch his gaze again, I drew him between my lips, licking just the tip of his cock with a few teasing darts of my tongue. When he moaned, I went to work in earnest, drawing him as far as I could down the back of my throat. My tongue swirled along the length of him. Corban bucked beneath me in response.