Harkham's Choice (Harkham's Series Book 2) (28 page)

Last night they broke down and cut off her mom’s ring. That thing had practically become one with her skin. It refused to come off no matter what they did.

Her mom cried when Mari told her what had to be done, but Dustin swore he’d bring it to a jeweler and have it repaired and returned to her.

It seemed her mom was almost pining away for her dad ever since he passed away. Mari would’ve never expected that.

“Victor’s at the door,” Zach hollered. “Should I shove him on his ass and tell him we already have a slobbering dog? It might leave his
I’m-not-a-good-wiper
skid marks, and the guests might be repulsed and decide not to pass over our threshold—so choose wisely, my friend.”

“No. Let him in,” Mari said, laughing. “We want our very few wedding guests to attend.” She sighed, then said under her breath, “And God forbid another guy actually tell him to piss off. He’d die of shock if that happened.”

“Okay, stop me if you’ve heard this one,” Vic said, barreling into the room. “Wait . . . You haven’t heard it, that’s right.” He rubbed his chin like he was deeply pondering something. “Because you guys suck when it comes to thinking anything’s funny.”

“Nice to see you too, Victor,” Adam said, devoid of any inflection in his voice. He stroked his hand down Choppy’s back.

“And how’s 
Chompie
 today?” Vic teased.

Adam glared at Vic. “That’s not her name.”

“It sure is. She told me when she lived with me. Her eyes are big and round like the holes in the middle, and those tan rings around her eyes are the bagels.”

“I still don’t get it,” Zach said, joining them.

Vic managed to trip him on purpose. He laughed as Zach stumbled and knocked into Mari.

“Douche,” Zach mumbled. “He’s leaving skid marks at the door stop next time—wedding or not.” He looked at Mari.

She barely bit back a roaring laugh.

“The best douches are made of—” Vic began.

“Ewwww! Shut it, Vic. Nobody wants to hear that. No vagina jokes either. Those are really sick,” Mari said.

She shoved the laptop aside. Dammit! She was still missing a wedding dress—she was never gonna find one. She was too damn picky and almost completely broke at this point. Printing up those wedding invites and paying for the cake, food, and Adam’s ring ahead of time meant her funds had dwindled down to almost nothing.

“Fine, but this was good information. Don’t blame me when you get a yeast infection because you don’t know how to take care of your girlie bits. If your honeymoon blows, you can’t blame it on me.” Vic sat down next to Adam and got in the dog’s face, riling her up.

“Who’s a Chompie’s Bagel?
Huh
? Who?” Vic used a cartoonish voice. “Tell him your real name. Educate this dummy, and then I’ll take him out to get one so he’ll quit acting like he’s never seen them before.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “I swear, there’s no place around here by that name.”

“There is too. There’s one over by ASU. Look it up, smart ass.” Vic smacked at the dog’s ears, laughing when Choppy would nip at his hands after the fact.

“If you don’t stop getting her wound up, I’m gonna make you take her home and sleep with her tonight,” Adam said. “She’s restless afterward when you do that to her.”

“I know. I keep telling Mari I’ll take
her
back into my bed, but she always turns me down. Must be a yeast infection going on already, otherwise there’s no way in hell she’d turn me down.” Vic angled himself back and threw a wolfish grin Mari’s direction.

“Is there a reason your here, besides boredom?” Mari asked. “Because Vagisil is not on the menu tonight.”

“Yeah, you’re not the only one in love. I’ve found the guy I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with.” Vic stood tall. “So, even if you’d said
yes, take me to bed, Vic
”—he used a falsetto voice to impersonate her— “and swooned, I’d have to tell you you’re too late. This hot piece of ass is taken.” He hooked his thumbs into his chest, grinning all the while.

“
Finally
. I can’t stand hearing about your one-night stands anymore.” Mari groaned. “It was enough to make me want to buy ear plugs and a gag bit for you so you’d shut up.”

“Bitch, you’ve been jealous for months now. And besides—I already have a great gag bit, but it’s not for me. And it gets
plenty
of use.” Vic clicked his tongue and bobbed his head like he was jamming to a beat inside his head.

“Whatever.” She got up and fished out a snack. “As long as it keeps you out of my hair and quiet, then I’m all for it.”

“Your hair? Come on, girl—wax for your man. A bush is old school. Nobody likes that.”

She snorted. “You’re the expert now?”

“Of course.” Vic smacked his hands together, then rubbed them like he had a plan.

“Mari’s mine. She does what I say when it comes to her appearance, so you can stop talking now,” Adam told Vic.

“Yes, sir. Sorry I overstepped into Adam-land.” Vic took a bow with one hand on his abs and the other behind his back. “But now that I’m back in Vic-world, I came to hang out and tell all of you that at the end of June, my new man’s moving back east. I’m going with him. You’ll have to kiss this handsome face goodbye. Don’t ask me to remove any clothing so you can kiss anything else. That’s off limits. I have standards, you know.”

“Goodbye,” Zach said, teasing, barking a laugh afterward. “Best one word line I’ve ever said, other than fuck—and that’s saying a lot.”

“Oh?” Vic’s left eyebrow squeezed its way up his forehead and his lips pursed.

Zach rolled his eyes and laughed.

“I’ll miss you, and so will Mari,” Adam blurted. “Even if you talk too much and try to make my dog into a savage.”

Vic’s eyes went wide, and he was speechless for all of thirty seconds. A first for him. “Thanks.”

“I’m serious. We like you, but you do have a big mouth, so it’ll be quieter around here,” Adam added.

Vic laughed, snatched the dog away and tossed it to the floor, then commenced to chase it around the room and make it howl.

“Can I persuade him to move at the end of May instead?” Zach jumped up and smacked Vic in the back of the head, then wrestled him to the ground. “I’ve never met a bigger douche than you.”

“You met Mari, right? I mean, she does live with you,” Vic said through panting breaths.

Zach beat him within seconds, pinning him down so he couldn’t get up.

“Ah—something you wanna tells us about your sexual orientation, man—’cause I use this position all the time on my conquests.” Vic smirked.

Zach let go with a disgusted sound. “Seriously. There’s not a name for what’s wrong with you.”

“There is. You just don’t want to say it,” Vic said, with a challenging edge to his tone.

“I’m outta here. See ya later.” Zach waved at Mari and Adam.

“Why do you have to annoy everyone around you?” Mari asked Vic. “This is their house, you know. Zach didn’t do anything to deserve that.”

“If I don’t do it, who will?”

“Uh, Satan,” she supplied, waving him over.

“If I give you a hug, will you stop talking about my boyfriend like that?”

“What’s your boyfriend’s name?” Adam asked, wrinkling his nose.

“She just said it.” Vic gave her a hug, then plopped himself down into her side, right next to her seated spot.

She set aside the bridal magazine she’d been perusing. It was fine. She hated looking at those anyway—made her crazy.

“Satan?”

“No—your brother. He’s crushing on me hard.” Vic patted Mari’s cheek.

She shoved him off.

“He’s only crushing on his girlfriend. He gets her naked lots,” Adam corrected Vic.

“How do you know?” Vic pushed his legs under him and took her magazine away.

“’Cause he tells me.” Adam stared at him with a blank look.

“And I used to tell everyone around me that Mari was constantly my bitch in heat, but that wasn’t true.” He fanned himself with the magazine.

“Yes, but you’re forgetting one thing here—Zach isn’t gay. He’s not trying to hide anything.” Mari stared at him with the same look Adam was giving him.

“Fine. Ruin my hopes and dreams. I won’t tell you my real boyfriend’s name now.” Vic dropped the magazine and stood up.

“No divas in this house,” Dustin said, passing by, smiling at Vic.

“I hate that man. He’s worse than the devil, ‘cause he knows all.” Vic waved at them all and walked to the front door.

“Hope he knows where my dress is at, because I can’t seem to find it,” Mari said.

“Dad said no divas,” Adam reminded her.

“He was talking to Vic, not me.” Her face dropped a little.

“I know. I only wanted to see if you’d get mad. You get really cute and make me sore when you try to defend someone.”

She scrunched her face up and made that expression that told him he was so cute she wanted to bite him.

Instead of teeth, she used her claws. He was used to that with Choppy.

Well, sort of. Choppy didn’t pinch, but
she
sure as hell did.

* * *

Mari fiddled with her butt-ugly purple robe. It was like a dyed garbage sack.

There was no shape to it.

She sat with her ankles crossed and sighed. At least she was breaking in her wedding shoes for tomorrow. Heels were a joke. No woman enjoyed wearing them.

She felt foolish hobbling around in them, leaving divots in the grass as she roamed out onto the football field.

Watching her feet seemed awkward, until she tripped from an uneven spot.

A strong hand caught her behind the elbow and helped her back up to standing.

“You okay?” Daniel asked.

She immediately was uncomfortable and created some space between the two of them.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Her eyes flew to the ground.

“I was just chatting with your mom,” he said.

Oh nooooo . . . That meant . . . Uuungh! Her mom was giving out Mari’s extra wedding invitations tonight to anybody she thought was her daughter’s friend.

Fabulous! Daniel was now most likely going to be at the wedding, and that was going to be unnerving. She still didn’t trust him.

There was a nagging feeling inside, telling her he was hiding something.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please find your seat . . .” the moderator announced.

Daniel gave her a little wave and took his seat several rows back from her.

The seats were mostly very warm from the sun, so this was going to be unpleasant. Not to mention, Kendra ignored her when Mari passed by to get to her spot.

Mari took a deep breath and said, “Hey, Kendra, I wanted to say thank you for apologizing and giving us the money back. I’m using it for the wedding. And you have no idea how much I needed those funds.”

Kendra turned around, looking a little alarmed with her eyes wide. She took a step back. “You’re welcome. Is Adam okay? Does he hate me?”

“He’s fine. He doesn’t hate anybody . . .” 
Except Samara.

A look of relief passed over Kendra’s face. “Oh good. He’s so nice . . .” She glanced around. “Well, I better . . .” She pointed at her spot down the row.

“Yeah, I gotta take my seat, too. Bye.” Mari tucked her hair behind her ears and left Kendra behind.

She released a tight breath and felt so much better. It was odd to consider Kendra somebody who wasn’t necessarily a good friend, but no longer an enemy or someone to be on her guard around. At this point, she was an acquaintance that Mari would be more than happy to clap for today as Kendra took her diploma. She wished her well.

The ceremony started, and the speaker at the podium droned on and on.

Before long, sweat was in every crack and crevice of Mari’s body. The heat was obnoxious tonight.

But the longer she sat there, the more she was overheated because her thoughts were revolving on tomorrow.

It was the day she’d cease to be a Cole. She’d officially be a Latham and finally make love with Adam. All those grueling months of resisting were at an end. Thank God, too. She could
not
go another day without having that gorgeous man between her thighs.

Oh, the things she was gonna do to him.

She grinned, then looked over her shoulder at him. He was especially tasty today, his hair all spiky and him in a nice button-up shirt, tie and dress slacks. Goddamn—he sure cleaned up nice. Looked like he could be a model.

Zach looked great, too.

She was beyond thrilled she’d be in their company after this graduation exercise was over. If the damn thing ever ended . . .

After the final long-winded speech, they were called up to the stage, going row by row. Mari walked steadily up onto the stage.

She waved to Dustin, her mom and Vic in the audience, went through the motions and took her seat. It was always difficult for her to be in the spotlight, even when it was only for a few brief moments.