My Boyfriend Exposed My Wound Publicly, Wedding Off

Start Reading

At the wedding rehearsal, Diana Fox appointed herself emcee. Do you promise her that you'll spend your whole life protecting this love, that you'll be forever faithful, forever trusting?

Job Delgado gazed at me with all the tenderness in the world. I do.

Beside him, Diana was shaking with laughter. "You little devil, playing the picture of pure innocence. You were making out with me just yesterday, and you were so smooth about it you had my knees going weak."

Job's face darkened, and he dragged her off into the stairwell.

"Why did you say any of that to her? You know perfectly well I"

Diana pressed her lips to his, grinning, her voice sweet and coy. "Can't bring yourself to kiss her? Then let me kiss you. Your big sister knows all kinds of tricks."

"Besides, your fiance's really something. What century is this and she's still all Platonic. Only you would humor her and play house."

Job's hand slid over her waist, his voice dropping, gone a little hoarse.

"Don't bring her up, it's a mood-killer. Wear that pink outfit again tonight. Help me out."

A teasing whistle came from behind them, his buddies unable to keep the grins off their faces. "Diana, come on. Job only lost a game of truth or dare with her. With you it's the real thing."

I clenched the wedding dress in my fists and walked out of there on the spot.

This marriage that was just something to play at, whoever wants it can have it.

Job's best buddy saw me leaving and rushed to grab my hand.

"Come on, it was just a couple of kisses. Does it really warrant all this?"

He smiled, and there was a lot behind it. "Even if something did happen, as long as they didn't go all the way, it's nothing!"

The others chimed in, ribbing me. "Joshua Dickerson, how many of the girls have you played truth or dare with, and no one's ever seen her complain."

Joshua let out a snort of a laugh, his eyes drifting toward me. "Job plays his little Platonic games with you and fine, whatever, but you've got to cut him some slack. What man doesn't have needs?"

Joshua was laughing so hard he was doubled over. He swiped open a recording on his phone. The sound was muddy, but a woman's terrified scream came through clearly, followed by a man's crude, sneering laugh. "Quit acting like some untouchable saint. Last time, when you got cornered at the mouth of that alley, didn't you also"

"Oops. Sorry. My hand slipped." He locked the screen with fake innocence, and the buddies around him burst into howling laughter, their eyes on me like nails dipped in mud. "Job's got a soft heart. He felt sorry for you, that's the only reason he played along with all that devoted-lover act."

Another one, the one with the dyed blond hair, kicked at the step and cocked his head. "The first time the two of us ever saw her, curled up in a corner with tears all over her face. Tsk, tsk. Job went soft right then and there. And what did it get him? Brought her home and kept her up on an altar like some saint for three years, not allowed to lay a finger on her. Bet he's about to burst, huh?"

"You said it," Joshua drawled, lighting a cigarette without hurry and blowing the smoke at me with a smirk. "You ought to take a good look at yourself. Trash somebody else already used up, and Job's still willing to sign the papers with you. That's eight lifetimes of good luck for you. And you actually think you're some pure, virtuous woman?"

Every drop of blood in me went cold in an instant.

Job told them even this?

That storm-wracked night I'd spent shaking, curled up in the bathtub, the way I'd looked, and the tenderness of him holding me and making his promises. It had all become their drinking-table gossip.

"Job drinks with us behind your back and says you shake the second anyone touches you, like a dead fish. Says he got sick of it a long time ago. Only Diana knows how to have fun, only she can make him feel like a real man."

He clapped me on the shoulder, hard enough to feel like he meant to press me into the ground. "So take the hint. From now on, Job does his thing, you play the empty-shell Mrs. Delgado, everybody gets what they need. Don't be too dumb to know a good thing when you see it."

The blood surged up in me, and I threw his hand off, shaking.

"Don't call me that. This marriage, I'm not going through with it."

Job Delgado finally untangled himself and came up around the stair landing. Seeing us clustered together, he made a show of laughing it off and pulled Joshua Dickerson back.

"You like your bride that much? Don't pick on her. She's got thin skin, she embarrasses easily."

He tipped my chin up, his face all tenderness.

"See? One word and she's already blushing. Joshua and the others just like a bit of a joke, teasing a girl. Don't take it to heart."

I took a step back, away from his hand.

Job's hand hung in the air. He blinked, then smiled again, the way you'd coax a sulking child. "Now you're really angry? It's nothing. When the rehearsal's over I'll take you to that sushi place you love, hmm?"

I said nothing. I just bent down, gathered up the hem of the gown off the floor, turned, and headed for the chapel doors.

He never remembered that I only liked American food. Sushi was what Diana Fox loved to check into and post to her feed.

There'd been a time when I couldn't eat or sleep, and Job had cooked a thick, soft porridge for me, spooning it to my lips one mouthful at a time, easing me carefully into his arms.

"Celeste, I'll let you get used to me a little at a time."

"Every day and night after this, you'll be able to rest easy."

He'd even gone out of his way to bring me into his own circle, and that was how I first met Diana and the rest.

Diana and Job went back to before either of them could remember.

Those buddies were his college roommates.

And I only came along after Job started working.

Job used to say love didn't run on who came first. You could have plenty of friends, but only one person you loved, and that was me.

The sting behind my eyes spilled over and wet my cheeks.

How funny. I'd been their running joke this whole time, and I was still blushing like a girl fresh out of her wedding veil.

"Hey sis!" Joshua called out loud behind me, with a put-on note of alarm. "Don't go! Job's just joking with you, and we were only messing around too, why would you take it seriously!"

Only then did Job sense something was off. He caught up in two strides and grabbed my wrist. "Diana never watches her mouth, you know how she is. The rehearsal isn't over, the minister's waiting. Don't give the elders a show."

His palm was warm, but the moment I thought about what those hands had just been touching, my stomach turned.

I stopped and looked back at him.

His suit was crisp, his brow gentle as ever, the same as the man who'd picked me up out of that alley on a rainy night three years ago.

But in those eyes now, I couldn't find a trace of what he'd once meant.

I spoke, my voice flat as dead water. "You told them I can't be touched."

His expression froze for a beat.

Behind me Joshua was still smoothing things over. "Sis, men drink and talk nonsense, which one of them doesn't say all kinds of things? You're being too"

"Joshua, shut up." Job cut him off, low, then turned back to me and softened his tone. "Yes, I did mention it once, but that was because I felt for you, I was afraid they'd rile you up without any sense of limits. Trust me, hmm?"

"That's right, that's right!" Diana had drifted over at some point too, teetering on her thin heels and leaning against Joshua's shoulder, smiling with lazy carelessness. "Job dotes on you so much. Every time he drinks he talks about how good you are, how clean, telling us not to joke around with you about those messy things hey, you don't actually think we look down on you, do you? Because if that's how you see it, then there's really nothing we can do."

She came over and looped her arm through mine, all cozy, her perfume so heavy it made me choke. "It's a new age, who doesn't have a past? As long as Job doesn't mind you, that's all that matters. Look how beautiful this gown is on you. Don't call off a wedding over a little thing like this. Think how embarrassing it'd be if word got out."

I pulled my arm free and looked at her calmly.

"It's only the rehearsal. It isn't even the real wedding. I'm leaving. You can find someone else to fill the spot."

Job's face darkened completely. He let go of my wrist, and for the first time impatience crept into his voice. "You want to call off the wedding over a few words? Both sets of parents, all the relatives on both sides, everyone's already invited. The hotel's booked, the wedding planner's paid in full, and now you're telling me it's off?"

He drew a deep breath and lowered his voice. "Stop making a scene. I'll apologize, okay? Come back to the rehearsal."

My fingers tightened in the fabric of the gown, nails biting into my palm.

"Job, what happened that rainy night, I only ever told you. I didn't even tell my parents. When you were drinking, when you told it to them like a story, did you ever once think of me?"

For a moment everything went quiet. The grin finally slipped off Joshua's face, and Diana looked away too.

Job's mouth opened, his voice going a little hoarse. "I... I'd had too much to drink, that's all. But I didn't go into detail, I just said you"

"Enough."

I let go of the skirt, slid the engagement ring off my finger, and set it lightly on the pew by the church door.

"This wedding, whoever wants it can have it."

When I turned and walked out through the church doors, the sunlight outside was blinding.

Behind me I caught Joshua's lowered voice. "Job, she's just leaving like that? You're not going after her?"

Diana let out a scornful laugh. "Go after her for what? Let her cool off, she'll come back on her own tomorrow. After all these years, who'd want her besides you? Job, want to bet? She'll be texting you before dinner."

Job was silent for a few seconds, then his voice settled back into its usual ease. "Forget it, let her go. This time she needs to learn to swallow her pride."

The rehearsal music started up again, drifting faintly to my ears.

I went down the church steps, my heels striking the stone, once, then again, every step crushing a little more of these three years.

I flagged a cab at the curb and gave the driver my best friend's address.

My phone buzzed. A message from Job.

"Don't be difficult. I'll come pick you up tonight."

I'd just blocked him when the phone buzzed again.

Diana had sent a photo, her and Job standing side by side on the rehearsal platform, her face tipped up in a laugh, her hand resting on his tie.

The caption read: "Tried on the wedding dress for Celeste. So big on me, made my waist look even smaller. Job said it still looks better on me."

Then another message: "Oh, and Celeste, when Job was drinking with me last night, he said the first time you kissed him you shook all over, your teeth chattering like you were having a fit, he almost went soft from the fright, hahahaha. Don't blame me for having a loose mouth."

My stomach churned, and I buried my face in my knees.

Three years ago, on a rainy night, a few men had cornered me at the mouth of an alley.

The torn skirt, the snapped straps, the bruises choking my neckit was Job who took off his coat and wrapped me in it, who lifted me up off the ground.

He said gently, "Don't be afraid. From now on I'll protect you."

That night I huddled in his arms, and when he kissed my forehead, I shook so hard I couldn't speak. He said it was okay, we'd take it slow.

So it turned out all those "it's okays" had become the bit he used to amuse Diana over drinks.

He said it himself, that I was like a broken rag doll, falling apart at a touch, no fun at all.

Right. No fun at all.

In the end, I decided to wipe every one of their group chats clean.

But Diana's messages were still stacking up in the group, one after another.

"Boys, take a good look at how well your buddy Job is being fed."

She'd posted a selfie, a fresh red mark on her collarbone, captioned: "Job left this last night, chewing on me like a starved wolf, nearly rattled me apart. Does little Celeste ever get treated like this? Oh, right, I forgot, the two of you have to file paperwork in advance just to kiss, don't you?"

Joshua fired back instantly: "That's our girl, Diana. Three years of Job holding it in, and he let all of it out on you."

Damian piled on: "Don't be upset when you see this, Celeste. Men, you know. With you it's punching the clock. With Diana it's the real thing."

Then someone tagged me: "Celeste, take some notes. Quit acting so prim all the time. Job's going to get tired of the same old thing sooner or later."

I drew a slow breath and tapped Leave Group.

The screen went dark. Quiet at last.

But a second later, Job's message dropped in: "Why'd you leave the group? They were just messing around and you took it seriously? I'll come find you tonight and we'll clear this up in person."

When I didn't reply, he sent another: "Diana's used to hanging around us guys, she's got no filter, she just likes to run her mouth. Don't take it to heart."

A long stretch of silence, then he sent a little head-pat sticker: "I'll apologize on her behalf. Don't be angry anymore."

I stared at the screen for a long time, and all I felt was that none of it was familiar.

Even the sticker was one he'd gotten from Diana.

I drew another breath and wrote back: "In what capacity are you apologizing for her? I don't accept it."

Job typed and deleted, typed and deleted, and what I got in the end was a friend request from Diana: "Don't be mad, sweetie. Job was holding me last night and calling out your name, you really do matter to him~ Add me, and big sis will teach you how to take care of a man."

I hit decline. Then I deleted Job too.

Outside the cab window the neon signs slid backward one by one, and in the rearview mirror I could see my own swollen, red eyes.

The driver glanced at me in the mirror and passed back a pack of tissues. "Don't cry, girl. A man's not worth your tears."

I took the tissues. My throat was too raw to get a word out.

A number I hadn't heard from in a long time popped up:

"Isn't today your wedding day?"

"That guy Job, why is he still at a karaoke bar drinking with people?"

I fell silent too.

I should have cut Job off cleanly.

And yet part of me had still let myself believe a sliver of what he said.

"What a shame." I gave a small laugh. "Now I won't be getting your cash gift."

He was quiet for a long time. "I'm going to be teaching at a rural school soon. Do you want to come?"

He sent a location. It was exactly my hometown.

For this wedding rehearsal, because the mountains were high and the roads were long, Job had gone out of his way to hire people to play my parents, saying that on the real wedding day he'd send a fancy car all the way out to bring them in.

I cried and laughed, laughed and cried. "Okay."

This time, the road was one I chose myself.