Page 13 of A Wife by Christmas

Taking a deep breath, she couldn’t keep the smile from her face, and along with it, she was humming a Christmas song as well. She loved this time of year. Even though Tiffany tried to do everything to destroy her love and memories of this time, it had never worked.

Once her desk was clean, she grabbed her makeup brushes and cleaned them as well. It would be a few days before she did another video, but she liked to film multiple videos at once, and that meant using a lot of brushes.

She grabbed her laptop and camera, and made her way toward her dining room table. Setting everything up to start editing, and writing up several reviews, she stopped long enough to make herself a coffee.

She checked her cell phone, hoping to hear from Brick, and then felt stupid because she hadn’t even given him her number.

At the sound of her doorbell ringing, Cathy paused her video and walked to the front door, expecting to see Brick on the other side, but of course it wasn’t him. No, Tiffany was there, complete with that fake smile she had come to know. This smilewas Tiffany’s way of judging her mood.

Cathy held her door and looked at her sister. Most of the time, she tried to be nice, to mend bridges, or just keep the peace for their family, their parents. Meeting Brick and talking about everything had made her realize she shouldn’t be doing any of that. This shit was on her sister.

“Are you not going to invite me in?” Tiffany asked.

“No.”

She saw that her response had shocked her older sister.

“No?”

“Do you need me to spell it out for you, or do you need someone to then read that for you?” Cathy asked.

This was something she had never done either. Tiffany, although cruel and a master manipulator, hadn’t done well in school. In fact, Cathy knew the only reason she passed was because she had been more than happy to sleep with several of the teachers to get the grades she needed. Also, she wasn’t shy about having sex with a couple ofnerdsto get what she wanted. There was nothing her sister wouldn’t do to get ahead without doing the hard work.

Tiffany opened her mouth and closed it. “Wow, I didn’t know you could be so rude.”

“Cut the crap, what do you want? To rub it in my face that you’re getting married? To tell me Eric is the love of your life, which we both know he’s not, but good luck with him. You actually did me a favor,” Cathy said, and that was the truth.

If Tiffany hadn’t taken Eric, she wouldn’t have seen what a cold, self-centered man he was, who loved looking in the mirror almost as much as her sister.

“Do you know what my parents are going to say when I tell them about this?”

“It wouldn’t matter, even if I wasn’t rude to you, you’d still tell them I was. It’s kind of a lose-lose for me. Might as wellnot bother at all.” Cathy shrugged. “You can gloat, you can do what you want, but I discovered I don’t give a crap what you or anyone in your family does.”

All their lives, Tiffany had always called them her parents, nottheirorourparents, but always hers. “You can have the parents, Tiffany, you can have the ex-boyfriend. I don’t care.”

Cathy smiled as she heard the bike approaching. Part of her was a little afraid that Brick would take one look at her sister and want her. This was the best time to see how that would play out.

Tiffany watched as the bike approached. Brick turned off the ignition and climbed off. In his leather cut, jeans, and hair looking windswept, he looked sexy, dangerous.

“Hey, babe,” Brick said, coming toward her.

Tiffany stepped in front of Cathy, and she didn’t even need to see her older sister to know there had to be a smile, one that begged him to show her attention.

“Well, hello there.”

Cathy was tempted to look away but instead she focused on Brick, who looked at Tiffany as if she was a disgusting bug.

“Who the fuck are you?” Brick asked. “Oh, the blonde hair, smug smile, you’re the sister.”

“I don’t know what my sister has said about—”

“Cut the bullshit. You think I haven’t known my share of lying bitches?” Brick smirked and brushed right past Tiffany.

Cathy tilted her head back as he pulled her in close and kissed her. “Hello, beautiful,” he said.

“Brick, this is my sister, Tiffany. Tiffany, this is Brick.”

“Why is she here?” Brick asked, ignoring Tiffany’s scoffing, muttering, and clearly pissed-off attitude.

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