Page 44 of Ice Cold Rival

“What’s new?” I muttered, waving her inside.

She gingerly stepped past the threshold on sensible nude heels and held out the coffee to me. “Here. Sorry I didn’t call first, but I wasn’t sure you’d answer. Mom says you’ve been avoiding her calls.”

I snatched the clear plastic cup and took a long draw from the straw. Sugar and caffeine hit me in a glorious coconut-flavored rush. Brighton and I might not understand each other, but she was still my sister who loved me enough to bring me my favorite iced coffee in the middle of a Friday.

“That’s because she keeps calling about Toby. Thanks for the coffee.”

She lifted one delicate shoulder. “Not a big deal. I brought your bridesmaid dress.”

“You didn’t have to drive all the way down here. I was going to grab it the next time I had dinner at home.”

Brighton raised one brow. “Were you?”

“Yes,” I lied.

I turned away to suck down more coffee before she could read the truth on my face. While I would definitely have grabbed the dress, I had no intention of seeing Mom for dinner.

“Well, I saved you a trip. Can you please try it on so we can be sure it fits this time?”

“Sure, I didn’t have anything else to do.” My sarcasm flew right over her head, or maybe she deemed it too unimportant to acknowledge.

“You usually don’t.” She handed me the garment bag and wandered to my bed.

“Hey,” I protested. “I have a busy and fulfilling life.”

“I wasn’t sure.” She met my eyes with a half-smile. “Dad seems to think you’re pining, but according to Toby and Mom, you’re making reckless decisions that could affect Toby’s future.”

I rolled my eyes and hung the dress on my closet door. “Yes, let’s focus onToby’sfuture.”

She cocked her head, confused. “That was always the focus before, and you never had a problem with it. I don’t know where this sudden contentious streak came from, but make sure you keep it under control at the wedding. I want things to go smoothly.”

The reminder had me biting my tongue. It washerwedding. Of course she wanted things to go smoothly. No bride hoped for challenges and disappointment on the big day. It sucked she thought I’d be the source of wedding day issues—I’d literally never caused a single problem before breaking up with Toby—but I expected the blame at this point.

Brighton shook her head as she surveyed the mess in my room. “How do you live like this?”

“There’s a method to my chaos.”

“Oh really?” She waved at the bed. “What’s the method here?”

I started scooping clothes into a pile on the floor. “Visually compare outfits for my date tonight.”

She lifted a pair of ratty blue sweats from the top of the pile. “This is what you consider date clothes? Now I’m concerned for another reason.”

“How about if I just try on the dress and we don’t discuss your concerns.” I grabbed the garment bag and carried it into the bathroom with me.

Brighton raised her voice to be heard through the door. “We need to talk about your date situation.”

Here it came. Brighton would side with Mom, and I’d have to fight to not be assigned the role of arm candy for my cheating ex. I didn’t want to miss her wedding, but I wasn’t sure I could handle an entire day of being dismissed in favor of Toby.

“What about my date situation?” I was proud my voice came out calm despite the panicked urge I was fighting to run away from the entire situation.

The springs of my bed squeaked as she sat down. “I don’t know the details of what happened between you and Toby, but I understand you want to bring your new boyfriend to the wedding.”

I struggled with opening the garment bag, feeling like my fingers had turned into sausages. Disobedient sausages that couldn’t work a freaking zipper. When I got it open, I tugged the dress out and slipped it over my head without paying too much attention.

“I don’t want to be paired up with Toby as if nothing has changed. Bringing Reece will be fun for me, and it might finally convince Mom to stop.”

She laughed. “It’ll take more than another hockey player to force Mom to give up her grand plan of marrying you off to her best friend’s son.”

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