Page 14 of Runaway Bride and Prejudice

“Becky?” Coach rears back.

“MyBecky?” the maybe-brother echoes. Becky’s dress is ripped at the shoulder, one strap limply hanging down.

The other bridesmaid looks like she has a small clump of bleached hair in her fist.Good for her!

“I didn’t mean to, Daddy,” Becky says, bursting into dramatic tears.

“It sure didn’t lookaccidentalwhen I walked in on the two of you earlier.”

Like I said: too mouthy.

Coach blinks rapidly for a few seconds, his gaze bouncing between me, Amelia, Drew, Becky, and Becky’s father, whom she’s cowering behind. The other bridesmaid is now sharing the flask with the older woman.

“I can’t believe this,” Coach says, and I feel for the guy. Not as much as I do for Amelia, but it would totally suck to have your niece be the one ruining your daughter’s wedding day by sleeping with the groom. “Andyou.”

His voice takes on a hard edge when he rounds on Drew. I recognize the look in Coach’s eyes. I’ve never seen this expression onhisface, but I’ve seen it plenty of times on the ice. And it means someone’s about to get a reckoning.

Before Coach can throw a punch, I push past Amelia and attempt to get between him and a decision he may regret.

And for the second time today, I take a blow to the face. This time, it’s Coach’s fist.

“Daddy!” Amelia exclaims, stepping forward and curling her hand around my elbow tugging me backward.

He looks dazed, like this moment totally got away from him.

Amelia turns to me. “Are you okay?” She lifts her hands to gently touch my cheeks, both of which have now taken a pounding. I’ll have matching black eyes in a few days.

“Are you okay, Van?” Coach asks. “I didn’t mean to hit you.”

Amelia bristles when her father steps closer to me, shoving me behind her, which is really adorable. She can’t be more than five-and-a-half feet, which is almost a solid foot shorter than me. But I like the way she keeps trying to protect me.

“He’d be better if you hadn’t just hit him in the face, Daddy. The only people in this room deserving of any kind of punch are Drew and Becky. And I’m not even surethey’re worth it.”

Out of nowhere, Becky’s dad jumps in. “Now, wait just a minute. Don’t drag my little girl through the mud just because you’re having wedding-day jitters or whatever this is.”

No offense to Coach, but his brother seems about as smart as a bag of rocks. He and Drew are cut from the same cloth, purchased at the store that sells stupid by the yard.

“Maybe you should add another name to your list of punchable people,” I mutter.

“It seems so,” Amelia says.

Becky peeks around her father’s bulky frame. “I really didn’t mean to hurt anyone. AndI’mhurt too. Drew said he loved me.”

“Drew said a lot of things,” Amelia grumbles.

Coach’s face has been growing redder by the second, and he steps closer to Drew. This time, keeping his fists by his sides. “You need to leave. Now.”

“But I?—”

Coach ignores Drew and stomps over to his brother. “I don’t want to hear a single word from you in her defense. There is absolutely none. You’ve spoiled your daughter since the time she was knee-high, and it’s time both of you take responsibility for your actions.”

Clearly, some old wounds have been opened. As the two men begin yelling with Drew stepping in the middle, I’m made more aware of the pounding in my head.

I groan, and Amelia turns to face me again.

“I’m so sorry you got dragged into my family drama,” she says, glancing over her shoulder where there’s a veritable brawl happening. “Though I guess you did insert yourself.”

For a moment, she looks like she’s going to ask why, but then the non-cheating bridesmaid steps close, holding out the old woman’s flask.

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