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“You’ll have to be the one to break that to Maddox. Poor guy thinks I’m going to the wedding with him.”
I scoff, dragging my fingernail along the edge of my bottom lip to clean up any lipstick. “As if.”
“That’s what I’m saying. My sister is in town, so obviously we’re going to be attached at the hip.”
“I missed you like crazy,” I admit, turning to rest my back against the counter. Braxton leans a hip against it, her eyes going soft.
“I missed you more. Have you spoken to Mom recently?”
“Not for a few weeks. Last we talked, she and Cliff were waiting to board their flight to Arizona. Have you talked to her?”
Braxton twists her mouth. “Not since around the time you did. What about Dad? I got a damn email from him last week that said he wanted our new address to send Christmas gifts for Liam.”
“I hope you told him to piss off,” I grumble.
“Close. I told him to send them to Maddox’s parents’ house and we’d collect them when we see them over the holidays.”
Our dad has never met my nephew, and he never will. His want to send him gifts is just a way to assert his unwanted presence in Braxton’s life. He’s undeserving of that honour.
“I’m sorry. Don’t let him spoil your mood. He’s so not worth that.”
Braxton straightens her shoulders and pushes away from the counter. The knee-length yellow dress she chose for the weddingfits her curves effortlessly and makes her bright blue eyes pop. I fiddle with the gold bangle on my wrist and bite at the inside of my lip.
“Don’t think that all this talking about our parents means I don’t want to hear about you. I’m still curious about all of these new friends and the way they keep you too busy to call me as often as I’d like,” she says, pushing a sparkling diamond stud into her earlobe.
I smooth the silky material of my dress over my stomach with a laugh. “Are you a little jealous, Brax?”
Her eyes narrow on me. “Me? Jealous? Never.”
“Mmhmm. Well, I think you’d really like Bryce and Poppy. Bryce reminds me of Adalyn sometimes.”
Maddox’s little sister, Adalyn, is as outgoing as they come, and I’ve enjoyed every moment I’ve spent with her in the past. There aren’t many people in Braxton’s life that I don’t know, especially those in her husband’s family. Considering Maddox and Braxton were childhood best friends, I was around his family quite often.
“And they’ve actually got you to join a pole class?”
“Is it really that hard to believe?”
“Not because I don’t think you’d succeed at it. There are very few things you wouldn’t succeed at. You’ve just never done something like that before. I like it for you, Anna.”
I smile softly. “Thank you. It’s definitely out of my comfort zone, but I think that’s why I like it. It makes me feel powerful.”
“Youarepowerful. Maybe I’ll have to give a pole class a try sometime.”
My brows knit together. “Why? Are you not feeling powerful anymore?”
“We’re not talking about me right now. Don’t think that if you distract me, I won’t keep poking around in your life. There’smore than just those two women keeping you occupied,” she says pointedly.
I spin, hiding the blush I feel warming my cheeks before leaving the bathroom.
“Annalise! Don’t make me chase you.”
“I’m just going to put my shoes on.” I make a dash into the bedroom and find my black heels waiting on the carpet.
“Uh-huh, and I’m just asking about your secrets, not demanding to hear them all.”
“You’re terrible.”
“Ditto, babes.”
