Page 23 of If You Claim Me
“At least I’m consistent.” I’ve always been the one who doesn’t fall in line. It made things tumultuous growing up. I was forever causing problems, and my sisters were the standard I could never live up to. My mother was perpetually keeping the peace, trying to make me into something I could never be—compliant, easy, the perfect, dutiful son.
“I don’t know why you always have to push their buttons.” Isabelle sighs.
“I don’t know why you don’t.”
She shakes her head. “It’s not just your own life you make harder, Connor.”
A wave of guilt washes over me. I’m sure she’s been on the receiving end of our mother’s wrath since I announced my engagement. It’s bad enough that I play professional hockey for a living. Now I’m marrying someone outside the approved social circle. My father will likely be angry, which puts pressure on my mother, who downloads it to my sisters, whose husbands must deal with their stress. It’s a vicious, depressing cycle, and in the end it’s always the same. No one understands me, and I’m the problem with no solution.
Arguing with my sister won’t make today better for either of us. “Let me introduce you to my fiancée. I think you’ll love her.”
She side-eyes me. “She’d have to be a sass machine to handle you.”
“Isn’t that the truth.” I skim the back of Mildred’s arm to get her attention.
She turns with a warm smile. “You must be Connor’s sister. Isabelle, right?”
Isabelle’s face lights up in a matching smile. “Yes! That’s right.”
“Connor has such wonderful things to say about you,” Mildred lies smoothly.
“Really?” Isabelle’s surprise sucks, but we’re not all that close.
“Absolutely! It’s so nice to meet you!” Mildred’s voice pitches up, and she pulls my sister in for a hug.
Isabelle once again looks surprised, but she gently pats Mildred’s back and gives me a quizzical smile.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Mildred,” Izzy says once they part.
“You can just call me Dred.”
Isabelle’s eyebrows rise. “Dred?”
“It’s what my friends call me.”
“Oh, right. That’s cute.” She takes Mildred’s hands in hers and glances between us, like she’s trying to fit us together. “It’s just so nice that Connor has finally brought someone home.”
“Izzy,” I warn.
“What do you mean?” Mildred asks.
“Well, he’s never brought anyone to meet us before.” Isabelle pats my arm. “He’s always been so private.”
“I wonder why,” I grumble.
Mildred hugs my arm. “Obviously you were waiting for the perfect woman to come along, and it was me.”
I smirk down at her. “Obviously.”
Isabelle grins. “I like her.”
“Me, too.” It’s not a lie. I enjoy Mildred more than I should.
The Terror begin to arrive, bringing the stuffy down several notches. Though most of them are here to support Mildred, not me, I’m thankful they showed up. Having the people she cares about here to insulate her will make this manageable.
Lexi and Roman make their way over to us, Callie trailing behind, flanked by her sister, Fee, and Tally, the Terror head coach’s daughter. Both Fee and Tally attend Tilton, a local university.
Callie does not look excited to be here. She’s half-hidden behind her sister.
