Page 532 of Hell Hath No Fury
The dress has a ton of ruffles. Like, what the fuck even is this? Ava makes her money as an influencer and works with a ton of big brands. How does she not have better clothes?
“Too ruffly.”
“Fine,” she grumbles, then pulls out a silver dress with sequins. “This?”
I scrunch my face. “Too disco ball.”
“Oh, c’mon, Alexa! I don’t have all night. Just pick a damn dress and go to your stupid party.”
My sister's frustration does nothing to make this process quicker. We’re known to argue, my mom saying the two of us are like an old married couple. One minute we’re fighting over something stupid. The next, we are laughing with tears in our eyes.
“You know what Dad is like. If I could have worn something out of my own closet, I would have. Quit pushing me and show me what else you have that doesn’t make me look old or weird.”
Ava yanks a red dress from the rack and then shoves it in front of me. “You can’t get any sexier than red.”
Quickly looking at it, it appears nice. It’s a mini dress with thin adjustable straps and an invisible zipper center back. The frilled hemline makes it a little different from a bodycon dress, as does the square neckline. The dress will look great with Ava’s black Manolos and Fendi clutch.
“Great. Now, shoes and bag.”
“Who said I was lending you shoes and a bag?”
I place my hand on my hip. “Do you want me to ruin the outfit and wear it with sneakers?”
“You are such a pain in my ass. I didn’t have the luxury of sneaking out to a sister's house to get changed. I had to do it the old-fashioned way, climb out the window,” she complains.
“Yeah, well. Sucks to be you.”
The baby monitor makes a crackling sound, followed by a baby's cry. Argh, imagine being on call to a crying baby.I can’t think of anything worse.
“I have to go,” Ava informs me. “Make sure everything comes back the way you borrowed it, okay?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Ava lets out a huff before leaving the room to attend to her baby. When she’s gone, I change into the red dress and look in the mirror. Not bad, considering my boobs are bigger than hers. If anything, the dress makes mine look even bigger.
I grabbed the shoes and bag, but on closer inspection, the shoes didn’t look good. Scanning her closet, I see her new Louboutins. Do I dare? Ah, fuck it. You only live once. She can kill me later.
The outfit is great, but my look still doesn’t feel complete.
Inside her bathroom, I style my hair quickly so I’m not late, placing it in a tight ponytail away from my face. My makeup is simple, but I decide to dress my neck up with Ava’s costume jewelry.
One more glance at the mirror, and now the ensemble is perfect. I can’t wait to see what Cole thinks. Tonight is going to be the best night.
I just know it.
All I need to do now is sneak out of here before Ava sees me.
CHAPTER TWO
“Babe, you look hot.”
My boyfriend, Cole, runs his tongue along my lobe, causing my skin to shiver in delight. With his hand squeezing my thigh, I push it away just because people are looking as we sit outside by the pool. We’re not the only couple at the party, but I don’t want everyone watching us fool around either.
“We can’t here,” I mention softly. “Why don’t we dance? It’s a party, right?”
Cole throws his head back against the chair and rubs his face. It shouldn’t be a big deal. We had sex last weekend when his parents left home for brunch in Malibu. Of course, we knew they’d be gone for at least three hours which didn’t make a difference since it was over in fifteen minutes anyway.
Instead of listening to me, he pulls his phone out and begins scrolling. God, it’s not like he’s answering anyone, just aimless scrolling, which appears to be more important than spending time with me.
