Page 27 of Agony

I waited in the car while him and Addie unloaded the car and took everything into the house.

They came back out and we were off to my place. I climbed out of the car when we arrived and was suddenly struck with the realization of how small my place really was. After being in Arsen’s living room, I was sure it was bigger than my entire damn apartment.

I unlocked the door and the three of us went in.

“I’m gonna take a shower quick,” I called back to them as I disappeared into the bedroom.

I grabbed a sundress that I had specially made when I lived in New York. It was lightweight and had vertical white strips toward the bottom. The rest of it was black with a giant white skull in front. I knew what Addie was going to say.Don’t you wear anything besides black and white skulls?

I turned on the water, hopped in, and washed myself up in record timing. I blow dried my hair and reached for some mouse. I had been thinking about flat ironing my hair but decided I’d rather accentuate the natural waves.

When I was done, I gave myself one last look over in the full length mirror on the door and blew a kiss. The dress hugged me in all the right places without being too tight.

Hopefully he thought I looked as hot as I felt.

“I’m ready!” I said cheerfully, walking into the living room.

“Wow,” Arsen said appreciatively.

“Not bad, Neve!” Addie agreed with a nod.

Arsen stood up and came over to where I was standing. He took one of my hands and raised my arm, looking me up and down.

“Very nice,” he said with a grin.

“Let’s get going, guys! We’ve got a party to host!” Arsen said, leading the way out of my apartment.

ChapterSeven

It was 9:00 pm and the cookout was in full swing. Addie had opted to go in a yellow halter top and white flair skirt. She wore white flip flops and looked absolutely amazing.

I was standing next to Arsen who was happily grilling away with a beer in his hand, looking around at alotof familiar faces.

I had seen most of the people that were here have sex and I was feeling highly uncomfortable.

That was only deepened when Jess came over to chat with me.

“You look hot!” she exclaimed.

“Thanks, Jess,” I mumbled, looking down.

The truth was so did she. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a sleek bun and she was wearing a black tube top and electric blue jeans. On her feet, she wore clunky sandals that made her a bit taller than me.

“So Arsen tells me that you guys are hanging out a lot,” she said with a friendly smile.

“Did I?” he asked, glancing over at her.

“Yeah.”

“And when did I say that?” he inquired.

“Um... a little while ago. I thought you said…,” her voice trailed off into a giggle. She gave him a playful shove and he laughed before he turned his attention back to his grill.

“It’s awesome that you’re cool with what he does,” she said with a kind smile.

I swallowed hard.

The truth was that I wasn’t. And I never would be. I only hoped he wouldn’t feel lonely enough to go back to fucking random girls.

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