Chapter 21 The Girl’s Night
The Girl’s Night
Ava wiggled her toes, admiring the ruby red nail polish after she finished painting on the topcoat.
Her nails were already a matching red, courtesy of Summer's steady hand.
Ava returned the favor by painting Summer's a dark navy blue.
While Ava was not in a celebratory mood for the Fourth of July holiday coming up, she could admit pretty nails made her day the slightest bit better.
She looked at Summer hunched over her foot with her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth.
“Need help?” Ava asked.
“Nope, almost got it. Done,” she declared, sitting up and screwing the top on the nail polish bottle.
Ava grabbed her glass of red wine off the coffee table and leaned back into the soft yellow cushions of Summer's couch. She admired the vibrant hues of the yellow and orange throw pillows and the soft pink rug under her feet. Summer’s loft apartment encapsulated her fiery personality with the warm colors of an evening sunset.
The many green plants lining the walls and any available flat surface made her loft apartment feel alive with positive energy.
And Ava would take all the positive energy she could at the moment.
“I still can’t believe Alec showed up at the cabin out of the blue like that. What a stalker move,” Summer said, throwing herself on the couch beside Ava.
Ava tightened her grip on her wineglass to keep it from sloshing over the rim.
“I know. He acted like we were still together. Trying to kiss me and insisting I was grieving and didn’t know what I wanted.
Like he would know what I’m feeling better than me,” Ava scoffed, getting worked up all over again the more she talked.
Then she deflated, remembering why he’d been there at all.
“Morgan went behind my back. I know she wants me to come back home and to work, but I didn’t think she’d try to use my ex to speed things along. ”
“She’s a snake. I’ve always told you there was something about her I didn’t like.” Summer propped her feet on the coffee table in front of them.
“She’s not a snake.” Ava felt the need to still defend her other friend, even if she was upset with her. “I think her intentions were good, but she went about it all wrong. At least I’d like to believe she meant well.”
“Have you talked to her?”
Ava shook her head and took a big gulp of wine. “No word from her. And with the day I’ve had, I can’t deal with her right now, anyway. Let’s just hope no more unexpected visitors show up at the cabin.”
Ava took another sip, her mood further souring when she remembered the news Lucas had dropped earlier. “Not that I’ll have the cabin much longer, anyway,” she said.
“Do you want to keep the cabin? Since you’ve been here, your plan was to pack it up as soon as possible and get out of here. Has that changed?” Summer asked, her face blank.
Ava sighed into her wineglass. She swirled the deep red liquid like it would give her answers.
“I don’t know. With the cabin gone, what reason do I have to come back here again?”
Summer reared back like Ava had slapped her. “What the hell do you mean, you have no reason to come back here? You have me. I’m always in your corner. You’ve just conveniently ignored that fact for the last ten years.”
Heat rushed to Ava’s face. In retrospect, her words sounded callous. Adrenaline filled her chest once more, her body on edge at the prospect of yet another fight to round out her awful day. She placed her wineglass down to face Summer.
“I didn’t mean it like that, I swear. I know you’ve always been there for me, and it’s my fault I never came back. It took my dad dying for me to see that.”
Summer’s lips pursed, and she stared at her feet propped on the table, not responding right away.
Ava tried again. “Summer, please. I can’t stand to fight with one more person in my life right now. I’m sorry.”
Summer blew out a breath and turned to look at Ava.
She gave a too-bright smile and relaxed her shoulders.
“It’s fine. And you’re right, you’ve been through a lot today.
Let’s go out tonight. Have a girl’s night.
We haven’t been out to the Mucky Duck since you’ve been in town.
” She waggled her eyebrows. “Plenty of tourists are in town for the Fourth of July holiday, and we just painted our nails. Let’s go out and see where the night takes us. ”
Ava would rather stay in and take comfort in a bottle of wine but knowing she’d hurt Summer’s feelings convinced her to shove aside what she wanted to make Summer happy. Who knew? Maybe a night out could be what she needed. She doubted that, but there’d be alcohol.
“Sounds perfect,” Ava agreed, feeling the complete opposite inside.
Once their toenail polish dried enough to walk around, Summer insisted on doing both of their makeup and coaxing Ava out of her usual messy bun and into some loose curls that bounced just above her shoulders.
With dark purple eyeshadow to complement her hazel eyes and deep red lipstick to finish the look, Ava could admit she looked sexy as hell.
She walked out of Summer’s bathroom and over to the outfit laid on the bed. Or rather the shorts laying on the bed. Tiny and red, she wasn’t convinced they’d fit over her hips no matter how stretchy they were. At least she’d shaved today.
“Stop staring at them and put them on already. They’re going to fit.” Summer rolled her eyes as she entered the bedroom, fluffing her hair. She was dressed in a plunging navy jumpsuit that showed off her killer arms, and a cinched middle that made the difference in their waists even more apparent.
“You’re sure you don’t have black? Black is dependable. Black is nice. Black doesn’t show my ass when I bend over,” Ava said, giving her a pout.
“Sorry, the red shorts are the only ones clean right now. Now put them on so we can go.”
Ava snatched them off the bed and walked back into the bathroom to try them on in front of the mirror.
She peeled off the black leggings Summer insisted she couldn’t wear tonight and pulled on the stretchy red shorts.
To her surprise, they hugged her hips and butt, coming to a rest just above her bellybutton.
They were shorter than she’d like, but at least she didn’t look like a stuffed sausage in her best friend’s much smaller clothes.
Summer knocked on the bathroom door.
“Are you decent? I’m coming in,” Summer announced, opening the bathroom door. She walked up to the mirror next to Ava and slapped her butt. “Damn Birdie, look at that thing on display.” Summer grinned at her in the mirror.
Ava reached back to soothe the sting of Summer’s slap. “Ouch,” she complained. She turned to the side to see her profile. Her ass did look rather rounded.
“But we need to fix this shirt. Nobody ties up their t-shirts anymore. You tuck it into your bra.” Summer stepped in front of Ava and tugged at the knotted shirt.
When hanging loose, Summer lifted the bottom of the oversized black Beatles shirt and tucked it into the underwire of Ava’s bra.
The finished product showed off a sliver of stomach above the top of the red shorts, but the shirt was perfectly cropped.
Ava eyed her profile in the mirror once more. Her gaze drew to the protrusion of stomach below the cropped shirt. “Are you sure about this? I’m thirty now and don’t have abs like you do.”
“Girl, please. You look hot. If I had your ass, I’d be showing it off. But alas, some of us are making lemonade out of lemons with pushup bras and squats. Be proud of what you got,” Summer said, giving Ava a pointed stare through their reflections in the mirror.
“Let’s go before I convince myself otherwise.
” Ava headed to the entryway where her shoes and black purse sat.
Her purse was the only thing she’d grabbed when Summer picked her up from the cabin earlier.
She slid on her white sneakers, sad to cover her red toes, and rifled through her purse to verify she had her phone, keys, wallet, and a backup hair-tie.
She heard Summer’s footsteps behind her, then Summer dropped an item pinched between her fingers into the open purse.
“Just in case.” Summer winked and slid on her sandals.
Ava pulled it out. “A condom? What the hell, Summer?” Ava leveled Summer with a glare.
“Better safe than sorry. Maybe you need some quick and dirty sex with a stranger in the bar tonight. Didn’t you always have a kink for public places?
” Summer smirked at her. Then her smirk dropped as she shuddered.
“Though knowing that and your history with my brother is something I don’t want to think about. ”
Despite herself, Ava laughed at Summer’s discomfort. Just a couple months ago, Summer would have never dared to make a joke about Owen, but now the thought of Owen brought the flutter of butterflies to her stomach instead of guilt.
“I never should have told you that,” Ava laughed.
“No, you probably shouldn’t have.” Summer did her own purse inspection for the essentials. “Ready?”
Ava pushed down her trepidation and anxiety and put a smile on her face instead. She could fake enthusiasm for one night, for Summer’s sake.
“Let’s go.”