Page 19 of Avenging Azalea

“You ask for dinner and a movie at the house, and then bam!” I jumped at her sudden yell, along with everyone else in the store. “You capture him with this sexy ass outfit and make him put a ring on it after he finally takes you like an animal.”

Steph started singing Beyoncé’s Single Ladies, and I closed my eyes, mortified.

“I just cried my tears for three good years. Ya can’t be mad at me,” she sang while dancing.

I quickly turned and walked to the dressing room for all the good it did me as Steph followed, singing louder.

“Okay, I get it. You can stop,” I said, but there was no stopping this train.

Steph was the opposite of me in every way, and yet we somehow worked as best friends. She came from an insanely rich family, while I came from nothing. Steph had a classic beach look with her curvy, five-foot-eight frame, blonde hair, blue eyes, and sun-kissed skin. While I was only five-foot-two and built like a board, with plain brown hair, green eyes, and was pale enough to be considered ghostly. She hated school and preferred to party. I loved school and despised parties. She wanted to be a model, and I hated being in front of a camera.

Steph was one of the most stunning girls I’d ever seen. It was no wonder all the guys in school had crawled around behind her, begging for her to notice them. What I never understood was why she chose me. I certainly didn’t help her social status.

She stood facing the full-length mirror and gave it her best Sasha Fierce impression while I slipped into a dressing room.

Quickly changing, I looked at myself in the skimpy outfit and felt my bravado slipping away.

“Get out here and show me. I know you changed.”

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door but didn’t want to step out. Not that it mattered. Steph reached in, grabbed my hand, and yanked me out of the stall. She turned me to face the long mirror, but I stared at the floor, not wanting to look.

“No way…I don’t spend all my time making sure you know exactly how stunning you are not to own that shit. Look in the mirror. You’re fucking gorgeous.”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I slowly lifted my eyes to my reflection. I’d never seen what Steph did, but for the first time, I saw a woman, not a scrawny kid. Steph pulled my shoulders back, and I lifted my chin.

“Own your worth, and he will, too. He doesn’t deserve you, but you’re going to give him the opportunity to try and be worthy. Understand?”

I couldn’t have asked for a better friend. She’d been exactly what was missing from my life. Turning, I grabbed her and hugged her tight.

“You truly believe I’m worthy of Titus Mikhailov?”

“I think you’re worthy of anyone you want, but that doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is what you believe when you walk in there tomorrow night looking like this. He needs to see the woman you’ve become. Smart, strong, intelligent, and a fucking smoke show.”

Smiling, I nodded. “Alright, give me those shoes,” I said.

“That’s the fire I’m talking about.”

Steph was right. It was time to show Titus who I’d grown into and shed the insecurities of my past.

An hour later, we were completely shopped out, or I was at least. Steph had a built-in battery pack because she kept going and going with the same enthusiasm. She pulled up to the house, and I got out and leaned on the window.

“Thanks for today.”

“Of course, babe, anytime.”

Steph blew me a kiss as I stepped back, laughing. I watched her Ferrari disappear out of the gate just as my phone buzzed. Digging it out of my purse, I smiled as I stared at Titus’s name.

T: Have you put any thought into what you want to do for your birthday tomorrow?

This was it, time to set it up.

F: You know, I was thinking of just having an awesome meal and watching a movie at home. You good with that?

T: No big celebration?

F: Nope. This is what I want.

T: Well, okay then. I’ll let Chef Bruce know to prepare your favorites. Is 7:30 good?