My urge to laugh was so intense, it caught in my chest, frozen by the sheer outrage on her face and utter hysteria of the sight of her, so clean and white against the browns and greens and golds of the flower bed. A slow heave of her chest as she breathed fire. The pink of her cheeks flaring to red. The gray of her eyes igniting into a cruel shade of blue, illuminated by the inferno of her thoughts.

I stepped up, unable to school my face as I extended a hand, this time to help her up.

But she scowled, slapping my hand away. “I’ve got it,” she shot, planting her palms in the dirt to push herself up.

As I backed out of the way, I watched her swipe at her ass, too furious to realize she’d only smudged the dirt around.

Tess removed her hands from her mouth, unable to right her face any better than I had. “Here, let me help you—”

“I said, I’ve got it.” Lila’s voice was deadly calm, and at the sound, Tess pinned her lips between her teeth and stepped out of the way.

“Tomorrow,” Lila snapped over her shoulder, smoothing the shining waves of her hair, which remained undisturbed by her tumble.

“See you then,” I answered with a nod.

And then I watched that dirty ass stride proudly out the door.

The second it swung closed, laughter bubbled out of Tess, and at the sound, there was no containing my own. Even Dad joined in, shoulders shaking gently.

“Oh, the poor Susans,” Tess said, swiping at a tear. “Look, her ass print is still there,” she squeaked before succumbing to another bout of laughter.

“The look on her face,” I said with the shake of my head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody so mad. Not even you, Tess.”

“And that’s saying something,” she added, resting her palm on her belly like she’d just done a hundred sit-ups. “God, if Ivy and Lila didn’t look so much alike, I’d never believe they were related.”

“I didn’t remember her being this …” I started.

“Bitchy?”

“I was gonna say bossy, but okay.”

Tess sighed. “She wasn’t kidding about sticking her neck out. She’s handling this huge celebrity wedding on her own, and her senior is a total asshole, breathing down her neck and micromanaging her at every turn. Addison is constantly looking for reasons to throw Lila under the bus, and if we screw up, Addison will blame Lila. But even though she’s a pain, the business is good for us. Archer Events handles the biggest weddings in the city, and that’s putting us in their eye line. We’ve just gotta deal with all the stress that comes with doing weddings.”

“Like bridezillas and entitled wedding planners?” I asked.