Page 27 of Divine Obsession

“I’ll get her home,” Trevor spoke sternly. He passed by me to get to them, moving Kali so he was holding her up himself.

She groaned in disapproval. “I’m thirsty… Pass the vodka, Zach.”

Zach opened the fridge, taking out a water bottle. “Here you go, Kali. Nature’s vodka straight up from the river.”

She took the water without complaint and began chugging. Then paused. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Oh, come on…” Trevor helped his sister straighten up again. “Don’t you dare vomit in my car.”

“I should get home too,” I spoke up, catching their attention, grabbing my unfinished Mogu Mogu bottle, along with my coat and bag from the entryway. “My taxi’s outside.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow, Nat,” Kali mumbled, holding onto Trevor, when I stopped by her side.

“Please do.” I giggled, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight.” I turned around one last time. “Bye!”

Only Zach replied with asee yabefore I closed the front door of the Upper West townhouse behind me, stepping into the cold winter night. Fresh snow was already lying down on the stone steps as I climbed them down, towards the town car parked out front on the curb.

Chapter 6

Present

My heart thundered all the way home. I still had whiplash from the events of the night because I couldn’t make sense of them.

Trevor couldn’t have possibly been flirting with me.

Although it surely did feel like he was.

It must’ve all been in my head because there was no reality in which he could possibly be interested in me – not beyond a one-time hookup anyway. Not because of me – I was smart, funny and gorgeous – but because of the type of guy he was rumored to be.

I knew they were rumors. But there was no smoke without fire. And judging by what I’d seen already, the gossip about him never sleeping with the same girl twice must’ve had some reality to it.

Or –of course– the only other possible explanation: He was fucking with me.

We’d already gotten off on the wrong foot, but I doubted it would’ve made a difference if we got acquainted under different circumstances.

Not even mentioning how different the two of us were. If I was fire, he was ice. If I was sunshine, he was a storm.

And most importantly, he was Kali’s older brother.

Totally off-limits.

It was just past ten when I got home. The private elevator dinged, announcing my arrival as I stepped into the dark, huge, open living room of the two-story penthouse owned by my father. Sheer, see-through curtains were slightly pulled along the grand two-story windows, allowing the city’s sparkling lights to illuminate my path.

It was silent as I made my way to the kitchen. Dad’s meeting couldn’t have been over yet, but my best guess was they were on the other wing of the apartment, in his private office.

Sighing with the weight of tonight’s events, I placed my pink Birkin on the marble island in the center of the grand kitchen. It wasn’t until I opened my own two-door, rich people fridge – allowing the bright light to single out a dark shadow in the corner – that I realized I wasn’t alone.

I smiled. The twins always wandered around at night, and this wouldn’t be the first time I bumped into Manny while we each searched for a midnight snack.

“It’s past your bedtime. Why aren’t you sleeping?” I questioned, like the new big sister I was as I scanned the fridge for food. Despite only becoming acquainted right before the holidays, two months ago, I’d grown surprisingly and pleasantly close to my four step-siblings.

Carmen and Kim were always asking me to braid their hair, do their make-up, go shopping, watch rom-coms and give big sister advice. Whilst, the younger twin boys were always asking me to teach them how to code hacks for their video games.

“I wasn’t aware that I had one.” A deep voice spoke from the shadows.

My blood iced.

That was definitelynotone of my pre-teen siblings.

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