Page 15 of City of Gods

That should have been the question I was asking myself.

Heat crept up the back of my neck, making my skin prickle. It was the liquor. Had to be.

Zara snapped her fingers in front of my face and I blinked, refocusing on her. I took another drink then smiled. The tension that had pulled my spine straight and made my shoulders feel like concrete was loosening. “Are you even listening to me?” she asked, a laugh hanging from her lips.

“Kind of,” I said, giving a lazy shrug.

“Uh-huh, that liquor is in your ass and you’re all mellow now.” She shook her head and sighed. “I was saying that Dr. Breeze is kinda fine. Looks like you came to that conclusion on your own, though.” She tossed a look over her shoulder at Bakari, who was seemingly enthralled with his date. The loud, over-the-top laughter coming from her gave it away.

I probably could knock her ass out with the glass sitting in front of me. If I aimed it around Zee, I for sure could have bounced it off that bitch’s forehead.

“I wasn’t looking at him. More like looking through him.” More like wondering why he was even in the same place as me.

“Whatever. You’ve had a crush on that man for a while. I saw y'all flirting at that damn Christmas party.”

“Oh my god,” I groaned, tipping my head back. Hair tumbled straight back in a wave of ebony. “Why won’t anyone let me forget about that fucking party? I flirted with him. So what?” I finished my drink and sat the glass down harder than necessary.

“You flirted with him because you were trying to get close to your mark who happened to be his mentee.” Her voice was quiet, but I still hated the way those words sounded in the air. She wasn’t lying, though.

I’d had one too many drinks and started flirting with Bakari…hard. So hard that I almost let my mark slip away.

Almost.

Right when Bakari thought he was going to seal the deal and leave with me, I left him high and dry. We were at the coat check-out area and he told me he’d have the valet bring his car around first so I could follow him back to his place. When his car arrived, we stood there waiting for mine next. He hopped in his car, and I hopped in mine only…I never followed him to his house because my mark was leaving, too. Instead of hooking up with Bakari like I was supposed to, I followed my mark to his house and hit him right as he punched the code in to get inside his building.

When news broke of the promising young med school student gunned down outside his apartment building, Bakari knew what had happened and why I never showed. He hated me for it. Called me a snake and a user every fucking chance he got.

Before I could respond to Zara, the bartender placed two more drinks in front of us from Bakari. How the hell was he sending us drinks while he was on a date? See, that was exactly why I didn’t like him. He was so goddamn bold and arrogant and the audacity on him…it was too much sometimes.

“Thank you, Breeze,” Zara said with a wide grin, holding her glass up again. I rolled my eyes because…fuck him. I still took the drink, though.

Zara looked down at her phone and let out a long grumble before showing me the screen. It was our sister, Kenya. Her bright smile filled the screen. She had the same eyes we all shared but instead of the golden complexion we got from Mother, she had Father’s deep coffee bean skin.

I lifted the glass of liquor to my lips and raised my eyebrows. “You better answer your little sister,” I snickered into my glass. Kenya was older than me but younger than Zee. Most of the time she was mild-mannered but she was Mother’s favorite along with my older brother Eli, and she definitely let that shit be known when she wanted to.

“Why? You know it’s going to be Ken and Eli fussing about why the fuck we’re not having dinner with Mother and Father.”

I looked down at my phone to see Eli calling me. My smirk fell but Zee picked up her own, plastering it to her face in a teasing way. “Uh-huh. What was all that shit you were saying, Nai? You better answer your big brother.” She tossed my words right back at me, but I waved her off. I wasn’t scared of Eli.

So what he was taller and outweighed me? I’d still take his fucking knees out.

“You answer. I don’t want to talk to anyone,” I huffed.

“Fine. You’re buying my next drink, though.” She stuck her tongue out at me and excused herself so she could take Kenya’s call. I was so grateful she didn’t answer it when she was sitting beside me. I didn’t feel like listening to Kenya bitch about why I’d upset our parents. My phone began ringing again right beneath my hand. Vibrating my palm and rattling against the glass bar.

“Sister’s night out?” I lifted my eyes and got caught in the intense pools of obsidian staring down at me. I cleared my throat and tore myself away from Bakari’s gaze. It was stirring something inside of me. Something that I was going to pretend was the bourbon.

I looked behind him then folded my arms, a smirk tipping one side of my mouth up. “Where’s your date?”

Bathroom,” he said. He slid into Zara’s seat so casually that it pissed me off.

“Okay, so go wait for her…down there where you were.” I pointed toward the end of the bar and he chuckled, shaking his head. I wondered if he’d been drinking too because his eyes were low and he made no attempt to hide the way his stare raked appreciatively over my body.

Suddenly, I was hyper-aware of what I was wearing. Not that I thought it was too revealing, but that it wasn’t revealing enough. I was still wearing the modest olive-green dress I had on when I was at Junior’s house with my parents.

For some reason, I wanted to reveal more. I wanted to show the girls off or a little thigh. Something. Even though I was mostly covered except for my collarbones, Bakari was still eyeing me like I had on something skimpy.

“I see you enjoying the drink I sent over.” He motioned to my now empty glass and an arrogant smirk quirked the corners of his mouth up.

---