Page 9 of One Quick Obsession

I turned, holding back a frown. “Everything okay?”

“Yes. I think. It’s about Scarlett⁠—”

I held up my hand, cutting her off. “No.”

Harper’s smile dimmed. “Hudson.”

“She’s your friend. She works for the family business. She doesn’t work for me or with me. And she doesn’t want me to have anything to do with her.” I ignored the annoyance at that last part. None of my business.

“But seriously. Hudson.”

“No.” Dorian gave me a warning look from across the room and I tried to soften my voice. “Harper. I love you like a sister I know you’re going to be soon. But no.”

“Okay then. Fine.” She lifted her chin, the look digging in.

Scarlett wanted nothing to do with me. And I did not want to know anything about her. All she did was get under my skin, and all I did was annoy the fuck out of her. It was better when I didn’t have to deal with her. With a sigh, I didn’t even bother to say goodbye to anyone before getting in my car and driving around the lake to my place.

I passed the smaller house near mine and let out a breath as I realized the lights were on. The fact that Scarlett was my neighbor irked me to no end, but the driveway was long enough that technically I didn’t have neighbors. Yet I could see the lights were on. Scarlett was home and safe.

Unlike Michelle.

And that was just another reminder that I wasn’t the hero. And I never would be.

Chapter Three

Scarlett

“How is Mom?” I asked as I poured each of us a glass of the spinach, apple, and other assorted fruits smoothie I had made earlier. I’d been trying different recipes the past month and finally found one that I liked that didn’t taste like kale. I hated kale and never put it in my smoothies and yet no matter what I did, I could sometimes taste the evil plant if I mixed too many greens together.

Luna eyed the concoction warily but took the glass from me anyway. The ingredients may sound a little off, but I made a good smoothie. Plus I could add all of my protein and fiber powders to it and call it a day. No, it didn’t make up for the fact that I sometimes missed lunch while working at the Cage Resort, but that was just life. When you needed to work hard, and prove yourself, sometimes you skipped a meal or two.

“Mom is Mom.” She stared into her green smoothie, frowning as she answered.

There was so much in those words of hers I wasn’t sure I wanted to dive deeper. After all, I knew what “Mom is Mom” meant. Because it could mean nothing and everything all at once. I reached over the kitchen island to tap her glass. “Drink it. You’ll like this one. I added extra honey for you.”

She perked up and took a sip. “Tasty. Surprisingly.”

“For somebody who spends her days out in the wilderness most of the time, you would think you wouldn’t mind eating something with greens in it. It’s healthy.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Excuse me. I think you’re confusing me with Ivy. Our bestie. She likes to take pictures of green things. And probably eats them as well. Me? Not so much.”

“You do your studies out in the real world. All of your research grants force you into that forest to actually hike and gather specimens. You might be a general science and chemistry professor down in Denver, but you’re still somewhat outdoorsy.”

“You’re just lying to yourself because you don’t even go out to the slopes anymore.”

“Jerk.”

“Dork.”

We giggled, the same pitch, the same laugh, the same expression on our faces.

Whenever somebody asked me what it felt like to be a twin, I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to say. I had always been a twin. Luna and I had shared a womb and hadn’t been separated until after college. We were in the same classes, did the same sports, we had the same group of friends, we never dated the same guy thankfully, and we had similar interests.

While my Type A went into managing and organizing, her Type A went into the sciences.

I couldn’t read her mind, and she couldn’t read mine, much to each of our consternations. But she was my best friend. She had seen me at my worst.

But so had he.