Page 63 of Devious Obsession
Holy shit.
I don’t move until it’s not touching me anymore, although my stomach is in my fucking throat. I hurry out of the bedroom and slam the door shut behind me, and I get all the way downstairs before I realize I should’ve put my stupid shoes back on.
Theonlysaving grace is that my phone is still in my pocket and the card clutched in my hand.
She put a snake in my room?
Where did she even get a snake?
I grit my teeth and yank my phone out, calling Knox. He’s the single most connected fucker at school—if he doesn’t know someone who can catch a snake, I’d be shocked.
An hour later, Knox and a girl whose name I missed stand in front of me, the door to my room open. She has a bucket and a long stick with a hook on the end in her hands, and she steps in carefully.
Knox glances over his shoulder at me, then shrugs. Like he doesn’t know what she plans on doing either.
And yet, in less than five minutes, she’s got the snake in the bucket—lid screwed into place—and steps past us.
“Can I see that card?” she asks.
I hand it to her.
She reads it and laughs. “Yeah, okay. I know whose snake this is.”
“It’s a pet?” Knox asks.
“Yep. I’ll take care of it.” She smiles at him, like she wouldn’t mind if he just leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers—
Instead, he pushes a hundred dollar bill into her palm.
Her fingers curl around it, shock opening her expression. But then she nods and slips past us, leaving us alone in the hallway.
“So, was it Aspen or not?” Knox asks.
“Who else would refer to themselves as Viper?”
He frowns. I snag my shoes and bookbag from my room and follow him. I should just give up on the paper, but I refuse to do that to myself. I’m on thin ice with my father as it is, and I know he watches my grades. Waiting for a single slipup.
“I’m going back to campus,” I tell him.
“Have fun,” he calls. “And give her hell!”
Oh, I definitely will.
18
ASPEN
“I’m going to go let them in.” Thalia says, getting up from the couch and slipping her feet into my sandals by the door.
Tonight was supposed to be lowkey—and yet somehow, it’s turning into a girls’ night. She wasn’t very specific, but shedidcome home with a bag full of those face masks and whatever else from the drug store on the corner. I didn’t inspect it too closely.
She returns with Violet and Willow.
Violet holds up a bottle of wine. Which is fine, if we’re going that route. But then I spot the tequila Willow has in her grip, and my expression must light up.
“Someone wants to get fucked up the proper way,” Willow quips. She toes off her shoes. “We brought popcorn, too. And Thalia assured us that she has a good selection of rom-coms to choose from. Anything to keep your mind off the guy we’re not thinking about, right?”
I smile.
