Page 40

“Don’t you think you’re taking it too far? Who cares what she wears, or does, as long as she isn’t pissing Father off?”

His words annoyed me.Because they’re true.

“She represents us as a family. You want reporters to start asking why our new stepsister ended up in the ER with an OD?”

Cal rolled his eyes and went back into his room. I resisted the urge to knock on Selena’s door again and tangle with the little hellraiser. Instead, I went down to the sauna, stripped off, and wrapped a towel around my hips. My muscles ached, and heat was the best way to ease them.

I set the temperature as high as I could stand it and went in, sitting on a top bench and letting the heat sink into my skin. Practice replayed in my head, and I looked for flaws in myperformance, places to improve. My mind kept being tugged back to Selena’s insolent stare and the way her lip curled contemptuously when she spat her venom at me. Being treated like that by a woman was still a novelty. Selena was in a very exclusive club of people who seemed not to give a fuck about my family name, or money. Hell, she wasn’t even affected by the basic shit, like the fact that I was a guy who wasn’t a troll, over six feet, and a hockey player. She was immune to my charms. It was… as refreshing as it was irritating.

When I was thirsty and drenched in sweat, I stood and made my way to the door. I pushed it. It didn’t budge. I pushed again. Nothing.

It was stuck. I peered outside the tiny glass window. I couldn’t see what could be sticking it shut. I put my shoulder to it and pushed, but it didn’t budge. I glanced at the wall to the side of me, where the key for the outside lock usually hung. We very seldom locked it. Only if there was an issue with it and it wasn’t to be used.

The key was gone.

I checked outside again, and there she was.

The little heathen.

Selena leaned against the far wall, twirling the key between her fingers.

Shit. She smirked at me.

“Very funny. Let me out,” I demanded, banging a hand hard against the door, making it shudder.

Selena put a hand to her ear, cupping it, and frowned like she couldn’t hear me.

“I said to let me out, now!” I shouted again. Sweat dripped off me onto the floor at this point, and I was insanely thirsty. Usually, I brought a bottle of water into the sauna, but I’d been distracted today, thanks to her. Instead, it sat on the changing bench outside. Droplets of condensation rolled down the side, driving me insane.

Selena sauntered forward, arms crossed, and tilted her head to the side, watching me like my demise was a show she had been waiting her entire life to see.

“Now, Selena. You’ve had your fun.” I slapped a hand on the door again. It slid off, drenched in sweat. I could barely see. Sweat stung at my eyes, and black spots formed in the corners of my vision.Shit.This was getting serious.

I rested my forehead on the wall beside the door, fighting the dizziness, and then knocked on the door again.

“Are you trying to kill me?” I laughed, nearly delirious.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Are you trying to kill me?”

“Taking the stuff you’re fucking your life up with isn’t trying to kill you.”

“It is if I need that stuff to survive.”

I shook my head and slid down the door to sit on the floor. Water was all I could think about.

When I thought I might pass the fuck out, the door cracked open. I didn’t rush to shove it wider. I couldn’t. Instead, I waited until the cool air hit my face and sucked down a lungful. The spots stopped dancing, bit by bit. I pushed off the wall and made it through the door, collapsing onto the bench right outside andreaching for the water. I finished the entire bottle in four long pulls. Bit by bit, the ringing dizziness in my head faded.

I looked around the room.

Selena was gone.

I couldn’t believe she’d actually done that. She had far bigger balls than I’d expected… either that, or fewer survival instincts.

I shoved a hand through my dripping hair and found myself laughing. Fuck, it was kind of a rush. I felt like I was flying. If my new stepsister wanted to fight the new rules of this house… then that was fine by me. I liked a new challenge, after all, and breaking Selena’s rebellious spirit was one that filled me with anticipation.

Game on, little heathen. Game. On.

Selena