Page 57 of Wicked Titan

Gripping my fork, I look to my plate. “It’s raining.”

“Psh, I tried telling him you shouldn’t climb in the rain.” Elliot pops a grape in his mouth looking to me. “It was pouring the last time we climbed at Chappell Canyon.”

The fork falls out of my hand, clanging loudly on the plate as I look to Asher. “You’ve climbed Chappell?”

Asher doesn’t answer, but Elliott chimes in, “Obsessively, and he dragged me along all summer.”

Glaring at Elliott, Asher cuts him off. “There’s a climbing gym just a few miles away from here.”

“No.” Nothing has changed there. I still don’t trust him. And something is unsettling about him climbing Chappell. That’d always been me and my dad’s favorite climb. We’d spend the morning scaling up the side of the mountain, then hike down the other side while planning a new path for the next climb. The next climb was supposed to be on my birthday.

My stomach drops as I push away from the table. “I’m going to head back to Nathan’s.”

Victoria waves her hands without lifting her head from the table as Elliott continues eating.

“Hey,” Asher lightly grasps my arm, spinning me to face him. “You don’t have to run off.”

“I just need to change clothes.” I pull at my dress. Even after showering, I don’t feel clean wearing the same clothes from last night.

“I’ll drive you.”

“It’s not that far.”

“It’s raining.”

“I know.”

“Quinn,” he rubs his hands on his jaw, “I’ll drop it. We don’t have to go climbing.”

“It’s fine.”

“Then come back when you are done.”

I nod before walking out the house. The sandals I wore last night dangle from my fingers as I walk barefoot down the rain-soaked sidewalk. My dress is soaked by the time I get back to Nathan’s. Walking through the front door, my wet feet slip on the marble floor.

Peeking around the corner, I spot Candace, Nathan, and Tanner having breakfast. A pang of jealousy hits me as they look like the picture-perfect family while I stand like a hot mess, dripping wet, not missed, unimportant to their equation.

Candace spots me, stands from the table, and walks to the foyer. Her eyes look to my soaked dress as she asks, “Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, just got caught in a little downpour on the way home.”

She hesitates for a moment before speaking, “How was the party?”

“It was good.” I head towards the stairs when she says my name.

“I know you’re eighteen, and I’m a little late, but I want you to be safe—”

“Stop.” I interrupt her. I knew where the conversation was headed before she’d even started speaking. I recall how excruciating it had been to have a sex talk with my dad, so this one isn’t awkward, it’s irritating. “You are late. Dad had the talk with me when I was eleven. And I’ve been on birth control for years. Painful periods … but you wouldn’t know that either because you weren’t around.”

I turn to head up the stairs, but Candace never knows when to stop pushing. I guess I did get something from her after all.

“Be safe with your heart too,” she says as I turn to look at her. “Asher’s world is far different than the one you’ve known.”

A pain stabs my heart. I already know it isn’t safe, but I’m now a part of the unwelcome toxic world. “The other part of the motherly talk is where you’re supposed to tell me that no guy will ever be good enough for me, not that I’m not good enough for him and his world … even though apparently you belong in this world.”

“That’s not what I meant, Quinn.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t need that parental talk from you either. Dad had that talk with me too.” Hurrying away, I slip into my room, hoping she gives up the motherly advice.