Page 2 of Wild Card (The Trident Trilogy 3)

“I’m not pregnant, Mar,” I say, shaking my head. “You know I’m on the pill.”

“There’s still that one percent chance—”

“I’m not pregnant. Stop.” I grab the tomatoes and head over to the sink to wash them. “I’m stressed out about Dad. I’m not sleeping very well. I still can’t trust that he’s going to be here when I wake up. It doesn’t help that I’m not in the same house with him.”

“Sweetie, we have an extra room if you want to stay here for a while. You know Mack would like that better anyway.”

When Dad left, I was sixteen. He’s having a hard time adjusting to me as an adult woman. He especially hates that I’m staying with Mason. And he’s not subtle about it. Frankly, he’s being an asshole. And that’s making Mason act like an asshole, too. They’re both so competitive. They’ve been swarming around me since we got back—attempting to mark their territory. I’m trying to stay out of it, but they’re both getting on my nerves.

“No, I want to stay with Mason, but I can’t get over here soon enough in the morning to see if Dad’s still alive.”

Mariel reaches over to take my hand. “You’ve known he was alive for less than a month. Be patient with yourself. You’ll get there.”

I squeeze her hand before she heads back over to the stove. “You know, Mar, it doesn’t help that you’re being an asshole to Dad.”

“I will be what I want to be, Millie,” she says, raising her eyebrows. “I’m pissed at him. His disappearing act affected Chase and me, too. You’re way more forgiving than I am. I want to punish him a little bit.”

“Mar—”

“Honey, that’s between Mack and me. We both love you. And down deep, we both love each other. Just stay out of it. We’re stubborn people—”

“Huge understatement.”

“We’ll work it out—eventually.” Mariel turns around and looks at me. “You know you have to move the knife to chop the vegetables, right? Get to work, princess.”

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