Her Titans by Genevieve Jasper
Quincy
13
I’m in my bedroom getting ready to go out, and my head spins with thoughts of Madelaine, constantly. I have to admit to myself that if she turns out to be betraying us I’ll be crushed, even though I’ve kept her at arm’s length. She’s wormed her way into my chest, and I don’t want her to leave. Whether I let my guard down and trust her or not, she’s gotten me. And I do want to trust her. That’s half the problem. My gut wants to trust her, but my head lists the reasons why I shouldn’t. I’ve got no real say, though. I’ve fallen into her orbit, just like Max and Atlas have.
I’m slipping on my jacket when there’s a knock on the door and there she is. She’s in a white, high neck, long sleeve dress completely covered in lace, looking like the sexiest angel I’ve ever seen.
“Oh, sorry. I thought this was Atlas’s room.”
“You don’t know where his room is yet?”
She shrugs. “We use mine.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” she replies, looking awkward. She’s barefoot and is only just over half a foot shorter than me without her heels.
“What’s up, Madelaine?”
“I need some help to zip up.”
“Let me.” I gesture for her to spin.
She does so and her dress hangs open at the back, only just high enough to cover her ass. I grab the zip and the tightness of the dress means the tip of my thumb trails up her bare spine as I do it up. I feel myself getting affected by our proximity and all of her smooth, bare skin, a couple of shades deeper after her day in the sun. As the dress closes all the way to the nape, she shivers.
“Thanks,” she mutters and practically runs from the room. Dammit. I really should’ve taken the opportunity to apologise, rather than ogling her. I know a simple sorry won’t work this time. She’s already warned me and that’s fair, but apologising is a good place to start.
Atlas drives us all over in the Hummer and he and Max drop us outside The Lounge. Madelaine rushes inside to greet Lia, and I amble in after her. I think it’s probably best not to crash their drinks too hard, so I situate myself at the bar, ordering myself a drink. This place could definitely benefit from an upgrade. I try to focus on the business part of my brain but an hour or so passes and I’m getting really bored of watching Madelaine brush off guy after guy. Okay, maybe less bored and more really fucking irritated. She’s got her hair in loose waves and is wearing clear stilettos that make her legs look endless, the white colour of her dress making her bronze legs pop. Two new guys waltz over and that’s my limit reached. I walk up behind Madelaine and they pale when they spot me over her shoulder. “Are you two ready to go?” I ask the girls while looking straight at the guys. Madelaine cranes her neck to face me as the guys stutter between themselves.
“Sorry, I didn't realize they were with someone,” one says. Madelaine rolls her eyes as the guys leave.
“Fine, let’s go,” she concedes as she and Lia down what’s left of their cocktails. “But you owe us both a drink.”
“I’m sure I can manage that.”
I follow them both out of the bar before Lia pops back inside to use the bathroom.
“Can we talk?” I ask Madelaine as we wait outside in the fresh air.
“Sure, what’s up?” she asks flippantly.
“Come on, Lai. I hate this.”
“I didn’t cause it.”
“I know, but-”
“The last I knew, you still thought I was lying. Does ‘Madelaine’ mean I’m in trouble and ‘Lai’ signify that you’re over it? I need a way to track your mood swings,” she bites sarcastically.
“I don’t think you’re lying. I just hate not knowing things,” I try to explain.
“Look, Quincy, don’t you think you’ve ruined enough of my evenings this week?”
That blow hits true. “That’s not fair.”
“Actually, I think it is,” she says, clearly finished with this conversation. Just then Lia comes back out, giving us a questioning look, but Madelaine smiles at her. “Let’s go.”
Atlas, Madelaine and I are on the way back to the house and she is merry, to say the least. I’m still sulking so I sit quietly in the back watching her, but I don’t think she’s even noticed.
“Lia says I’m cutting off my nose to spite my face. I’m pushing too hard against you because of Jed.” The many drinks have loosened her tongue, but she won’t care. I love that she stands by everything she says, she’s not the type to say things she doesn’t mean in the first place.
“What do you say?” Atlas asks. She thinks about that for a minute, her nose scrunching up adorably as she mulls it over.
“I say I do like you. But how do I not lose myself again?” she asks, genuinely curious.
“You trust me to not take too much,” Atlas tells her as he pulls up inside the garage. She thinks that over as we walk into the house and into the kitchen. Atlas lifts her and sits her on the side of the island, while I lean against it.
“That’s pretty profound, you know,” she says with awe in her voice that makes me smile despite the pity party I’m in.
Atlas laughs as he hands me a glass of water and comes to stand in front of her, handing her a glass, too. She ignores it completely, trying to undo his shirt buttons around his arms.
“What did I tell you about drunk chicks?” he asks, amused by her.
“Are you turning me down?” Her brow furrows.
“Fuck, no. I’m trying to be respectable and you’re making it really fucking hard.”
“It, or you?” she says, snaking her hand down the front of his trousers.
“Okay, let’s get you to bed.”
“Now you’re talking!”
“Not me, you. If I lie down with you like this, I’m going to do something I regret.”
“Okay, I’ll control myself but I’m not tired yet. What about a movie?”
Atlas laughs and rests his hands on her thighs. “I’ll watch a movie with you.”
He’s so intimate with her, and I feel a burning envy in my chest. I’ve got no one to blame but myself.
“Where’s Maxton?” she asks. She calls us all by our full names and she’s nearly the only one to do so. Even Atlas gets his name shortened by others the majority of the time. “We need to show him all the movies.”
“He had something to do at the club,” At explains.
She pouts and looks dejected. Great, she likes both of them and can’t stand me. Good job, Quince.
“I’m going to head to bed, ‘night you two.” There’s no way I can sit and watch those two act like teenage lovers and paw over each other for an hour and a half. We all have a ‘no drunk sex’ rule but that doesn’t extend to some heavy petting. They echo my goodnight and I slump into my room. I hate that I’m so jealous of my best friend. He touches her so easily and she’s so receptive to it. I want to be the one to hold her, to stroke her hair away from her face and look after her when she’s inebriated. What have I done?
In the morning, I head out to the pool where Lai and Maxton are already sitting. We never use this area normally, but I don’t blame him. I’d also follow her anywhere, in that bikini.
“Can I apologise?” I ask, sitting on the edge of the lounger next to her.
“I’m getting déjà vu,” Max mumbles with amusement.
Ignoring him, I carry on. “I really am sorry. I lose my head a bit when I think someone’s hiding stuff.”
“That sounds like a ‘you’ problem,” Lai responds.
“It absolutely is. I’ll work on keeping my shit together. And this is totally the end of me quizzing you.” I can’t tell what she’s thinking with those huge sunglasses on. Her eyes are normally so expressive and it puts me on edge, not being able to see them.
“You’ve called a truce before, Quincy, and I believed it. Then you ambushed me with more shit. I can’t handle this back and forth.”
“No more. I’ll prove it to you,” I swear, desperate for another chance.
“I’ll wait for you to do that. Also, second round apologies normally come with a gift,” she jokes. “Edible, preferably.” I smile and let out a sigh of relief, my shoulders relaxing. I’m not out of the woods yet, but she’s giving me the opportunity to make it up to her, and I won’t blow this one.
We spend the morning sunbathing in peaceful quiet, and Atlas comes out to join us for lunch. We’re sitting at the outside table finishing up an amazing Ploughman’s that Lucy produced when Lai decides she wants to take a dip. It’s even hotter than yesterday and the cool blue water does look inviting.
“Don’t expect me to save you when you seize up and drown,” At calls to her as she walks to the edge. Max and I both give him disbelieving looks. We all know there’s not much he wouldn’t do to save her, under any circumstance.
“That’s a myth,” Lai calls back to him before diving into the water. We all watch her go, trying to keep a visual on her underwater until she pops up in the middle. “Come on, I didn’t realise cramp was the thing that scared the Titans,” she says with a smirk. Atlas, Max, and I all exchange looks, knowing she has us hook, line and sinker, and jump out of our chairs, jumping into the pool at the same time. I come up for air to the sound of Lai laughing and I feel so light.
“You’re all like rocks,” she chuckles.
“We can be fast when we need to be,” Max promises.
“Race!” she calls, lifting herself up on the side of the pool. We all get out and line up while she counts down, ready to dive in as she shouts go. Lai is way more streamlined than any of us and takes the lead in the beginning as we all break the surface. Our strength would put us ahead in no time, but I’m really not invested in this race and grab her foot just in front of me instead. She goes under laughing and comes back up spluttering.
“Dirty tactics!” she shouts, treading water.
“Where’s your ref?” I ask her, laughing. She gestures behind me, and I turn like a fool. Pushing herself up on my shoulders, she sinks me into the water and dunks my head for good measure before pushing away. When I come back up, she’s a couple of metres away, laughing at me, her eyes twinkling.
“That’s how we’re playing it?” I ask, stalking towards her. She swims backwards until she bumps into Atlas behind her.
“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my team,” she protests.
“I don’t remember having that conversation,” Atlas chuckles.
“Maxton!” she calls to him as he floats on his back to the side of us. “I need rescuing.”
He laughs without up-righting himself. “That you most certainly do not, Madelaine.”
I’m half a meter away from her, wondering what to do now. If I touch her anywhere other than her ankle, I’m going to have a very visible issue on my hands. I’m saved from making that decision by Jeremy heading out onto the patio.
“Sorry to disturb you,” he calls. I feel Lai tense when she realises the position he’s just caught her in, but Jeremy doesn’t bat an eyelid. He’s sure to keep his eyes away from her, even with most of her body concealed by the water. “We just got a parcel.”
We all swim over to the side, lifting ourselves out. Atlas hands Lai a towel, knowing she’d feel uncomfortable being so underdressed in front of Jeremy. She doesn’t have an issue with us seeing her like that, but she really respects the friendship she’s got going with him.
“What do you mean, ‘we got’?” Max asks.
“Lucy went to the supermarket and when she went to load the groceries in the trunk, this was in it. It’s addressed to Madelaine,” he finishes, looking at her now that she’s covered up.
“I don’t want it,” she says, punctuating her claim by taking a step backwards. “That’s creepy as fuck.”
“It’s not explosive or contaminated, we’ve already checked it out,” Jeremy tells Max, handing it over. He rips it open and we all take in the panties sitting inside.
“Oh my God, they’re mine!” Lai shrieks, grabbing the box from Max. “What the fuck? Have they been in my room?!” She’s freaking out, understandably.
“They’re the ones I took from your office,” Atlas tells her. “I thought I’d misplaced them or you got them back without me realising.”
“So, how did this freak get them?” Max asks.
“Let’s take this to the office,” Atlas tells us. “Do you want to come, Madelaine?”
“No way,” she exclaims. “I’ll chill out here. Burn these, please,” she asks, handing over the parcel to Max.
Atlas holds Lai’s stricken face in his hands and murmurs something unintelligible to her as the rest of us head inside. She visibly relaxes and I’m struck with a wave of that overfamiliar jealousy. One day, I’ll settle her like that.
“We can’t go at the Vipers with no evidence it’s them,” Max commands. “Seems more like a scorned lover to me, anyway, and we’re walking a thin line with the Vipers as it is. We don't want to trigger a war. It’ll be mutual destruction at this point, they’re just as powerful as we are.”
“Fuck off. Silas and his VPs are like, 100,” I scoff. They have a different structure to us; we run the Titans jointly whereas they have one leader and three vice presidents.
“Yeah, but their sons aren’t. From what I’ve heard, it’s them practically running the show from the shadows right now.”
We’ve been in the office for hours. Jeremy ran us through CCTV from the supermarket parking lot but the feed was clearly looped. We’ve gone through security for everyone, most importantly Lai, here and when she’s out. Now we were going round in circles discussing possible culprits, but really we just have to wait for them to hit again instead of being proactive, as we have little to go on.
“Right, I'm done,” I declare. “I was much preferring our lazy Sunday to this frustrating shit.”
“Okay,” Atlas agrees. I was finance anyway, I can get away with ditching. “We’ll finish up soon.” I nod my acknowledgment and leave, heading towards the kitchen, where I can hear Lai’s voice. Much better. I find her sitting at the island, chatting to Lucy.
“Hey,” I greet them both.
“Hey,” Lai replies, and Lucy gives me a smile. “I’m just quizzing Lucy on everything she does around here.”
“Keeps us alive,” I say, only half joking, and taking another bar stool.
“Not at all,” Lucy rebukes. “I only need to keep the place tidy, but I’m an early bird, so I usually provide breakfast. And then lunch because they’re always busy. It's been so nice seeing you all actually take some time off.” She gives Lai a fond look but carries on when Lai looks embarrassed. “They normally like to sort their own dinners, though I’ll do something special for their birthdays, shall I?” she asks me.
“Their birthdays?” Lai asks before I can respond.
“Yeah, Max’s is Wednesday and At’s is Thursday.”
“Wow, August is a popular month, isn’t it?”
“I guess,” I shrug. Not that unusual for two people to have close birthdays.
“What do you do?” she presses.
“Not a lot, we’re not massively into birthdays. Dinner would be great, thanks, Lucy.”
“Can I plan something for them?” Madelaine asks enthusiastically.
“If you want.” I smile at her excitement.
“Great. Although there’s not much time,” she adds pensively. “If only I knew someone who owed me, who could help.”
My smile grows even bigger. “I’d be happy to help you,” I say, and I mean it.
“Yay!”