Page 1 of Obsessed

Prologue

RAIN

“Ican’tbelieveyou’reactually leaving.” Rain tried not to cry, feeling like a child, because no matter how much sex he’d had he wasn’t a grown-up by anyone’s standards. He was a toddler adult, still finding his footing; it seemed like he’d only graduated yesterday, but as he neared twenty-one he had no idea what he was supposed to do with his life. Everyone else had dreams and ambitions but Rain hadn’t put much thought into that. His mother had kept him busy, even with Tristan buffering her, and now that buffer was going away.

“I’m sorry, kid.” Tristan gave him a small chuck under the chin. “But we all knew this was a long time coming.”

“Yeah, but seeing you here with your pack and poles, waiting for a cab? It’s real.” Rain’s sigh held weight. “I kind of thought you and Mom would be together forever.”

“You know what, Rain? Me too. I wanted to try, for you as much as Eve, but I can’t stay here anymore. I’m growing and changing and…” Tristan shifted, looking down at his feet.

“And she’s not,” Rain stated dully, knowing the feeling.

“I stayed a few extra years, for you.” Putting his hands on Rain’s shoulders, Tristan waited until their eyes met. “Remember, you are yourownperson, you do not have to stay tethered to her.”

Easy for him to say but Rain had no idea how to break away without his mom going scorched earth, because she’d broken every plate in the cabinets after Tristan ended things and they were still finding shards on the kitchen floor. Besides, Tristan was arealadult, with investments and a beard and a career in hospitality, so he had options. All Rain had was a minimum-wage job at the pizza place and an unstable mother.

“Okay.” He looked up the street again, disappointed but not surprised. Tristan had been in their lives for a decade and she couldn’t even show up to say goodbye.

“When I get back and find a new place? My door is always open. But you’ll land on your feet before then, I know it.” Giving Rain’s shoulders a quick squeeze, Tristan dropped his hands. “And it’s not like you won’t hear from me until September. I’ll have signal when I’m off-trail in towns.”

Rain brightened, reminding himself that he just had to stick it out until Tristan came back.

“Send me all the pictures.”

“I will.” Tristan gave him a sharp nod.

“I’m jealous. I wish I could go with you.” With the tip of his shoe, Rain poked at a weed growing through a crack in the cement.

“No, you don’t,” Tristan chuckled, stroking his neatly trimmed beard, and Rain wondered what it would look like by the end of the hike. “You hated sleeping in that shelter in the state forest.”

“Because it was raining and the shelter didn’t have a wall.”

“Well, it’s like that all the way up, except for New Hampshire. They have huts.”

A blue cab pulled up to the curb, idling. Both of them took a deep breath and Tristan dove in for another hug.

The concept of having a dad had been strange to Rain. Until he was ten, a host of uncles and mommy’s friends had paraded through his life but that had all stopped with Tristan, and over the years he’d become a father figure to Rain, a lifeboat to help him ride the waves of his mother’s instability.

But Rain was back to paddling on his own.

“Bye.” He blinked rapidly, still trying not to cry.

“Bye, kid.” Tristan gave him one final chuck under the chin and went to the cab, tossing his backpack in, which he’d be living from as he thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. Quiet and calming, Tristan had been a nice balance for Rain’s mother but his needs had been bubbling under the surface for ages. He’d sacrificed a few years for Rain, the least Rain could do was allow Tristan the next six months; he more than deserved this adventure.

With another wave, Tristan got in and closed the door. The ticking of the blinker stopped and a few seconds later the cab pulled away.

Staring after it until the cold worked through his coat, Rain turned back to the house with a sigh, steeling himself for his new reality.

Snapping awake, Rain’s heart pounded out of his chest. Did his doorknob just rattle?

Getting up, he grabbed the pepper spray that he always kept beside his bed and padded softly to the door, pressing his ear against it. Voices echoed down the hallway, belonging to his mother and whatever loser she’d brought home after being gone for close to a week and a familiar nauseating fear shot through Rain’s system.

He hated not knowing who was on the other side of his tightly locked bedroom door. It brought up memories he’d rather avoid, reminding him that nothing was foolproof, so Rain pulled up a chair and stayed vigilant, trying not to listen as they babbled, got even drunker, and then fucked loudly in the bedroom before passing out.

Unfortunately, Rain fell asleep shortly after them. It was a non-consensual nap, sneaking up on him from being on high alert most of the night, and when he jolted awake light was pouring in through the windows. Cursing, he sat up, wiping drool from his mouth and cracking his neck.

Rain could hear them in the kitchen without needing to listen through the door and he glanced outside, wishing he lived on the first floor instead of the third. He was starving and he had to work today but his mother and herguestwould be lounging around for hours. His best option was to escape sooner when they were hungover rather than later when they were wrecked and unpredictable.

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