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“That’s what phones are for, Tatum. And yeah, you’ll be with me. Where I go, you fucking go.” Jesus, she had a way of riling me up that usually only Renee or Marilyn managed to do. I didn’t often give a fuck what most women said or did. And I sure as hell didn’t spend time arguing with them over it.
She stood fuming at me but didn’t utter another word. Eventually, she sat and resumed staring at the television with her arms crossed over her chest.
Renee stole one last glance at the both of us before leaning back in her seat and saying, “Well, this should be fun.”
* * *
I yawned as I made coffee the next morning. It had been a long night and I’d only managed about three hours of sleep on and off. Lifting the mug to my mouth, I eyed Tatum as she entered the kitchen. My gaze dropped to the singlet she wore. It was long and covered her ass, but her legs were bare and I couldn’t take my eyes off them or the tattoos inked into her skin.
“I need coffee. Your floor is hard as hell,” she grumbled.
I leaned against the counter. “All floors are hard as hell. I offered you a bed.”
She moved next to me to make her coffee. “Sleeping next to you is the last thing I will ever do.”
Her scent wafted in the air and I froze as a long-forgotten memory surfaced. Visions of a smiling woman and three children laughing at the beach filled my mind.
My mother.
The scent Tatum wore was the same one my mother had worn.
I shoved the memories away. Nothing good came from them. I glanced down at Tatum. “Aren’t you cold?” I snapped. “It’s the middle of fucking winter and you’re wearing a singlet.”
She looked up at me. “My, aren’t you a c
uddly teddy in the morning? And since when do you care about my warmth or comfort?”
I drank the rest of my coffee and pushed off from the counter to place my mug in the sink. “Put some clothes on. We’re leaving in half an hour.”
“I won’t be ready in half an hour, Nitro.”
I turned back to face her. “Yeah, you will be.”
As I left the kitchen, she called after me, “I don’t know what kinds of women you’ve been associating with, but this one does not get ready in half a fucking hour.”
Renee passed me in the hallway, already dressed for school. She was an early riser and had probably already completed an hour of study. “You know, I think I kinda like Tatum,” she said with a smile.
Ignoring her, I walked outside and sucked some air into my lungs. Between Tatum’s attitude, Renee’s smartass comments, my sister’s mental breakdown, Storm’s problems and memories of my mother, this week was going off with a fucking bang.
My phone rang then, and one look at the caller ID told me the week was only just getting started with me.
My brother.
* * *
“I need somewhere to stay,” Dustin said ten minutes later when he arrived at my house.
I pushed my fingers through my hair as I listened to my brother. “What happened to the place I found you three weeks ago?” I’d found him a share house and helped him move in, hoping he’d settle there okay. It seemed he hadn’t.
His lips flattened in a hard line. “The woman who ran it kicked me out.”
“Fuck, what did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. I just tried to kiss her.”
Jesus, Dustin would be the fucking death of me.
I slammed my hand down on my table. “I’ve told you, Dustin, you can’t go around kissing women you aren’t involved with.”
