Page 569 of Tease Me


Font Size:  

The soft knock on her door startled her before she remembered she’d told Everleigh to come by if she wanted to borrow a book. Tatum had no idea if Everleigh was into reading, but who else would be knocking at her door? The only people she knew in town, who knew where she lived, were Everleigh and Adele.

Charlie.

Well, he knew she lived in the Sage building, but he didn’t know her apartment number. And somehow, she doubted he would ask Adele or Everleigh for it. Not after their exchange this morning.

Still, there was a foreign buzz in her veins as she made her way to the door. She didn’t want to see Charlie, so she wasn’t sure what the weird, anxious vibe was. Or what the deflating sensation was when she opened the door to find Everleigh there.

Why would she be disappointed that it wasn’t Charlie knocking at her door?

“Hey.” She leaned on the doorframe and offered Everleigh a smile. “C’mon in.”

Everleigh thanked her and stepped inside. Tatum wasn’t used to having guests, not even when she was younger, still living with her parents. They didn’t have a fun, happy home, so if Tatum played with friends, she went to their houses. She and Sutton rarely asked to have anyone over.

“Same set up as my place,” Everleigh announced as she looked around. “I heard the apartments on the top floor are huge.”

“Could be.” Tatum shrugged. She couldn’t afford a huge apartment on the top floor. Nor did she want one. “What’s up?”

“Hmm?” Everleigh whipped back around to look at her. Tatum stared at her suspiciously for a moment.

“There’s the bookcase.” She tipped her head at the bookcase she’d just put together and tucked her hands in her pockets.

“Oh, no.” Everleigh shook her head. “I’m not here for a book.”

Tatum pressed her lips together and wondered what exactly Everleigh needed. She wouldn’t even entertain the idea that Adele put her up to coming. And she wasn’t dumb enough to think Charlie had sent Everleigh here on a fact-finding mission.

“I would offer you something to drink, but all I have is water.”

Everleigh laughed softly. “I’m fine. Are you busy?”

“No.” Tatum wandered back over to the tattered couch that had made the move with her three times now. She sat and then fixed her gaze on Everleigh.

“So.” Everleigh cleared her throat as she joined Tatum, choosing the opposite end of the couch. “What do you think of the Murphys?”

“I think they’re nice people.”

“They are,” Everleigh agreed softly. She turned sideways on the couch and tucked one leg under her. “They’re a nice family.”

Tatum studied Everleigh for a moment, wondering if she’d read the situation completely wrong. Maybe Everleigh was here fishing about her feelings for the Murphy family because she needed reassuring.

“Did something happen? With Mal?”

Tatum’s question drew Everleigh’s gaze from the small TV across the room.

“No. Well.” She laughed; a wistful smile lingered on her face when she met Tatum’s eyes. “Something’s happening with him, and it keeps happening. But no, that’s not why I’m here.”

“What’s up?”

“My mom called today,” she said with a shrug. “It just always…throws me out of whack when she calls like that.”

“Are you close to her?”

“No.” Everleigh shook her head. “Um. I mean. We talk occasionally, but no, we aren’t close.”

Tatum nodded and licked her lips. “I haven’t seen my mom in fourteen years.”

Everleigh didn’t flinch. But Tatum did. Not over the number of years. But the fact that she knew the number by heart. That each year that passed with no contact from the woman who’d given birth to her stacked up and stayed prominent in her brain even when she didn’t want it to.

“Did she die?” Everleigh asked softly.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like