Page 595 of Tease Me


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“I think so?” Tatum shrugged. “I know she didn’t feel well, but yeah, I think there were some regrets. She wasn’t a monster.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that she was.”

“Not then, anyway.”

“Where is she now?”

“I have no idea.” Tatum rubbed her hand over his stomach and inched it lower to his dick. Determined to keep her on track, Charlie covered her hand with his to keep her still. “She ran away a few weeks after that. Never finished high school. She’s come back through the years. When she needs money. Or a place to crash.”

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “I can’t imagine how much it hurts you to see her living like that.”

She took a quick breath, but Charlie wasn’t sure if she was laughing or sobbing.

“She’s a junkie. Always looking for her next fix. She had a baby when she was nineteen. I begged her to let me keep Bryony with me. To let me raise her. She wouldn’t hear of it. In fact, she left in the middle of the night with the baby when she was just four weeks old.”

“And you have no idea where she is? With her daughter?”

Tatum pulled her hand away from him to swipe at her eyes. “No. She’s been all over the place. The last I knew she was living with some guy off the grid somewhere in Iowa.”

“When did you see her last?”

“Oh God.” Tatum sniffled and flopped over to lie on her back. “I don’t even know. I haven’t seen her since I came here.”

“And your niece?”

“No.”

Charlie turned to her and cupped her chin in his fingers. “What about your dad? Do you ever hear from him?”

This time, there was no mistaking her sarcastic laugh.

“Killed himself in a drunk driving accident.”

Shocked by her words, sad and angry that she’d had to give up everything for her sister, Charlie simply leaned over her and rested his forehead against hers. He had hoped she would say her dad got help and quit drinking, that she could at least talk to him when times got hard. Instead, it sounded like she had no one.

“I’m sorry.”

“Shaun and I were about to leave for a getaway to Florida when that happened.”

“What? And he just left without you? Left you to deal with everything on your own?”

“I told him to go.” She shrugged.

“Tatum.” Charlie drew back to look her in the eyes.

“He was impatient on a good day. I think he loved me, but I think he loved life more.” She quirked an eyebrow. “Does that make sense? He was an adrenaline junkie. Dragging him back home with me to deal with that stuff would have been like taming a wild horse.”

Charlie took a deep breath, but he waited. Counted to three.

“I don’t know how many times Sutton would call or just show up when we were together. Whether we had plans, or we were in bed—”

“What about the other guy?” Charlie kept his eyes on his thumb, tracing her cheekbone, rather than look in her eyes.

“What other—”

“You mentioned someone named Adam.”

“High school boyfriend,” she answered. “First love. First everything. He left for school. I stayed at home for school. End of that story.”

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