TatumWork isn't my friend today after the party last night. I ended up drinking way too much and letting my brother Drew get me back to my and Addie's apartment. Luckily, I don't think my parents noticed, and if they did, they didn't say anything. Drew left me a stern text message this morning, but that's him, and I'm used to his judgement. I've been reveling in it since I was a kid. My brain is a little cloudy, so I went to the apartment and slept for forty-five minutes, instead of going to grab lunch. I'm hoping like hell it'll make me feel less sick and more alive.As I open the shop up and go back to the counter, I see an aqua blue and gray envelope sitting there, propped up against my stapler. I recognize the black ink scribbled on the front as Remy's, and my name is on it.Cash isn't back yet, otherwise I would ask him when Remy showed up, why he did it when I wasn't here, and what this envelope means. A part of me knows I should confront Remy, I should let things go, but
Remy"You sure this is where you wanna go?" I glance over at Maddie. She's getting so big, soon she'll be nine, and I'm not sure what the fuck I'm going to do with myself when that happens. That's too close to her being a teenager."Yeah," she answers. "I need a new book to read, and they have really cute notebooks too."Everything has to be really cute right now in her life. It's disconcerting, to say the least. "You wanna grab some dinner after this?""Can we go get greasy burgers? Mom hardly ever lets me do that."I grin, loving the relationship we have now. She's old enough that we've started to have things that are just ours. Usually when we go out for dinner, it's to get greasy burgers. We share a milkshake and a plate of fries. Creating memories with her is important to me; I want her to know someone loves her besides her parents. That if anything were to ever happen, she would have someone else. "Sure can," I say, grabbing her hand as we cross traffic and ducking into
RemyThis morning I'm running later than normal. After taking Maddie home last night, I had to go work some protection for the Wet Wanda's girls, a strip club the MC has interest in, as they left. Now I'm helping Drew by working the morning hours of his shift at Walker's Wheels so he can go with his wife and kids to a doctor's appointment. Dragging ass doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling.Today I'm planning on having a talk with Liam, ya know, to get the whole situation with Tatum out in the open, and I'm hoping I've made the right decision. Even tired as fuck, I hope I can articulate the words to explain to him how much his daughter means to me."You're running late today." Denise, Liam's wife, laughs as she's cleaning up the dishes from the early morning breakfast."I know." I run my hand over my tired eyes. "It was a long night, and I don't want to be late for Drew's shift.""Since you're covering for his son, I would hope my husband gives you a few minutes. You
Tatum"Did you give Remy his note today?" Addie asks as we work in the kitchen, making one of the three things we know how to make for dinner."Yeah, but then I didn't hear from him again, so I don't know how to feel about that." I chop the tomatoes and lettuce for our taco salads."Maybe he got busy. When I talked to Dad earlier, he was heading over to the gym to work out with Drew and Remy, so maybe he had previous plans."I bite my lip, tilting my head to the side. "I just figured he might have texted me after he got my note, ya know?""Didn't you tell me you asked him to take it slow? How romantic would it be if the two of you corresponded with nothing but the notes for a while?" Her eyes are swoony as she turns around to face me from where she's grilling the taco meat."Jesus Addie, this isn't a damn Hallmark movie. And I didn't tell him to take it slow; I basically said it'll go at its own pace.""Could be," she argues. "You don't know what in the world he has plann
TatumSitting at my kitchen table with Remy is a dream I've had for longer than I care to admit, but one I never dared tell anyone. Fear kept me from it. That it would never happen, that they would call me naïve or a little girl."Here ya go, Remy." Addie hands him a plate and a fork. "There's plenty, so make yourself at home."Curiously, I watch him, interested in how he will react to the situation. "What do you want to drink?" I ask as I grab a can of Coke from what Addie's put on the table."Water is fine," he answers as he has a seat. "The two of you have dinner together a lot?""In our family, we sit down at dinner together every night, doesn't matter if the whole family is there or not," I explain, pouring salsa over my salad."Same with me," Addie answers. "So when we moved in together, we decided to continue the tradition.""What about you?"These are the kind of questions he and I never got around to asking one another. Even though we considered ourselves best
Tatum"Last winter, when I got my hair done before Christmas, I did it for Remy." I start my story from the beginning. Glancing down at my soup, I play with it before I drop my spoon and give myself over to the memories. "I wanted him to look at me like an adult. On my birthday, I cornered him and kissed him, the way I always wanted to."Charity chuckles. "Poor Remy, I bet he didn't know what hit him.""No," Mandy interjects. "Pretty sure he knew he got hit by Tornado Tatum, who's never heard no for an answer." She cuts her eyes over at me. "Am I about right?""It wasn't the fact I've never heard no before, Amanda." My voice is sharper than I mean for it to be. "He called me a brat too, but that's not even what this is about." I play with the spoon again, refusing to meet their eyes. "It was about my heart skipping a beat every time I saw him, how his voice warmed my stomach, how my day was better when I saw him."Charity makes a noise. "Tatum, do you love Remy? Because that
RemyMost guys, no matter what their age, would kill to be where I am right now. In the middle of a strip club. But I have to admit, working at Wet Wanda's is one of my least favorite jobs for the club. I hate the way men with wedding rings come in and throw money their families probably need at scantily clad women. I wonder, what do their wives think about them being here? Do they have little kids at home waiting for Daddy to walk through the front door?At the same time, I realize a lot of that is my damage; how I sat at the door waiting for my dad to show up, and how he rarely did. When he did, it was never good."How's it going?"I glance over my shoulder, seeing Tatum's brother walking over to stand beside me. Drew's got a couple inches on me, but I've bulked up in the past year. There was a time when I would have been intimidated by him standing next to me. I'm not that guy anymore."Ready to get the fuck outta here," I admit, blowing out a breath. "It's been a long day
RemyThis has been the longest day of my life, no fucking exaggeration. I don't think I've ever wanted it to be quitting time more than I do right now. Every time there's been a free moment today, I've let my gaze travel across the busy road, to where my brother's garage is located. Once or twice, I think I've gotten a glimpse of Tatum, but she's kept herself either hidden or busy for the most part today.A hand claps on my shoulder, and I manage not to jump. Behind me, Liam speaks, so I give him the respect of turning to face him. "Tate called and told me she's riding with you tonight. I don't have to tell you how important that little girl is to me. Being careful is paramount to me, but know this about her. She hates wearing a fucking helmet. That girl, she likes the wind flowing through her hair, the bite of the cold at her cheeks, and she'll fight you if you try to make her put it on. I've tried for years, but she keeps mouthing back that it's not a law."I chuckle softly, ti